In March, Mayor Kirk Caldwell submitted his budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2016 to City Council. The Council, led by Chair Ernie Martin, will spend three months analyzing the priorities of the administration, along with the needs of taxpayers.
The Mayor’s budget continues to focus on core services, repair and maintenance of physical infrastructure, public safety and transportation equity, while cognizant of the need to plan for and invest in the future. His priorities are generally consistent with prior years: repair and resurface roads, enhance bus service, connect rail and bus, plan for transit-oriented development, maintain sewer infrastructure and comply with the global consent decree, and improve our parks and iconic facilities. Last year, the Housing First Program was added as a priority, as well as the conversion of 50,000 streetlights to LED lighting. Since the launch of the Mayor’s affordable housing plan last year, the Mayor’s priorities include initiatives to implement that strategy. All of his priorities address core services and programs, and are intended to build a city that successfully evolves in the 21st century.
According to the Mayor, there are key changes from prior years that include adding $30 million into the fiscal stability fund that brings the total fund to over $100 million; holding the general funded spending by executive agencies to just a 2.2% increase over fiscal year 2015 and 3.8% increase from all sources of funds; paying down general obligation bond (GOB) debt; and lowering future debt service payments by taking advantage of the interest rate environment.
The proposed FY16 Operating Budget is approximately $2.28 billion - $139 million more than FY15 and reflects an increase in spending by approximately 6.5%. The FY16 projected resources from all sources totals $2.9 billion, which includes restricted funds that are not available to support the general funded operating budget. Real property taxes account for about $1 billion or 34%. The Mayor’s proposed executive budget is not based on any tax increase or revenue enhancements. While we recognize the priorities of a growing island, the Board appreciates the Mayor and City Council’s commitment to not raising real property taxes on Oahu homeowners.
