'Ice teams' sought for Big Island
Advertiser Big Island Bureau
HILO, Hawai'i — Big Island Mayor Harry Kim will have some extra money in the next budget year as property tax revenues grow, and he wants to spend nearly $1 million of it escalating his war on crystal methamphetamine.
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Kim is urging the Hawai'i County Council to approve a budget request from Police Chief Lawrence Mahuna for new "ice teams" of police based in Hilo and Kona to crack down on dealers.
Big Island Mayor Harry Kim said his county's fiscal situation is expected to continue to improve.
Kim proposes spending $840,000 to hire a private security firm to operate the police cellblock in Hilo, freeing up 14 police officers now working there. Six of those police positions would be used to create the "ice teams," while the other eight would beef up police patrols in Waimea, Puna and Ka'u.
"We had to show the federal government that we are also going to contribute to this, we're not just with cup in hand saying, 'Help us,' " Kim said.
A total of $4 million was included in the federal budget passed by Congress last month to help the Big Island cope with the methamphetamine problem, and other federal money has been promised or delivered for programs ranging from new crime lab equipment to social services for addicts.
Overall, Kim's proposed budget would spend almost $219 million in the year beginning July 1, an increase of $13 million, or almost 7 percent, from this year's spending package.
Included in the budget is an additional $3.2 million in employee pension contributions, an extra $2.5 million for landfill cost increases and vehicle disposal costs, and $1.2 million for projected salary increases.
Property tax collections, which make up most of the county's income, are expected to grow by almost 10 percent.
The county increased property taxes last year for the first time in 30 years, but the new budget proposal does not seek any further increases.
Kim said the county's fiscal situation is expected to continue to improve, although a war could hurt it. When he took office two years ago, the county was carrying a $7.6 million budget deficit.
"I think we've more than turned the corner," Kim said. "I think that Hawai'i Island is in a better state than the rest of the state as far as growth and as far as what the future holds for us."
