(BIVN) – The Hawaii County Director of Finance, Collins Tomei, has resigned.

Big Island Video News has obtained the memo in which Tomei tenders his resignation, effective at the end of the business day on September 29, 2017.

The news was first reported in the West Hawaii Today on September 8. The paper reported Deputy Finance Director Deanna Sako would be taking over.

Tomei was at the helm for a difficult budget year. The projected numbers changed dramatically between the first budget message and the final message, as collective bargaining agreements and a contentious legislative put the county in a bind. The administration ended up raising both property taxes and fuel taxes in order to balance the budget.

Tomei’s resignation letter to Mayor Harry Kim, dated September 7, was short:

Please consider this my letter of resignation terminating my employment with Hawai’i County at the end of business day., September 29, 2017. I have thoroughly appreciated your friendship and guidance as your appointee to the Director of Finance position but feel that it is time for me to step down from that position.

I appreciate this opportunity for my personal growth and knowledge and look at my service to Hawai’i County with much pride. I have come to appreciate all of the hard work and wisdom that must go into properly managing the workings of County Government. I have also come to greatly appreciate how many of the critical decisions take intense soul searching and moral character. I am honored that you gave me the opportunity for growth and to become a better man.

With Much Aloha and Friendship,
(signed Collins Tomei)