Council grills city budget chief

By Treena Shapiro
Advertiser Staff Writer

No fireworks erupted as the City Council opened its hearings on Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris' proposed $1.1 billion operating and $288 million construction budgets yesterday, but a few exchanges signaled the likelihood of heated battles to come.

"What happened to the financial stability that was pounded into our heads?" budget chairwoman Ann Kobayashi asked. Advertiser library photo

She charged that her committee had been aware of looming fiscal problems a year ago, but was assured the city was in sound fiscal condition.

"How did we get from there to today having so many bills to increase fees and charges, to increase property tax? What happened to the financial stability that was pounded into our heads?" she asked.

Compared with more passionate exchanges last year, yesterday's session was relatively mild, but the discussion on the most controversial issues of raising property tax rates and imposing a variety of user fees was postponed until March 18.

Harris on Sunday unveiled his budget proposals for the fiscal year starting July 1. They include a proposal for mandatory curbside recycling among 160,000 O'ahu residents, but that issue will also be discussed later.

During the next few weeks, the council Budget Committee will hear from each city department about its budgets, then the council will prepare the whole budget to be turned over by June 15.

Yesterday, the committee heard from city Budget Director Ivan Lui-Kwan and departments that had proposed public safety projects in the construction budget.

Lui-Kwan, who has only been with the city since November, remained composed as it became clear that last year's budget hearings were still a sore point for at least one council member.

Kobayashi repeatedly asked him why his predecessor had assured the committee that no budget cuts or tax and fee increases were necessary because the city was in strong fiscal condition, even though the committee saw "disaster" in the figures provided by the budget department.

"I don't want to opine on what happened a year ago," Lui-Kwan finally said after several go-rounds. "What is important to me is what we have now and how do we deal with what we have now."

A similar repetitive exchange occurred between Councilman Charles Djou and Deputy Managing Director Malcolm Tom when Djou asked why the administration said the East Honolulu police station was a top priority, then left it off the budget.

Tom told Djou that the bids for the station came in too high and the administration had no choice but to let the construction money lapse at the end of last year. He said the administration turned in a "bare bones" budget, but the council could add financing for the police station.

Tom's proposal that Djou add something to the budget had a tinge of irony. Djou has been under fire from the administration for suggesting on Sunday that more could have been trimmed from the budget to avoid raising property tax rates. On Monday, Harris said finding another $23 million in the budget would mean firing 680 city employees and cutting services.

The prospect of adding items to the construction budget also bothered Kobayashi, who said the council did not want to add anything to the budget. However, she added that she was concerned that the construction budget for public safety departments was trimmed by 51.8 percent.

Police Chief Lee Donohue and Fire Chief Attilio K. Leonardi both testified about the cuts to their proposed budgets.

Although a police station in Hawai'i Kai would be nice to have, its absence does not jeopardize public safety in the community because officers still patrol the beats, Donohue said. "The officers are the ones that provide the service, not the building," he said.

Leonardi said the administration has generally been receptive to the Fire Department's needs, but he understood that he was not going to get everything he requested.

"This year is going to be a tough year," he said.

Reach Treena Shapiro at tshapiro@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8070.