Money for pay raises goes to General Plan instead

Money originally earmarked for raises for Kaua’i County’s mayor and other

officials will now be spent putting the county’s updated General Plan into

action.

The County Council agreed Thursday to reduce appropriations by

$100,000 in the collective-bargaining raises account in the general fund and

transfer the money to aid the implementation of the General Plan.

Of the

total transfer, $90,000 will be for studies by the county’s Planning Department

for enacting the recently approved GP and preparing for the upcoming CZO

update.

The other $10,000 will be used for lobbying of the

Legislature.

Officials said the money does not come from any funds that

might be needed for paying union wages of county employees, despite the

collective bargaining header on the account.

“That’s just the name of the

account where those monies are. It would have been used for department head

raises, and that didn’t happen,” county clerk Peter Nakamura said.

Proposed raises for the mayor, prosecuting attorney and county department

heads and deputies were buried in committee by the council six weeks

ago.

Staff writer Dennis Wilken can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252)

and dwilken@pulitzer.net