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Stene: Yagong shortsighted on impact fees

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I was dismayed to hear why Councilman Dominic Yagong voted against implementing an impact fee ordinance at the recent Kona Town Meeting.

He believes it will negatively impact the Big Island’s construction industry. However, Councilman Yagong fails to see the big picture.

He wants to streamline county government and make it more accountable to the citizens of this island, but his staunch opposition against impact fees contradicts this goal.

The current fair share system isn’t codified into law and declared
unconstitutional in 2007 by Judge Ronald Ibarra. In addition, Hawaii
County is unfairly saddled with the cost of constructing infrastructure.

For example, the county recently floated bonds to construct the Laaloa Avenue Extension. The developer should build this roadway, not the county.

Hawaii County already has $305.6 million in bond debt, which is consuming about 15.9 percent of the budget. This debt will increase until developers start paying their fair share.

I hope Councilman Yagong realizes the fallacy of creating short term construction jobs and changes his opinion on impact fees.

Aaron Stene
Kailua-Kona

2 Responses to “Stene: Yagong shortsighted on impact fees”

  1. nosake says:

    It occurs to me that Yagong will re-introduce the bill after Pete Hoffmann (its original sponsor) leaves office. To the best of my knowledge, he didn’t verbalize his dissatisfaction with the way it was written; just voted against it.

  2. vet2640 says:

    What do you expect from a “right wing radical”

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