Raising bus fare
to $1.75 could add
$1.7 millionAnother Council idea is to cut
department budgets by $5 million
The City Council is considering a bus fare increase of 25 cents to $1.75 a ride as part of its effort to balance the city budget.
The fare hike, the sale of a valuable piece of downtown real estate and more than $5 million in cuts to city department budgets were included in a Council plan yesterday for the $1.2 billion budget.
Raising adult bus fares from $1.50 a ride would bring in an estimated $1.7 million in revenue, the Council estimated. The cost of the four-day bus pass used by tourists will go up to $20 from $15 for additional revenue of $121,000.
The Council also plans to go along with the mayor's plan to raise $2.4 million in revenue by raising the adult monthly pass to $30 from $27.
"We kept the taxpayers in mind," said City Council Budget Chairwoman Ann Kobayashi. "We're trying to lessen the burden on all of our people. At some point, we have to start tightening the belt and start watching how we start spending our money."
Mayor Jeremy Harris and members of his administration criticized the Council's plan, saying it is not reliable and not balanced.
"And so while they add up all these cuts, they're completely irresponsible and when it gets right down to it, they are unachievable," Harris said.
The Council's latest version of the 2003-2004 fiscal operating budget, which goes into effect July 1, had to come up with about $47 million in cuts and extra revenues to balance the budget
The Council is also counting as revenue $7.7 million from the sale of the city's Block J lot, recently put on the market, bordered by Beretania Street, Pali Highway, Queen Emma and Kukui streets.
Until three years ago, Block J was slated to be the site of an affordable rental project, but those plans fizzled with the sluggish economy.
The Council is also adding in new revenues, $563,000 from fees at Blaisdell Center and $1.4 million in fees that will be charged at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Park, Central Oahu Regional Park and Hans L'Orange Baseball facility and possibly other parks.
While the Council is going with the mayor's proposal to increase property tax rates to generate $23 million, the latest draft scraps about $13 million in fees proposed by the Harris administration. The mayor said the Council's cuts will result in drastic cuts in services that will include no storm drain or stream cleaning, the closing of two satellite city halls, elimination of Sunset on the Beach and Brunch on the Beach and an idle city fleet of vehicles.
Budget Director Ivan Lui-Kwan said the Council is "double counting" revenue from the Block J sale and the Blaisdell fees because those revenues are already in the budget. He also said that revenue for the park fees are "wildly overstated."
Harris also said the Council has eliminated positions that were already filled, which means that the people in those positions will have to be laid off as a result of the budget plan.
But Kobayashi said the administration has previously said the "double-counted" items were not in the budget.
"Now all of a sudden it's in the budget," she said. "We believe what they tell us. Maybe that's a mistake, maybe we have to question more."
Kobayashi said that changes could still be made to the plan and if the Council cannot use Block J or other revenues, then more cuts will be needed.
"The administration has three choices. They can live with this budget, they can veto, or they can submit a supplemental budget so it's not the end of the world," she said. "It has not been an easy task nor one that I wanted to do but we just cannot burden our residents anymore than we need to."
Council Chairman Gary Okino said the Council is trying to find the fairest way to approach the budget. "You can see that the Council is really struggling with this budget," Okino said. "They don't want to raise taxes, they don't want to put in new fees. It's difficult to find cuts, It's really difficult to find cuts."
The budget plan also includes funding for $2.1 million in firefighter raises and $25,000 in raises for the police and fire chiefs and their deputies.
The Council's Budget Committee will hold a hearing on the budget plan tomorrow and another hearing on the fee and tax proposals Friday.
Final approval is scheduled for June 4.
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Budget bites
Here are highlights of the City Council's latest proposal to balance the city's $1.2 billion operating budget for the next fiscal year:>> Increase bus fares at the box to $1.75 from $1.50 a ride to generate an extra $1.7 million. Raise the four-day visitor bus pass price to $20 from $15 for $121,500 in revenue. The administration has already proposed a hike to $30 from $27 for the adult monthly pass.
>> Use $7.7 million from the sale of so-called "Block J" municipal parking lot in downtown.
>> New fee schedule at Blaisdell estimated to bring in an extra $563,400.
>> Charging professional teams and other groups for use of some city parks estimated to bring in $1.4 million.
>> Eliminate administration-proposed new fees and fee increases for satellite city hall counter, trash pickup fee, commercial hauling, Hanauma Bay, and spay and neuter.
>> Keep the mayor's plan to increase property taxes, raising $23 million.
>> Cut department budgets by a little more than $5 million.
The mayor's response
Mayor Jeremy Harris says these are some of the impacts to services if the Council's proposed cuts go forward:>> Insufficient funding to clean storm drains and steams, incurring $25,000-a-day violations of the federal Clean Water Act.
>> Trash cans in Waikiki and Downtown won't be emptied.
>> Economic development programs such as Brunch on the Beach, Sunset on the Beach and the Film Office will be gone.
>> Two satellite city halls will close, meaning longer lines at other satellite city halls.
>> Shortage of funds for automotive parts will mean street cleanings, ambulances and other city vehicles will be idle longer.
>> At least three people laid off.
Star-Bulletin staff
