City panel calls for raises for top posts
By Johnny Brannon
Advertiser Staff Writer
Amidst a growing battle over $2.7 million in proposed cuts to the city budget, the Salary Commission yesterday called for sizable pay raises for the City Council, mayor and six other top officials.
The nine council members would get 21.6 percent raises. Council Chairman Donovan Dela Cruz would get the biggest raise — a $10,455 increase to $58,905. Pay for the other eight council members would increase by $9,350, to $52,700.
Salaries for the other officials would increase 5 percent. The mayor's pay would increase by $5,610, rising to $117,810. The managing director, the top assistant and four civil attorneys and prosecutors would see raises ranging from $4,728 to $5,355.
In 2002, the council rejected raises for themselves, the mayor, managing director and deputy managing director.
The proposal came the same day that dozens of residents and officials pleaded with and scolded the council about its proposal to trim $2.7 million from Mayor Jeremy Harris' $1.2 billion operating budget for the 2004-05 fiscal year, mostly by eliminating money for hundreds of vacant jobs and some cultural programs.
The council also wants to add $5.4 million to Harris' $286.4 million construction budget, and to shift money from some projects to others.
Several people who testified at a public hearing yesterday objected to the council's move to cut $150,000 from the torch-lighting and hula program at Kuhio Beach in Waikiki.
The program is a big boost to tourism and fosters pride in Hawaiian culture, said hula teacher Kapiolani Hao.
"We see the smiles and the laughter, and it's all real," she said. "Everything that's done here is for the Hawaiian culture, and for Hawaiian children."
Waikiki Improvement Association president Rick Egged said nearby businesses strongly support the program and credit it with helping to revitalize Waikiki tourism.
Council budget chairwoman Ann Kobayashi said she was open to giving money to the program but wasn't sure where to include it in the spending plan because the money was listed in different areas previously.
City planning director Eric Crispin said money earmarked for jobs that are not filled does not get hidden or wasted. It pays for overtime, contract employees, or is available so new employees can be hired to replace those who retire or quit, he said.
In written testimony, actor Robert Redford asked the council to rescind its proposed $3 million cut to a plan for installing solar and energy efficiency projects on city-owned buildings. Officials say $10 million in bonds for the projects would be paid off with money saved through lower power bills.
"With an ambitious effort, Honolulu has the opportunity to show leadership in devising cost-effective solutions to the nation's energy problems, and would help jumpstart a national transformation to renewable energy," Redford wrote.
Harris and the council have feuded over how to balance the budget and whether to approve raises for nearly 3,000 white-collar city workers.
Harris says there's simply no money to increase salaries for members of the Hawai'i Government Employees Association, while council members are leaning toward approving the raises.
Harris originally proposed a 7 percent tax increase on commercial and vacant residential properties to balance the operating budget, but later said a 3.5 percent increase is all that's needed.
The council is still considering the larger tax hike, and must approve a spending plan by June for the fiscal year that begins in July.
The tax increase for commercial, industrial and hotel and resort classifications would raise the rate to $11.37 per $1,000 of assessed value, from $10.63.
The rate for unimproved residential property would go to $5.72 per $1,000 value, up from $5.35.
Harris' operating budget totals $1,222,717,306, or $53,634,625 more than the current year's. The plan includes $286,481,348 for construction projects, or $10,027,745 more than this year.
Reach Johnny Brannon at jbrannon@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8070.
