All of the proposals passed during the Tuesday hearing face a final vote Friday, June 3 by the full Council.
“Unfortunately for the Council to minimize the impact of those fees we’d probably have to look at closing some public facilities,” said Council Budget Chairman Ernie Martin.
Under a property tax increase pushed by Mayor Peter Carlisle, residential homeowners will see rates increase from $3.42 to $3.50 for every one thousand dollars of value.
Those who don’t live on their properties will see their taxes decrease from $3.58 to $3.50, after the Council decided last year to eliminate a separate rate for non-occupant homeowners.
“We really took a look at trying to reduce that rate but again it came down to having to actually make a significant cut in the city workforce,” said Martin.
TAX AND FEE SQUEEZE
While the Budget Committee was busy passing increases in user fees and property taxes to balance the budget, across town at the Ala Wai Golf Course Ken Yahiku and Kaipo Perez wondered how already struggling residents would get by.
“People nowadays…it’s really hard for some of them,” said Perez, a senior citizen and resident of Kaimuki. “Some of the single families or low income families are really struggling.”
“I’m a renter,” added Yahiku, a resident of Ala Moana. “It affects the renters also because of the property tax going up.”
Among the fees that face a final vote next month is a proposal to generate more money at municipal golf courses. Seniors, junior golfers and those with a golf identification card will pay $3 more for 18 holes of weekday golf. The monthly golf pass meanwhile would increases from $45 to $80.
“It’s gonna be very hard for some of the seniors because they’re on a fixed income,” said Perez. “You come here in the morning (and) you see a lot of them. Wait till July comes, you ain’t gonna see hardly anybody.”
Also likely to go up is the city’s monthly base charge for sewer service.
If the Council gives final approval the current monthly charge of $68.39 will rise to $71.13 on July 1. The rate then keeps going up for the next five years, in part to help pay for $4.7 billion in upgrades to the city’s sewer and wastewater collection systems. The repairs and upgrades are mandated by the federal government under a consent decree reached between the city and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last year.
In 2016 the monthly base charge for sewer service reaches $90.73, a 32.6 percent increase from the current rate. Residents also pay a monthly charge for the amount of water they consume after an initial 2,000 gallons. That rate may also increase from $2.88 to $3.00 for every thousand gallons of water.
Honolulu residents may also do a double take when renewing their driver’s licenses. Under Bill 62, those 24 years and older will pay $40 instead of $24. Drivers who fall within the ages 18 to 24 will see an increase from $12 to $20.
Meanwhile drivers may be forced to pay for metered parking at Aala and Kapiolani Parks whether it’s day or night. Instead of pumping quarters into parking meters from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. the parking rate of $1 per hour could be in effect 24/7 under Bill 30.
DOWNSIZING CITY GOVERNMENT?
Those caught in the middle of the tax and fee squeeze say it may be time for city lawmakers to begin an honest discussion about cutting public services.
“From the outside point of view I just say that we should downsize on government,” said Yahiku.
Martin told Khon2 the Council is prepared to initiate the debate if the economy continues in the doldrums during the next budget cycle.
“That’s something that I think is going to be debated in the Council as well in the administration,” said the budget chairman. “It’s nothing new, a lot of municipalities across the nation are doing that, they’re shutting down public facilities in order to save costs and minimize the impact to the taxpayer.”
Martin said because of collective bargaining rights contained in the Hawaii Constitution, privatizing some city services would likely require enabling legislation at the state level.
“We’re a strong union state, so it would take a few years I think to move towards that direction.”
In March Mayor Carlisle proposed an operating budget of $1.93 billion, an increase of $114.1 million from the previous year.
The mayor’s capital improvement budget was scaled back from $1.69 billion to just $526 million, however it did not include funds to build the city’s $5.3 billion rail transit project.
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See the original article at: KHON2 Local News
