LIHUE — In its first meeting of 2013, the Kauai Salary Commission hinted at a potential discussion on pay increases for elected officials and raises to salary caps of appointed department heads during its next meeting in August. Boards and
LIHUE — In its first meeting of 2013, the Kauai Salary Commission hinted at a potential discussion on pay increases for elected officials and raises to salary caps of appointed department heads during its next meeting in August.
Boards and Commissions Administrator Paula Morikami said the county Personnel Department will be collecting data from other counties in Hawaii to compare with salaries of Kauai’s top county officials.
“I already kinda gave them the heads up,” she said of the department. “But that really needs a motion today from the commission.”
If the commission ultimately follows the footsteps of Maui County, there could be substantial pay raises proposed for the Kauai County Council, Kauai Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. and several county department heads, though it would likely be for fiscal year 2015.
The Maui Salary Commission recently authorized pay raises starting July 1 for Maui’s elected and appointed officials, who hadn’t seen a salary increase since 2007.
Maui Mayor Alan Arakawa’s salary will go to $135,696 from $114,030.
Salaries for Maui County Council, comprised of nine members, will go to $76,475 from $66,500. The chair’s salary will go to $82,225 from $71,500.
Many Maui County department heads will also receive a raise starting July 1.
Kauai top officials were also scheduled for pay raises July 1, but the latest Kauai Salary Commission resolution deleted the raises.
Carvalho’s annual salary is $114,490. If his raise wasn’t frozen, his salary would increase to $122,504 July 1. The last time Kauai’s mayor had a raise was Dec. 1, 2008.
Members of the seven-body Kauai County Council make $56,781 per year, and Chair Jay Furfaro makes $63,879. The last time they had a raise was Dec. 1, 2009. There is no scheduled raise for the council.
Salary caps for Kauai County department heads, with a few exceptions, were also scheduled to climb July 1, before the latest resolution froze them.
The commission will meet again Aug. 26, at the Moikeha Building Room 2A/2B in Lihue at 9 a.m.
Per Kauai County Charter, the Salary Commission “shall” give the Kauai County Council a salary resolution on or before March 15, for it to be considered for the following fiscal year.
Since FY 2014 starts July 1, if a new salary increase is proposed, it would likely be for FY 2015.
However, in 2011, the commission gave the council a resolution five months past the March 15 deadline, prompting a Fifth Circuit Court complaint from two council members seeking — and failing to get — a declaratory judgment of the word “shall” in the charter.
Rather than raising salaries, though, the 2011 resolution froze them until July 2013. The latest resolution deleted the pay raises scheduled for July.
