Hawaii island mayor plans to reject pending pay increase

Big Island Mayor Billy Kenoi is eligible for a nearly 21 percent raise in his annual income, to $132,000, but he says he won’t take it.

Kenoi wouldn’t be the first mayor to reject a pay increase.

Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell currently earns $129,607 after voluntarily reducing his own salary for this fiscal year by about $12,000, and is considering whether to accept an 8 percent pay increase for the coming fiscal year, which begins July 1.

The proposed increase from the Honolulu Salary Commission would boost the mayor’s pay to $153,239 from $141,888. Caldwell has not yet decided what he will do this year, his spokesman Jesse Broder Van Dyke said Wednesday.

According to the Hawaii Tribune-Herald, Kenoi, and Hawaii County managers and County Council members, will see pay hikes under a plan advanced Tuesday by the county Salary Commission.

The raises, which are expected to be approved by the Salary Commission July 8, would have an effective date of July 1.

Kenoi’s $22,848 raise would bring his annual salary to $132,000. Kenoi has repeatedly said he doesn’t want a raise, but Commissioner Brian De Lima said the mayor’s opinion isn’t relevant.

Kenoi now earns $109,152 annually.

"We’re not giving a person, we’re giving the position, the salary," De Lima told the Hilo newspaper.

Kenoi reiterated his feelings to the paper Tuesday. He said he would work with the Finance Department and the Human Resources Department to ensure the money is donated to the United Way.

"I’m not taking a dollar of that raise," Kenoi said. "I made that promise, and it’s a promise that I intend to keep."

Hawaii County Managing Director Wally Lau would get a $15,056 raise to $119,000, and Deputy Managing Director Randy Kurohara would get a $16,000 raise to $115,000, the Tribune-Herald reported.

Hawaii Council members would get an 8.3 percent raise, increasing their pay by $4,000 annually to $52,000. The Council chairman would make $58,000 a year, up $6,000 annually, or 11.5 percent, the newspaper said.

Honolulu’s nine Council members take home $52,446 annually, about $3,000 less than state lawmakers. The Salary Commission has recommended boosting Council members’ salaries by 8 percent to $56,642 with Council Chairman Ernie Martin earning more at $63,284 because of his position. Martin and Budget Chairwoman Ann Kobayashi urged the commission to lower its recommendations by 50 percent, to 4 percent raises.

The Council could have rejected part or all of the commission’s recommendations but did not. Council members haven’t received a raise in five years.

The annual salary of Kauai Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. has been $114,490 since he was first elected. Carvalho will seek re-election for his second full term in office.

Kauai’s seven County Council members earn $56,781.

Maui’s nine county councilmen are paid $76,475 annually while Mayor Alan Arakawa earns $135,696.