At Honolulu Hale, budget season is much like watching the “Survivor” reality series where only the strong reach the bitter end. And the Council members who gather the most rations for their constituents usually aren’t voted off the island — especially in an election year.
Among the myriad budget items, Council members kept alive $20 million to tackle homelessness —
including $2 million to bring home to each district — and sent the Honolulu
Authority for Rapid Transportation (HART) packing by approving significant cuts to the rail agency’s staffing and office space.
The City Council budget process ended Wednesday when it passed a $2.33 billion operating budget and $940 million capital improvements package for the fiscal year that starts July 1.
HART’s budgets, which are separate from the city’s operating and capital improvements budgets, were dealt a significant blow, with punitive undertones.
The rail agency has been under fire for cost overruns, with federal officials estimating the transit system’s price tag will be $8.1 billion.
HART’s $19.26 million operating budget was cut $807,000 for office space rent, about $570,000 in salaries and $1 million for attorneys’ fees.
While sure to squeeze HART operations, the money “saved” would go toward creation of a $2 million transit mitigation fund for landowners and businesses harmed by rail construction. A mitigation fund would certainly buoy suffering businesses — as well as their attitudes toward Council members — but it’s worrisome how downsizing of HART personnel and space at Alii Place might hurt the rail project.
HART stands to lose a dozen planners, engineers and project managers at a time when construction is ramping up, said HART Executive Director Dan Grabauskas, who contends it “will be a stress.” Reducing staff quantity makes sense only if quality doesn’t suffer.
As for homelessness and the city’s capital improvements plan (CIP) budget, Council members took a dubious turn away from a desired comprehensive strategy. Although $20 million of CIP was allotted to help the homeless, $18 million of it would be spread across the nine Council districts evenly at $2 million apiece.
Considering that some districts’ homeless situations are far more serious than others, it’s difficult to see the wisdom here. For starters, it’s questionable how much lasting progress can be made with $2 million per district for “land acquisition, lease, development and/or renovation of facilities for urban rest stops, navigation centers, workforce/affordable housing, and other community-focused projects initiated by community stakeholders.”
Further, it’s unclear how exactly this will work since it would force the administration to take direction from the Council. While stakeholder participation is important, piecemeal planning rarely produces optimal results.
What is needed is a well-thought-out plan, with a list of priority projects and corresponding costs. Instead, the $2 million rations seem like slush funds for each Council member’s district.
Noticeably absent from the budget is the $470,000 Mayor Kirk Caldwell had requested to set up a new eight-person Asset Development and Management Division. It’s disgraceful the City Council couldn’t see fit to provide even partial funding to beef up staff to accelerate acquisitions for affordable housing, to create much-needed housing stock to help shed the state’s unenviable distinction of having the nation’s highest per-capita rate of homelessness.
In fiscal 2015, 14,954 people accessed homeless services such as shelters or social-service outreach, according to a new study by the University of Hawaii’s Center on the Family. That statistic underscores the need for a comprehensive — not disjointed — plan to reduce homelessness, as well as additional funding.
That’s why every dollar should be accounted for, even when dealing with
$2 billion-plus budgets. Councilman Brandon Elefante and the administration rightly questioned the addition of $6.4 million in nonprofit grants inserted into the city operating budget by some Council members. The add-ons went beyond the $5.9 million already set aside for nonprofits through City Charter-
mandated grants-in-aid.
Much like the “Survivor” series, the City Council’s budget processes feature bartering, political maneuvering and forming alliances. Last week’s finale voted HART off the island, and awarded each Council member a $2 million bonus prize to take home.
