The Big Island and Kauai submitted supplemental budgets after the close of the state legislative session, say officials from both counties.
"The recent action by both Kauai and the Big Island enhances the chance that Oahu will follow suit," City Councilman Duke Bainum said yesterday.
The Hawaii Firefighters Association won a two-year 7.2 percent pay increase for the state's 1,658 firefighters through arbitration. The award was confirmed last month by Circuit Judge Daniel Heely when it was challenged by the state and counties.
Bainum, Finance Committee chairman, has been meeting with other Council members on funding the pay increase and said he hopes to have a decision by Monday afternoon.
"Underlying all of this, the City Council has long been supportive of firefighters," Bainum said. "It just didn't know if it had the money or not and it's looking better."
If the city decides to include the raises, it will have to come up with slightly more than $4 million. Bainum said $1.1 million would be budgeted for the current fiscal year that ends June 30. The remainder would be a part of next fiscal year's budget.
"I don't know yet where the money's coming from, not specifically," he said.
Bainum said the Legislature's reduction of the counties' contribution to the employee retirement system and failure to cap the city's share of the hotel room tax "leaves the city in a little better financial shape."
The Council's decision will not be made formal until May 20, when the second draft of its budget becomes available, Bainum said.
Bainum met with the firefighters' union yesterday to update officials.
Union business manager Francis Kennedy said he "didn't leave disappointed, but I wasn't given any guarantees ... no promises were made."
He added that he hopes both of the remaining counties, Honolulu and Maui, would take up the issue before next fiscal year. "We do still feel that if not legally, certainly, morally, they have an obligation to uphold the arbitration process," Kennedy said.
But Maui County has not taken up the issue of the pay raise and is in the position to take up the matter separately whenever it chooses to, Mayor Linda Lingle said.
"The financial condition of Maui County is such that no matter what they (Council members) decide it won't have an earth-shattering effect on our budget," Lingle said. The $1.2 million the county needs if it funds the raise would come from money freed from retirement system contributions, she said.
Harry Takahashi, Big Island finance director, said Hawaii County is also counting on revenue from the retirement system reduction, but is not sure where the $1.7 million it needs will come from.
Kauai County costs were not available.