Council ponders cuts "Still not enough."
to avoid tax hikes
As deadlines loom, officials
On the chopping block
try to find alternatives to
help balance the budgetBy Crystal Kua
ckua@starbulletin.comThose are the words Council Budget Chairwoman Ann Kobayashi repeats as she tries to find places to cut in the city's operating budget to avoid having to raise fees and taxes.
"Close my eyes and throw a dart," she kidded. "This is a tough one."
Mayor Jeremy Harris is proposing property tax rate increases totaling $23 million and another $23 million in fee hikes as part of the plan to balance the city's $1.1 billion budget that takes effect July 1.
Kobayashi's committee will hold two special meetings this week to ready the Council's version of the budget in time for a public hearing April 30.
There will be meetings today and Thursday at 9 a.m. in the Council committee room.
The budget chairwoman had hoped to have the budget draft completed, but those working on it are having difficulty finding enough cuts to avoid having to raise some of the fees, she said.
"How can an average person pay all of this, those fees and taxes?" she said.
"That's why we're having a hard time, that's why we don't have a (draft) ready yet, because we're looking everywhere for money we can cut."
To complicate matters, Kobayashi said, she questions the revenue projections calculated by the administration, suggesting they could be on the high side.
In particular, she pointed to the $800,000 estimated revenue that will be generated by a proposed $2 Satellite City Hall counter transaction fee.
"It just sounds excessive," she said.
She also pointed to the $8 million that could come from an $8 fee for a second day of trash pickup in a plan to start curbside recycling.
"I don't know that there's going to be that many that are going to pay that."
If those projections are too high, she added, further cuts could be expected. To help Kobayashi formulate the first draft of changes, Council members submitted their ideas on where cuts could made.
Councilman Charles Djou submitted 53 pages' worth of across-the-board cuts totaling $24 million, which would be enough to offset the proposed property tax increase that he opposes.
To accomplish this, Djou proposed slashing the "current expenses" portion of each department budget by 25 percent to 75 percent. Djou said that on the surface the cuts may seem extreme, but his cuts amount to only 2 percent of the mayor's overall budget.
But others on the Council say that it is unlikely they will follow the approach taken by Djou.
"I think some of the big across-the-board cuts, I don't think that's going to fly. That would just cripple all the departments. So it's got to be something more reasonable," Council Chairman Gary Okino said.
Kobayashi said, "That'll shut down half the departments, which means laying off a lot of people."
Kobayashi said the cuts being proposed by Councilwoman Barbara Marshall are more in line with what they are looking at. Marshall's proposal includes closing at least one Satellite City Hall and using some of the savings she has found to restore money to public safety agencies such as the Prosecutor's Office, the Fire Department and lifeguard services. "But it's still not enough," Kobayashi said.
Okino has been trying to determine which services are core functions of city government.
"Instead of across-the-board cuts, I think we should look at different functions, and if we think it's not necessary, we reduce those rather than make everyone dysfunctional," he said.
To that end, several Council members have targeted the city's Office of Economic Development and the Sunset and Brunch on the Beach events with either elimination or hefty cuts.
Manny Menendez, executive director of the Office of Economic Development, disputed claims by some Council members that his office duplicates state functions.
"Our role is much different than the state's in that we are hands-on," Menendez said. "Our job, our mission, is to support businesses so that the businesses stay in business, that they not only survive, but they thrive so that they pay their taxes and provide jobs."
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On the chopping block
Here are some of the ideas proposed by members of the City Council as deletions and additions to next year's city operating budget submitted by Mayor Jeremy Harris. Also included is how they justified their actions:
Romy Cachola
>> $10,800 -- Cut to City Council contingency fund as alternative to raising taxes and fees and cutting expenditures. "This fund should be deferred for a couple of years."
>> $325,000 -- Delete Economic Development Activities including $140,000 each for Brunch on the Beach and Sunset on the Beach. "Due to the financial condition of the city, these programs should be deferred for a couple of years."
>> $150,000 -- Cut contractual services for fourth-grade bike education and safety program. "This program is nice to have but not essential considering the city's fiscal condition."
Charles Djou
>> $690,778 -- Across-the-board cuts to City Council and legislative agencies (City Clerk and Council Services) budget of $8.6 million. "Insufficient revenue for the City Council to be funded at the same levels as in the past."
>> $24.4 million -- Across-the-board cuts to the Executive Budget including 25 percent to 75 percent cuts to individual department current expenses. Funding for Economic Development Office also cut. "There are insufficient funds to provide departments with the same level of funding as in past years."
Mike Gabbard
>> $250,000 -- Designated amount from $99 million refuse collection and disposal fund for design, engineering and environmental evaluation of a new municipal landfill. "Absent such earmarking, the work may not begin until ... July 1, 2004."
Barbara Marshall
>> $490,000 -- Deleted from $800,500 Economic Development Office Budget. Includes $140,000 each for Brunch on the Beach and Sunset on the Beach. "In this austere budget year, we cannot afford to fund these programs. The funds would be better spent on public safety."
>> $450,000 -- Restores cuts made by the administration to the City Prosecutor's Office. Includes merit pay for deputies, hiring additional attorneys and fund legal staff. "The prosecuting attorney has requested these funds, and they are funded by appropriate cuts."
>> $639,044 -- Added as matching-grant funds for various Fire Department operations.
>> $96,091 -- Amount to close at least one of the 11 Satellite City Halls. "Our lean budget year calls for fiscal austerity. No positions would be cut because the personnel from the closed Satellite City Hall would be relocated."
>> $218,264 -- Cut to Satellite City Hall renovation. "We cannot afford to fund optional renovation of Satellite City Halls."
>> $1.5 million -- Cut contracted recycling services.
Gary Okino
>> $800,500 -- Delete current expenses for Economic Development Activities. "These programs are difficult to justify during tough fiscal situations when funding for public safety and direct revenue-generating functions are being decreased."
>> $500,000 -- Amount of decrease in salaries and wages for Office of Economic Development. "Positions not necessary since funding for programs and functions of the office have been deleted."
City & County of Honolulu
