$60 million in city projects cut
By James Gonser
Advertiser Urban Honolulu Writer
An estimated $60 million in capital improvement projects is being canceled because of budget constraints and a need to reduce the city's debt payment, said city Managing Director Ben Lee.
Advertiser library photo • March 23, 2002
The hit list is expected to include 20 to 30 projects such as the East Honolulu police station, the second phase of Punchbowl Street improvements and the development of Mau'umae Nature Park in Kaimuki, which had gone out to bid.
"We're reviewing every project," said City Managing Director Ben Lee.
Cuts are based on project need, priority and bid price.
Lee said the bid for the Hawai'i Kai police station, estimated to cost $5 million, came in $1.5 million over budget. The project is not dead, he said, but financing was pulled until planners can reduce the cost or more money is appropriated.
"We're reviewing every project," he said, "re-evaluating which ones we really need to do this year and whether we can put some of these projects off."
The city budget has been a subject of hot debate this year, with the City Council wondering where money for so many projects will come from, and the administration asking to borrow as much as $250 million in general obligation bonds to pay for them. The council is worried that will put the city in debt for years.
The administration already has cut its vision team budget in half — to $1 million for each of the 19 teams — and begun enforcing city fees for coning, special-duty officers and cleanups at charity events, which it no longer can afford to waive. There was even talk of cancelling the Honolulu City Lights display.
The good news is that more than 200 capital improvement projects worth $328.5 million are moving forward this year. And while $60 million may sound like a big cut, it is typical to see $40 million to $50 million in city projects cut at the end of the 18-month budget cycle that ends Dec. 31. The city intentionally worked to make a bigger cut this year.
"If anything, we wanted to push through a lot of (projects) because interest rates are low and we have good borrowing capacity, and we wanted to ... stimulate the economy when we are still in the doldrums," Lee said.
That doesn't sit well with city councilwoman Ann Kobayashi, who had to endure hours of testimony at Budget Committee meetings in May from people trying to get their projects financed. Hundreds of people showed up after the Harris administration sent out letters asking residents to speak on behalf of various city projects or programs. One meeting lasted nearly 13 hours.
"Why put everybody though all this agony with testifying and preparing the projects, and then they just have them cut arbitrarily?" Kobayashi said. "It is (the administration's) call on what gets cut. They knew about this debt service before. They said they were in great shape at those meetings. So why did they submit so many projects?"
Kobayashi said communication about which projects are being cut — primarily to the council and neighborhood boards — should be handled by the administration.
But perhaps the cuts are a good sign, she said. "Now they realize you can't keep borrowing money to run the city."
Reach James Gonser at jgonser@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2431.
