Honolulu City Council approves $3.4B budget

The Honolulu City Council on Wednesday unanimously approved the city’s $3.41 billion operating budget and a $1.34 billion capital improvement plan for the 2024 fiscal year, which begins July 1.

Overall, the budget approval sees $43 million more toward bolstering the city’s police force, $170 million to acquire and develop future affordable housing sites and $35 million in funding to provide services to aid the homeless.

On a related vote, the Council unanimously approved a bill to increase by $50 the Blangiardi administration’s initial $300 one-time tax credit that it sought to give to nearly 152,000 qualifying homeowners.

The newly approved $350 tax rebate — costing the city about $53.2 million to implement — will be granted to those with an active home exemption on their 2023 assessment, regardless of property value. The city says the $350 tax rebate will equal a real property tax exemption of $100,000.

Prior to the votes, Council Chair Tommy Waters told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that next year’s budget provides greater funding toward more housing and fighting homelessness.

“To that end, the proposed mayor’s budget offered $100 million in capital improvement monies for affordable housing,” Waters said in an email. “Throughout the budget process, the Council has added an additional $70 million on top of that $100 million initially proposed to address the purchase and/or development of affordable housing.”

The Council added $20 million to the original $15 million proposed by the mayor for homeless service facilities, bringing the total to $35 million, he said.

“These facilities can provide social services such as job training, assign actual case workers to each person, and provide resources to move into shelters and permanent housing,” he said.

To fill approximately 390 vacancies within the Honolulu Police Department, Waters said the Council added more funding to a police force that has 2,100 sworn officers.

“For this reason, the Council has increased HPD’s budget by $43 million, $35 million of which is going to fund the patrol division,” he said.

The Council also unanimously approved the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation’s more than $108.9 million operating budget for next fiscal year — a $14.5 million increase over its current adopted budget of $94.5 million. According to city staff, the $108.9 million includes $103.5 million for debt service, as well as $1.5 million for other city charges, with the remaining amount meant for salaries and current expenses, or about $3.8 million.

The panel also approved HART’s proposed 2024 fiscal year capital budget that totals about $569.2 million, a 7% increase over the current fiscal year’s CIP budget of $531.9 million.

No outside employment

Also during the meeting, the Council considered the first readings of two pieces of legislation that offer changes to the workings of the City Council itself.

If approved, Bill 33 and Resolution 109 — co-introduced by Waters and Vice Chair Esther Kia‘aina on May 25 — would prohibit Council members from holding any outside employment or having financial gain beyond an elective Council seat.

Resolution 109 — a proposed amendment to the Honolulu City Charter, effectively the city’s constitution — would formally prevent a Council member from maintaining any outside employment, having any controlling interest in a business or receive any salary, wage, allowance, stipend or profit from an outside business interest while working as a public servant.

As drafted, the proposed charter amendment is targeted toward the 2024 general election ballot, and, if approved by voters, takes effect Jan. 1, 2025.

Bill 33 would, by a vote of the Council, become an ordinance and be nearly identical in its intent to Resolution 109, except this new law would begin Jan. 1, a year ahead of Resolution 109’s voter-approved charter amendment.

Introduction of the twin legislation follows the Honolulu Salary Commission’s adoption of pay hikes for the city’s top elected and appointed officials, including the City Council.

As adopted April 25, the annual salary of an individual Council member would rise 64.4% to $113,304, up from $68,904, while the yearly salary of the Council chair — who leads the nine-member panel — would jump to $123,288 from $76,968, a 60.2% increase.

The Salary Commission’s adopted pay hikes start July 1 unless rejected entirely or in part of a three-quarters vote — or seven votes — of the Council’s entire membership, according to the City Charter.

Two days after the Salary Commission’s decision, Council members Augie Tulba and Andria Tupola co-introduced their own resolutions — 81 and 82, respectively — that, if approved, would either wholly or partially nix the Salary Commission’s adopted salary schedules for the 2024 fiscal year as well as any new pay hikes for Council members.

To date, neither Tulba’s nor Tupola’s resolutions has been scheduled for Council review or discussion, including at Wednesday’s meeting.

And before the meeting, Tulba and Council member Radiant Cordero both claimed they would not accept their pending Council pay raise.

Many from the public spoke at the meeting in opposition — and anger — over Council legislation banning outside employment as well as the panel’s pending pay increases.

“I think it’s a good conversation but as you know the 64% pay increase and this (legislation) has all become quite messed up,” Choon James said. “There is no specific language in this resolution here that states full time; it doesn’t mean that the next chair is not going to come for more compensation because they feel that this is really full time.”

Natalie Iwasa said instead of having city salaries set by the current form of the Honolulu Salary Commission — which is mayor and Council appointed — that other outside organizations such as Common Cause or League of Women Voters should be tapped to do that work in the future.

“It seems like these are all good governance organizations and if we had representatives from those organizations on the Salary Commission that it would be more independent and people would actually feel that it is a more independent process,” Iwasa said.

Jack James said he believed Bill 33 was too restrictive on individual Council members’ personal rights to earn money outside of their public servant work.

“I believe we’ve gone beyond where we should,” James said. “I think the public ought to do that; I think it ought to be a charter question.”

Later, Kia‘aina would ask that Bill 33 be pulled from the Council agenda “so that it not be voted on today.” Waters, as chair, pulled Bill 33 from the Council agenda and no vote was held on that measure.

Ultimately, Council voted 7-2, with Tulba and Tupola dissenting, to advance Resolution 109 to a Council committee for further review and public discussion.