Mayor Kirk Caldwell indicated he likely would allow 4 percent pay increases for himself and department heads to take effect as proposed Monday by the Honolulu Salary Commission.
Questions linger over the proposed increases, however, as several members of the City Council, which still must OK the raises, were either noncommittal or said they are inclined to reject the raises.
The 4 percent increase was also recommended by the commission to apply to Council members.
The commission proposed that the police chief and his deputies receive a higher increase — 5.5 percent — in an effort to ensure their pay would stay higher than their most senior employees at the Honolulu Police Department.
Commission Chairwoman Sara Buehler said, "We want to make sure that the heads of departments are being paid more than their subordinates."
Last week the commission voted to give the medical examiner and deputy medical examiner significant boosts to draw more applicants to jobs that have been difficult to fill for a number of years.
The proposals will go to a public hearing scheduled for 1:30 p.m. April 16 before the commission takes a final vote.
If approved, they would then go to the City Council, which can vote to approve or reject each recommendation but cannot tinker with the numbers.
Assuming the Council does vote to let the commission’s recommendations become law, Caldwell appointees and other non-civil servants could in reality be seeing significantly higher paychecks.
That’s because since 2009 all the city’s civil service employees have been required to take a 5 percent pay reduction due to tough budgetary times. Department heads and their deputies have "voluntarily" taken similar cuts first under Mayors Mufi Hannemann and Peter Carlisle and continued by Caldwell.
Caldwell has proposed that the 5 percent pay reduction be eliminated, in what’s being referred to at City Hall as a "snap back," on July 1. City budget officials have estimated the cost of restoring the cuts at about $25.4 million annually. The state is also proposing a similar action for state employees, the mayor said.
Caldwell told reporters he wants to examine the commission’s findings closely but likely will allow his department heads to take any increases that are approved. He said he purposely did not offer any recommendations to the commission so it could do its job.
"Obviously, I believe that people should be compensated for their hard work," the mayor said, adding that some of his Cabinet members left much better-paying jobs to join his team. Some prospective department heads ultimately declined because of the financial impact of joining the city, he said.
"I think everyone who came from the private sector took the cut, made the sacrifice, and so a little bit of an increase would help alleviate some of that pain and keep them here," he said.
Council Chairman Ernie Martin, in a statement, said he is inclined to reject any pay increases.
The commission’s recommendations are "thoughtful and fair," Martin said. "But although we are close to turning the corner on economic recovery, we are not quite there yet. As such, I would be personally inclined to reject any salary increase at this time as there are many other pressing needs to be met. It will mean a similar judgment call for the mayor to support or reject the proposed increases for himself and members of his Cabinet."
Councilman Breene Harimoto said, "I personally would have a hard time taking a salary increase at this particular point in time."
He added, "We still have a lot of budget issues. We still have a lot of people out of work. Maybe we shouldn’t take a salary increase until we can put a dent in the homeless issue, resolve some of those other issues."
Council Budget Chairwoman Ann Kobayashi said she wants to look at the overall budget picture before deciding whether to support the commission’s recommendations. She said she’s also concerned about high salaries among appointed aides in the offices of the mayor and managing director. Those positions are not covered by the commission.
"We just want to be fair to everyone," Kobayashi said.
Last year the commission voted to give most agency heads a 3 percent increase. Then-Mayor Peter Carlisle, who had urged his Cabinet to continue taking voluntary pay cuts of 5 percent, left it up to those appointees whether to take the 3 percent increases. Assistant Human Resources Director Noel Ono said some chose to take the 3 percent increases while others did not. Those who did saw the 5 percent cuts implemented after the 3 percent increases, he said.
