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There is a relatively flat property tax picture on Oahu and a need to find $71 million to pay for the first half-year of rail operations as well as other increasing expenses.
Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s administration, however, is not proposing any hikes in rates for any property tax classes.
And while golfers will need to pay more to play at municipal courses and builders will need to pay more for many land use permits and other approvals, the budget package leaves other fees unchanged, including those charged for registration and driver licensing.
The cost to ride the bus and rail could go up, although that proposal is moving on a Rate Commission timeline that’s moving independently from the budget plan.
Overall, Caldwell is calling for a $2.98 billion fiscal 2021 operating budget, which is about 5.1% higher than the $2.83 billion budget for the current fiscal year. The new budget year begins July 1.
The package also calls for a $1.27 billion capital improvements budget, which is about 8.7% higher than what the Council approved for this budget year. Most than half of that money is going toward mandated wastewater treatment projects.
Caldwell and other top officials are scheduled to hold a news conference today to detail the budget package, the eighth and final annual budget plan he is presenting as mayor. He and other Cabinet officials gave a preview Monday to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
Rail and transit issues
How much it will cost Honolulu taxpayers to pay for rail operations next year has been the biggest unanswered question at City Hall. Honolulu Authority for Rail Transportation officials project the city will be able to open the first segment, 11 miles from East Kapolei to Aloha Stadium, by the end of December.
While Caldwell and the state Department of Transportation have gone on record expressing skepticism that opening date can be achieved, the mayor is nonetheless budgeting $71.3 million for operations from December through June 30, 2021. That figure includes $26 million that will go toward a $918 million, 13-year contract to Hitachi Rail International to operate and maintain the new transit line.
Department of Transportation Services officials last week said the Hitachi contract will cost an average of $69 million annually but that the total cost to the city will run about $127 million each year, including electricity, DTS administrative costs, consultant services, legal fees and other expenses that are not part of the Hitachi agreement.
“We have a lot of one-time costs in there,” said Mark Garrity, the city’s operations and maintenance rail interface manager.
The $71.3 million also includes $2.9 million for bus service enhancements to provide an integrated transportation system and the hiring for 14 positions within the DTS, which is tasked with overseeing rail operations when it begins running.
Additionally, the mayor is proposing a $17.4 million increase, about 5.8% more, for additional services for TheBus and TheHandivan that will make it easier for folks to move from TheBus to TheHandivan and to rail.
An additional $31.4 million is being set aside for acquisition of a 1.9-acre site in the Dillingham Boulevard area that will be part of an enlarged Middle Street intermodal transit center. There also will be $35.7 million — $22 million from federal funds — that is earmarked for “intermodal connectivity improvements,” including improvements to the Waipahu Transit Center, Pearl Highlands Station access improvements, development of an Ala Moana Transit Plaza and expansion of Kekaulike Mall one block makai toward the Chinatown rail station at Nimitz Highway.
“We’re trying to have excellent bicycle and pedestrian access to all of these stations,” DTS Director Wes Frysztacki said.
>> Higher fees for municipal golf play and building and planning permit fees
Increases are planned in each of the next three years for greens fees at the island’s municipal golf courses. Eighteen holes at most courses will go to $28 on weekends and holidays for seniors and adults from the current $26. It would then go to $30 in 2022 and $32 in 2023. Weekday rates also would rise $2 for an 18-hole round in each of the next three years. The higher rates will garner the city $861,000 more in the first year.
A hodgepodge of permits and services from the Department of Planning and Permitting will rise, some of them for the second time in three years. A zoning variance, for instance, would double in price to $2,400 from $1,200. Overall, the increases are projected to net the city $2.9 million more annually.
Crime, public safety
In response to a call by Police Chief Susan Ballard to increase resources for the Honolulu Police Department to combat an uptick in major crime, the budget proposes adding 95 new positions and reactivating six positions.
All but 16 of the jobs are for sworn HPD officers.
The chief’s office is being allocated 13 sworn positions to continue development of the Health Efficiency and Long-term Planning Unit that works with the homeless community. The HELP team has so far been funded from money for other purposes.
The Department of Community Services will gain 13 new contract positions to support the Homeless Outreach and Navigation for the Unsheltered (HONU) program, a mobile initiative that moved Monday to Stadium Park in Moiliili from Waipahu.
The Honolulu Emergency Services Department is adding 36.75 positions, including 13.25 positions for emergency medical technicians and paramedics, and 23 new lifeguards to complete conversion to dawn-to-dusk service hours on Oahu beaches.
Wastewater projects
A staggering $765 million is being appropriated to pay for mandated consent decree projects, including $568.5 million for improvements just at Sand Island Waste Water Treatment Plant, the island’s largest sewage processing plant, to complete its $1.8 billion conversion to a secondary treatment facility.
The city appropriated $430 million for wastewater capital improvements for the current year.
Repaving roads
The administration is estimating it has now paved more than 2,000 lane miles, exceeding Caldwell’s goal of completing 1,500 miles during his term. Nonetheless, the budget package calls for $50 million for rehabilitation of streets primarily along major downtown thoroughfares such as Beretania Street, Ward Avenue and Punchbowl, Bishop and Queen streets; $23.6 million for the widening of Salt Lake Boulevard, $7.2 million of which will come from federal funds; $4.5 million for pavement preservation; $1.9 million for paving and pothole repair; and $1 million for a pavement condition survey.
Blaisdell Center
Despite announcing he is scaling back plans from a planned $773 million overhaul of Blaisdell Center, Caldwell is proceeding with the first part of that plan, which involves rebuilding the Blaisdell Concert Hall. The CIP budget calls for $43.6 million in the coming year, $29 million for construction.
Caldwell said he doubts the renovation can begin before he leaves office at the beginning of 2021.
WHERE THE MONEY WOULD GO
Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s proposed $2.8 billion operating budget for fiscal 2021 is 5.1% more than the 2020 fiscal budget adopted by the City Council for this year. Some highlights:
>> No new increases in tax rates for any categories
>> Hikes in golf fees and Department Planning and Permitting permit fees
>> $71.3 million for rail operations
>> 95 new and six reactivated positions in the Honolulu Police Department, all but 16 sworn officer jobs
>> 36.75 new positions in the Department of Emergency Services, including 13.25 for EMS jobs and 23 for lifeguards
>> $3.2 million for 24/7 security guard service at various parks, including the Haiku Stairs
Some of the city’s $1.27 billion 2021 capital improvements budget distribution:
>> Blaisdell Center improvements, $43.6 million
>> Waikiki War Memorial and Natatorium, $250,000
>> Islandwide park improvements, $27.4 million
>> New buses and Handivans, $30.8 million
>> Mandated wastewater system improvements, $765 million
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