Neighbor isles make
room for cop raisesMaui, Kauai and Hawaii
counties say they have the money
Two neighbor island counties have budgeted money to pay for police officer raises. The third, Kauai, said the money is available even if it doesn't appear in the county budget.
An arbitrator awarded police officers across the state 16 percent pay raises over a four-year contract. This year's 4 percent raise is retroactive to July 1.
The City & County of Honolulu is trying to figure out how to come up with the $5.7 million needed for the raises in the first year. No money was budgeted for the increase and tax increases are being considered, according to Mayor Jeremy Harris.
On Maui, which has the second-largest police force in the state at 450 officers, $800,000 was included in this year's county budget for police pay increases. That's on top of the $13 million needed to pay salaries this year without any increase.
"We're in a position to pay the full increase," said Ken Taira, first assistant to the managing director. "All the administration is going to do is submit the contract to the County Council for their agreement."
Gary Takamura, chief budget officer for Hawaii County, said the Council budgeted $1.2 million for increases for both firefighters and police officers this year. He said the portion going to police officers is not separated in the budget but he is confident there is enough money. The county has about 400 officers.
On Kauai, no money was budgeted for a pay raise for police, said Finance Director Mike Tresler.
Tresler said he has not calculated the dollar amount that will be needed but is certain it can be found. Kauai has about 140 officers.
"Clearly we didn't budget for it, but we're going to have a greater surplus than we estimated earlier and I'm sure we can afford it," he said.
