The Honolulu City Council on Wednesday unanimously passed a $2.92 billion budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1.
The budget is about
$10 million more than the one submitted to the City Council by Mayor Rick Blangiardi in March, which was $73 million less than the previous year.
Blangiardi’s proposed budget instituted a city hiring freeze and had no increase in property taxes, but included a $13 increase in the fee to get into the Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve for nonresidents over age 13, which the Council
included in the budget it passed.
The Council also approved the Capital Improvement Program budget of $1.403 billion, which is about $400 million more than Blangiardi’s proposal.
Some key amendments made to both the CIP budget and the operating budget included $1.15 million
for stream cleaning and maintenance, $170 million for affordable housing,
$22.6 million in additional homeless services and $300,000 for software updates for the Department of Planning and Permitting.
The Council also reinstated funding for post-employment health benefits, which were originally left out of Blangiardi’s proposal as a cost-saving measure. Instead, the Council repurposed funds that had previously been dedicated to interim operation of the Honolulu rail system, which will likely be further delayed. The city can make the contributions anytime before June 30, 2022, so the payment would not be made until after savings, if any, from the delayed start of rail are calculated.
Blangiardi was enthusiastic about the Council’s budget, which is now being sent to him for approval.
“We are committed to making sure every dollar will be spent responsibly and efficiently on the challenges of building affordable housing, homeless-
ness, infrastructure,
public safety, and modernizing our city services,” he said.
Although the Council passed the budget, what is still unclear is how exactly the federal funds from the American Rescue Plan Act will be spent.
Through the ARPA, the city is set to receive a total of $372.4 million over two years, starting with
$197 million this year.
In the budgets that were passed, the Council earmarked about $28 million of the fund, notably
$20 million in the operating fund for homeless and housing services and nonprofits.
Honolulu City Council Communications Director Erika Engle explained that the Council prioritized certain ARPA projects for immediate use and removed the unallocated funding from the budget.
That leaves about
$169 million in federal funding coming this year without a specific allocation.
Council Budget Committee Chairman Calvin Say sent Blangiardi a list of uses the Council suggested for the funds that focus on issues such as housing, homelessness and stream maintenance.
“I want to thank my council colleagues for their thoughtful and collaborative approach,” Say said in a statement.
“It proves that at the local government level, we can all work together to protect city services and help our residents through the coming year.”