LIHU‘E — Community members’ best chance to share their input on how the county spends millions of taxpayer dollars over the next fiscal year is at 5 p.m., Wednesday, at Council Chambers in Nawiliwili.
Several bills — including Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr.’s proposed $146.29 million operating budget for Fiscal Year 2011, which starts July 1 — are on the Kaua‘i County Council’s public hearing agenda this week.
But as this year’s budget work wraps up, some council members are airing their concerns over the proposed county furlough component and the overall process itself.
The budget includes a two-days-per-month furlough plan, which would directly impact most county employees and indirectly the local economy due to the millions of dollars taken out of circulation.
Carvalho has until the end of the business day Friday to send the budget’s final version to council members, who will then meet Monday and Tuesday to take their final action on it before sending it back to the mayor.
“It’s too tight,” Councilman Tim Bynum said of the schedule. “On Maui they had five weeks of budget hearings, then the chair submitted an alternative budget to the mayor, and then the budget committee met for a week about their budget.”
The councilman added that the budget Maui passed Monday morning was “very different” than the mayor’s budget.
Bynum was concerned that the way it’s structured on Kaua‘i, council members will have only the weekend to review the budget, which comes in a thick binder.
Bynum was also concerned the public input could be left out of the process. Less than 48 hours after the public hearing closes, Carvalho will be sending his final version. Public testimony could still make an impact on the budget’s final version when council members fine-tune it next week.
Kaua‘i Fire Chief Robert Westerman said during a Fire Commission meeting Monday that he doesn’t know yet how many furlough days will affect his department. Currently, the staff mechanic, office staff and water safety officers are scheduled for furlough.
“The administration hasn’t made that call yet,” Westerman said. “I prefer not to furlough anybody.”
The chief downplayed the effect of the furlough.
“I’m sure it will have an impact, but it will be pretty minimum.”
The Office of Prosecuting Attorney and Kaua‘i Police Department have expressed concerns that furloughing civilian staff, especially prosecutors and dispatchers, could negatively impact KPD operations, even though police officers are not scheduled for the furlough.
The proposed two-day-per-month furlough is projected to save the county roughly $4.34 million. After discounting benefits and other expenses, it would take approximately $3.1 million out of the county workers’ salaries, Bynum said.
“It’s a 9.6 percent cut in the employees’ hours, but when you translate that into take-home pay, it’s higher than that,” he said.
During an earlier budget meeting, Councilwoman Lani Kawahara asked county administrative staff if the impact of the money taken out of circulation from the local community was taken into consideration while crafting the budget. She received a negative answer.
A study conducted by the University of Berkeley in California, based on findings during furloughs implemented by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, concluded furloughs save roughly 37 cents on the dollar, because of overtime and other unexpected costs.
Bynum said those numbers would likely not be the same in Hawai‘i, but they do demystify the impression that furloughs save a dollar on each dollar not spent.
By the end of 2001 the county had over $12 million in unappropriated surplus. By 2009 that surplus was over $32 million, county sources show. The surplus can be created by unencumbered expenses, such as positions that are budgeted for but not filled or projects that are slated to be constructed but not completed.
After the counties recently prevailed in keeping their share of hotel-tax revenue from the state, Kaua‘i administrative staff could breath easier knowing that they would not lose the projected roughly $12 million from the transient accommodations tax.
“Why do we need a furlough?” Bynum asked.
“I’ve always supported that we keep a prudent reserve and be fiscally conservative,” Bynum said. “We keep it for the difficult times. Now is the difficult times.”
If the California survey would be applied to Hawai‘i, by not spending $4.3 million the county would save only approximately $1.59 million, while taking $3.1 million out of circulation.
Kawahara also said during a previous meeting that after the state furlough was implemented last year, the number of early retirements among state workers rose and created a problem. She was concerned that the same would happen on Kaua‘i, which would cause loss of experienced labor and add more expenses to administration.
“If it was for a short period of time, or even if it was one day out of the month, it would be easier to handle it,” said Bynum, adding that at the end of the year the impact could be greater than at the beginning.
“My position is that we should not furlough two days,” Bynum said. “What the mayor submits to us we’ll know on Friday.”
The weekly council meeting will take place at the Council Chambers in Nawiliwili, at the old Hale Kaua‘i building at 3371-A Wilcox Road. Public hearings on the budget will start at 5 p.m.
Earlier in the day the council will discuss new amendments on the multi-use path in Kapa‘a, regarding whether to allow leashed dogs on it, an issue that has attracted many community members each time it goes before the council.
• Léo Azambuja, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) or lazambuja@kauaipubco.com.
