A panel tasked with reducing the cost of government on Kauai wants more flexibility when it comes to finding ways to save the county money.

The panel wants the ability to put forward proposals that would require the county to pay for initiatives that could lead to savings in the future. Kauai’s Cost Control Commission proposed a county charter amendment that would allow it to do that.

“You have to spend a little to save,” former Cost Control Commission Chairman Tyler Rodighiero said last year during a commission meeting.

The five-member commission was established in 1988 and is responsible for reviewing contract practices, real property tax and personnel costs. It also keeps a particular look out for duplicate services or programs run by the county.

The County Charter only explicitly grants the commission the authority to propose eliminating programs and services. If the charter amendment passes, the commission would have more options for recommending cost savings. 

“If you spend money in the short term to tune a car, you can end up with long-term fuel savings,” Jan TenBruggencate, a member the Kauai Charter Review Commission, said. “As it stands now, they can’t pay to have the car tuned.”

Correction: A previous version of this story said that TenBruggencate was the commission chairman.

The commission has been exploring alternatives to eliminating programs to achieve savings since at least 2019. That year, commission members discussed possible charter revisions that would enable the commission to recommend new revenue streams to improve the county’s financial position. But those changes did not make it onto the ballot.

The commission took a hiatus during the Covid-19 pandemic and reconvened in 2023.

In the past, the commission has recommended consolidating services to save money. Kauai County’s Department of Human Resources was the result of recommendations the commission made in 2012 to roll the county’s decentralized personnel services functions under one agency.