StarBulletin.com

Council ax hovers over programs


By

POSTED: Tuesday, April 13, 2010

The Royal Hawaiian Band, along with Summer Fun for children, programs for seniors and even city departments could be on the chopping block as the City Council looks for areas to trim the operating budget for the upcoming fiscal year.

Cuts—which might also be coupled with selective tax hikes—could be drastic depending on what happens across the street at the Legislature.

State lawmakers are still deciding whether to scoop any or all of the $94 million in hotel room tax money that normally would go to counties. A Senate proposal would cap the amount going to counties at $50 million, translating to a loss of about $20 million for Honolulu. State lawmakers almost scooped the hotel room tax money last year, but in the end chose to leave it alone.

“;Our fate is not entirely decided on our own,”; said Council Budget Chairman Nestor Garcia. “;In trying to prepare our people for that ax to fall on the other side of the street, I proposed the cuts that I did.”;

Garcia's proposed cuts include $1.9 million for the Royal Hawaiian Band, as well as lesser appropriations for the Office of Economic Development, the Mayor's Office on Culture and the Arts and the Neighborhood Commission. Summer Fun and other recreational programs also were on the list.

;

Most programs were spared yesterday as the Budget Committee took its initial shot at the budget, pending the fate of the hotel room tax money and more input from the Council and the community.

The proposed budget goes before the full Council at its next public meeting April 21, when Garcia expects the public to weigh in after learning of the proposed cuts. A handful of testifiers showed up yesterday to support the Royal Hawaiian Band and speak against social service cuts such as a proposed elimination of the Leeward Coast Community Benefit Program.

“;No one else represents the city like the Royal Hawaiian Band,”; said Antoinette Lee, president of the Friends of the Royal Hawaiian Band. “;It is one of the last living links to Hawaii's monarchy.”;

The Budget Committee also cut back on city spending with a 1.5 percent across-the-board reduction on operating expenses and 10 percent cuts to allocations for vacant funded positions. Though some agencies said the cuts might result in “;warm body”; layoffs, Council Chairman Todd Apo said he heard nothing that convinced him the restrictions were unwarranted.

“;I haven't been convinced it's an impossibility for any of them,”; Apo said.

Garcia said it is too early to say whether tax hikes would be needed, but he has proposed two: a 3 cents per gallon increase in the fuel tax and a tripling of the minimum property tax for nonprofits to a flat rate of $300 per year.

The increase would raise about $2.4 million, with Garcia proposing to put half of that into the general fund and the other half toward a new grant-in-aid program for social service providers.

Other savings would come from reduction in the contingency fund for each Council member by $2,000 and the elimination of $123,000 to broadcast committee hearings on Olelo.