Harris calls city
budget illegalThe mayor says he will allow
most items to take effect anyway
Mayor Jeremy Harris said next year's nearly $1.2 billion operating budget passed by the City Council is defective and illegal, but he will not take the Council to court and will allow most of the budget to become law without his signature.
"The dilemma that we faced is how to, with the least inconvenience to our taxpayers, deal with the flawed budget that has been transmitted to us," Harris said.
He said he plans to use his line-item veto power on one part of the budget and not enact another part of the budget that city lawyers have determined violates the City Charter.
The city's top civil attorney, Corporation Counsel David Arakawa, said this is the first time in the six years he has been on the job that his office has not signed off on the budget as being a legal document.
And while the mayor and Council may not end up fighting in court, Harris and Arakawa said that not having a budget deemed legal opens the city up to legal challenges by taxpayers, employees or others.
"There's nothing to stop that," Harris said. "Virtually any taxpayer can sue."
Council Budget Chairwoman Ann Kobayashi said she stands behind the budget the Council passed and has faith in the advice given to her by Council staff and lawyers.
"We're certainly not going to roll over. We're standing up to any challenge," Kobayashi said.
But the larger legal issue, Harris said, is that the Council went against the advice of the Corporation Counsel's Office and violated the City Charter when it transferred eight positions and their $361,000 in salaries from the Budget and Fiscal Services Department to Community Services Department. Those positions oversee the administration of federal grants.
Harris said that he will not enact that portion of the budget because what the Council did amounted to a reorganization, which under the Charter is a power given to the executive branch.
Harris said he will also not approve the Council's creation of several new positions, which also violates the Charter.
One of his options to resolve the legal questions would have been to take the City Council to court.
"I have elected not to do that because I think it's going to be disruptive to our city operations, and I think it's going to be costly for us to enter into a court battle between the administration and the City Council," Harris said. "However, I cannot the sign the budget when there are known illegalities in the budget."
Kobayashi said that she does not foresee the Council taking legal action against the administration, either. "We certainly wouldn't do that."
The mayor will also delete a provision in the budget that specifies that a $400,000 appropriation be used to acquire land as part of the settlement of the lawsuit over the parcels near Sandy Beach known as Golf Course 5 and 6. Harris said there already is money set aside for that purpose.
Harris said that the Council overestimated revenues from park fees, property taxes, Blaisdell Center fees and bus fares by more than $2.1 million. He said that will have to be reflected in further cuts in bus service and other city operations.
Kobayashi said, "He sounded like he was so unhappy with the budget, but he had his options."
The operating budget bill includes:
>> The mayor's $23 million property tax hike. Property tax rate changes will see single-family homeowners paying 2.7 percent more in taxes.
>> Single adult bus fares rising by 25 cents, to $1.75. The adult monthly pass also goes up by $3, to $30.
>> A two-tier spay and neuter fee schedule will see the cost to sterilize dogs and cats more than double in most cases. Low-income residents with EBT (electronic benefit transfer) cards will see a decrease by paying $20.
>> An increase in the nonresident admission fee to Hanauma Bay to $5 from $3.
>> A sewer connection fee increase to $4,641 from $1,146. Various building permits will also rise.
Harris said he also has problems with the capital improvement and legislative budgets but will allow those budgets and most of the accompanying operating budget bills also to become law without him signing them.
The budgets go into effect July 1.
