LIHU‘E — Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr., who recently surpassed his 100th day in office, on Monday presented the first of his quarterly “report cards” and delivered his first “State of the County” address in what aides said they hope will
LIHU‘E — Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr., who recently surpassed his 100th day in office, on Monday presented the first of his quarterly “report cards” and delivered his first “State of the County” address in what aides said they hope will become a new Kaua‘i tradition.
In the hour-long noontime address, attended by all seven County Council members and a host of department heads and other county power players at the Historic County Building’s Council Chambers, Carvalho outlined the fiscal difficulties facing his administration in light of the preliminary budget proposal he sent to the council last week and talked about important projects he hoped to move forward despite the economic hardships.
Carvalho, who has worked in county government for more than two decades, said the budget was the most difficult one he’s ever worked on.
“It became very clear to me that we need to sacrifice in these times of scarcity; we need to serve in these times of need; and we must lead in these times of uncertainty,” he said.
The proposed budget for the 2010 fiscal year of $153.9 million is a 2.5 percent decrease from the current year, the first time in more than a decade that the budget has grown smaller rather than larger, according to an administration official.
While Carvalho had asked department heads to reduce their budgets by 10 percent without implementing layoffs, the county saved about $2.5 million by opting to not fill 34 positions. Many of those will be “dollar-funded” — left vacant but funded with the minuscule amount of $1 apiece to keep them available for future use.
Other cuts to the county’s travel budget ($217,000 in savings), new equipment requests (63.9 percent reduction), and the number of take-home vehicles, excluding the police department (65 percent reduction) will help make up for an expected revenue decrease of $6.3 million in fiscal year 2009.
“Sacrifice can be painful and we know our employees in the coming months will certainly be tasked with doing more with less,” Carvalho said. “However, I know that, in light of what is going on around us, we can rise to that challenge. Our commitment to service is not a function of how much money we have to spend … (but a) function of being resourceful, being flexible and responding to the needs of the public with aloha.”
The council will now take on the task of evaluating Carvalho’s recommendations. On May 8, the mayor will make his final budget proposal and the council will approve a budget for the 2010 fiscal year, which starts July 1, in the following weeks.
In the portion of his address pertaining to his “report card,” Carvalho outlined in a slideshow presentation his administration’s progress in key areas like supporting the island’s economy, becoming more sustainable, planning for the future, caring for communities, families, residents and visitors, delivering customer service and immediate cost-saving measures. He described projects as either in progress, completed or ongoing, and set targeted completion dates for those that are still in the works.
The mayor’s budget message, released Friday, says the administration’s proposed budget for next fiscal year is $154.09 million. County officials were unable to explain the almost $200,000 discrepancy by press time.
For more information on the budget proposal and full text of Carvalho’s State of the County address and quarterly report card, visit kauai.gov.
For further coverage of the budgeting process as well as updates on the administration’s progress in implementing proposed projects, see future editions of The Garden Island.
• Michael Levine, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) or via e-mail at mlevine@kauaipubco.com
