Posted on: Wednesday, June 2, 2004

Council boosts spending

By Johnny Brannon
Advertiser Staff Writer

After sparring for months over cuts to Mayor Jeremy Harris' proposed annual city budget, the City Council may now increase spending by $18.5 million more than Harris called for.

The council's latest version of the plan, released yesterday, would add more than $6.8 million for operating expenses and $11.6 million for construction projects.

Much of the money would cover pay raises for almost 3,000 city employees — which Harris opposed and did not budget for — and would add money for police, firefighters, and parks maintenance, Council Chairman Donovan Dela Cruz said.

The council's budget also would allow filling of some vacant jobs that had been on the chopping block, or provide money for overtime pay for others.

But administration officials say too many positions still would be lost, and that city operations would suffer.

"We sent down a balanced budget, and we don't feel any cuts to the line agencies are necessary," said Ben Lee, city managing director.

A final vote is scheduled Friday. But first, council members must decide whether to approve a tax break for agricultural land, and whether to approve hefty raises for themselves. Those issues go before the council's Budget Committee tomorrow.

A bill backed by some large landowners, and some farmers who lease property from them, would slash taxes by 95 percent for one year and could cost up to $12 million. Council budget chairwoman Ann Kobayashi said the measure is meant to protect farmers and blunt the impact of an earlier change in how taxes for agricultural land are calculated.

Others call the bill a giveaway that would mainly benefit big landowners — including those that won't grant long-term leases to farmers because they plan to rezone their land and build housing.

"More than just creating a revenue shortfall, it gives unjustified tax breaks to big land owners," Councilman Gary Okino said.

Dela Cruz said a modified version of the bill would limit how much land qualifies for the tax break, set an August deadline to apply, and allow the city to fine owners who lie about how their land is used.

But city budget director Ivan Lui-Kwan said the effect on revenues would likely be the same, and would leave the city budget unbalanced.

The council must also decide whether to allow pay raises of 21 percent for themselves and 5 percent for the mayor and several other officials. The raises would increase the salary of the council chair by $10,455, to $58,905. Pay for the other eight council members would increase by $9,350, to $52,700. The mayor's pay would increase by $5,610, rising to $117,810. The managing director and others would see raises ranging from $4,728 to $5,355.

The council's budget could also affect Harris' plan to expand curbside residential recycling islandwide. It contains a restriction that would bar recycling contracts from any company cited for federal, state or city violations over the past year.

Unless ruled illegal, the restriction would likely bar a Sand Island company that bid lowest to process recyclable material collected by the city but has been cited for lacking various permits.

Reach Johnny Brannon at jbrannon@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8070.