Caldwell’s budget worth considering

Honolulu is on the cusp of enormous changes, and the current budget cycle at Honolulu Hale includes several decision points that could drive the city in one direction or another.

The $5.3 billion rail project has been given the final go-ahead, and the window of opportunity to realize some of its long-promised "transit oriented development" (TOD) potential is opening.

The rail stops could be a catalyst for enhancements, or they could fall flat.

Honolulu could accelerate its program of backlogged road and sewer repairs, or it could slow the pace to fit fiscal constraints, or it could settle somewhere in between.

And perhaps most urgently officials could finally move ahead on addressing its homelessness crisis, or they could find reasons to stall and bicker.

All of the above involves money, and Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s proposed 2015 budget $2.15 billion for operating and $640 million for capital improvements offers a rational starting point for the discussions that will happen before the City Council.

Some items should be negotiable, and a number of the mayor’s revenue assumptions will be revised downward, forcing some recalibration of priorities.

But the mayor and Council must take the first step now, committing to solutions, rather than turning promising initiatives into political footballs.

No issue fits this narrative better than homelessness. Caldwell has proposed allotting $18.9 million from the city’s Affordable Housing Fund to the Housing First program, and carving out $3 million to fund support services for the chronically homeless who would be housed.

It’s hard to dispute the success of Housing First, a strategy recognized as effective across the country. It provides units free to the most chronically homeless people so they can first get off the streets and then be helped by social outreach for their health problems.

However, Council Chairman Ernie Martin already has taken issue with the proposal because he favors spending public funds on families, rather than on the individuals who are the largest sector of the chronically homeless.

Certainly, some of the outlay has to be for families, especially given the appalling- ly unhealthy conditions confronted by children in the tent slums sprouting around the island.

However, there is a reason why advocates prioritize a narrower sector of the homeless population. At least initially, that is where the emphasis belongs.

Nationally, the federal funding support for Housing First has largely targeted those with some combination of physical or mental health issues and substance abuse concerns. The idea is that these people keep cycling through the social service and criminal justice systems in a way that leaves them vulnerable and compounds costs to the public. Providing stable housing interrupts this cycle and reduces recidivism.

Further, those served are likely to include children of adults with chronic problems, so some families will be helped. In any case, the Council and the mayor’s office must find common ground and make measurable progress, without delay.

Elsewhere on the mayor’s ledger there is more room for debate. On the spending side, Caldwell proposes $4.4 million for TOD planning and $20.3 million for TOD infrastructure enhancements such sewage and streets and these are wise investments.

A cautionary note: Some of these rail stops present a golden opportunity to realize major improvements the city needs the Blaisdell Center redevelopment in particular. The mayor should lead by committing to a blueprint that compromises as little as possible on the goal: creating a world-class cultural plaza.

On the revenue side, the inclusion of "Residential A" funds is critical. This money will be garnered from the new property-tax category for nonresident owners of homes worth $1 million or more.

This program should be evaluated in the coming years to gauge its effect on rentals. But a further tapping of the higher-end properties is defensible to help close the city’s overall revenue gap of $46.6 million, especially given measures taken to narrow the deficit to that point.

The mayor was right to pare some 618 unfilled positions from the budget and to compel each department to defend all expenditures.

Another justifiable increase in property taxes is being eyed for hotels and resorts: Caldwell has penciled in revenue from a proposed bump in the hotel property tax rate, which would yield an additional $8.2 million.

Ultimately the city will have to find alternative sources of revenue or cut services. It falls to the Council to propose them, and to reconsider some that they’ve already shrugged off such as the $10 monthly garbage collection fee.

Prematurely shelved, this proposal would prompt needed discussion on making garbage service cost-sharing more equitable. Schools and various nonprofits, for example, have an overly generous exemption from that burden now.

Overall, the mayor’s businesslike approach to the budget is to be applauded. But the public interest, not business, is at the core of any city spending plan; the primary directive for the elected officials crafting it is to keep that interest foremost in mind.