A changing of the guard is in the offing at City Hall, and in the spirit of holiday good cheer we can express the hope that the turnover, both on the Honolulu City Council and in the mayor’s office, will become a more collaborative effort than has been typical.
As Mayor-elect Kirk Caldwell prepares to take over the top spot from Peter Carlisle, he is facing a somewhat sunnier fiscal outlook than the current mayor did when he assumed the job in the wake of the global recession. Property values had tanked when Carlisle was tapped in the special election two years ago, and a period of budgetary restraints began.
In recent weeks, the Real Property Assessment Division reported a 2.3 percent rise in Oahu property values. Although the principal factor in the overall recovery is the increase in hotel and resort properties (up 9.4 percent), residential valuations are up more than 2 percent, too. There are certainly zones where the values are still depressed, but on average the payer of residential property taxes must be worried about the prospects of a bigger housing bill due to the tax calculations.
That means Caldwell reasonably can expect that, at the current rates of $3.50 per $1,000 of property value, the revenue picture is brightening just in time for his inaugural budget proposal. Details on that are still pending, and taxpayers hope the new mayor will consider all of the metrics in his decision on spending priorities.
Specifically, economists express cautious optimism after scanning figures. Coincidentally, the gross domestic product is expected to rise at the same 2.3 percent rate, amid signs that the recovery in the visitor industry is starting to spread to other economic sectors.
But the problem is still employment. First Hawaiian Bank economist Leroy Laney, speaking recently at the bank’s annual Business Outlook Forum, said that three years into the recovery, Hawaii’s job count still falls about 5 percent below its peak before the recession.
That deficit must diminish further before elected leaders should feel too freewheeling with the public purse. The impact of the lame-duck session of Congress, with the budgetary showdown still looming, is still unknown, but some measure of austerity at that level seems all but certain. The trickle-down effect of federal spending cuts surely should constrain spending at the municipal level, too.
Going forward, the city is clearing its last major legal hurdle and is moving apace to develop its long-awaited rail system. Although the principal management of the project is in the hands of the quasi-independent Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation, the Council and the mayor still have an oversight role to play.
With the election of four new Council members — Carol Fukunaga, Joey Manahan, Ron Menor and Kymberly Pine — this would be an opportune time for the executive and legislative branches to get on the same page where rail, fiscal planning and other core duties of city government are concerned.
Ironically, both the mayor and the Council freshmen are experienced lawmakers from the state Capitol; we can hope that they will bring along anything they learned about compromise from across the street.
Above all, Caldwell was elected on the promise that he will be a more hands-on city chief than his predecessor. That seems a useful approach to have in the mayor’s office at this juncture, and we’re all about to find out whether he follows his instinct.
