Retired bank executive Don Horner has been reappointed to the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation’s board of directors by Mayor Kirk Caldwell.

Currently vice chairman of the HART board, he has been a board member for four years. His new, five-year term begins next month.

The 11-member, voluntary HART board oversees the city’s $6 billion rail project, the most expensive public works project in the state’s history.

Caldwell, in a news release Tuesday, cited Horner’s financial background as important for the board “as HART contends with controlling expenses in this environment of rising construction costs.”

NEIGHBOR ISLANDS

Hawaii island leads in population growth

KAILUA-KONA » Hawaii island’s population is still growing faster than Maui, Kauai and Honolulu, according to recently released U.S. Census Bureau data for 2014.

More than 10,500 people became Hawaii state residents between 2013 and July 1, 2014. More than 2,700 of those new residents chose to settle down on Hawaii island, growing the population by 1.45 percent, West Hawaii Today reported Thursday.

Maui saw a 1.39 percent increase, and Kauai experienced a 1.14 percent boost. Honolulu saw growth of less than half a percent.

Hawaii is one of five states where the median age of the population statewide is getting younger. Meanwhile, the number of residents over age 65 is on the incline.

Research and Economic Analysis Administrator Eugene X. Tian said that’s a paradox that struck him the most. “There’s been an increase in younger population, but we’re still one of the oldest states,” Tian said.

About 77 percent of the state’s residents are of minority races. Hawaii is one of four states nationwide to record majority minority populations.

Census data helps the federal government determine how to allocate its budgets, and helps communities decide where to build roads and schools.