More cuts, answers needed

The Kaua‘i County Council should kick the proposed budget for next fiscal year back to Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. with demands for cuts and answers.

Given the recession and a growing list of economic uncertainties, now is not the time to boost spending 12 percent over the current fiscal year, which ends June 30.

The administration has not provided the public with compelling reasons as to why the county can afford to nearly drain its surplus and tack on $17.3 million to the current operating budget.

The mayor has said “you gotta give this much more in order to get more at the end.” This sounds more like a pharmaceutical company pitching an increase in an R&D budget.

We are in the midst of the worst recession since the Great Depression. Until we see consistently positive economic indicators, we need to exercise restraint when spending taxpayer earnings and not hedge our bets on sheer optimism.

Either way, the proposed increase over FY11 is simply unjustified and imprudent. Even compared to the year before furloughs were enacted, we’re still looking at a roughly $10 million increase over the FY10 operating budget.

The council should utilize the down time it has between the end of its departmental budget review process next week and receiving the supplemental budget from the mayor next month to actually go over each line item with a fine-toothed comb.

This is not the year for our elected officials to back-pat and glad-hand their way through meetings that decide how they plan to spend nearly a quarter-billion tax dollars. We expect nothing less than a serious, thorough review of the entire $164.98 million operating budget and $84.69 million capital improvement projects budget.

We look to our council members and the administration to pore through the big-ticket items and the manini requests alike in search of additional savings.

The county seemed to manage fine in certain departments during six months of furloughs last year. Perhaps we should review what positions are really necessary and where; maybe some redistribution is in order.

Aside from a few offices, such as the prosecutor’s, we have yet to hear a clear explanation on the public impact of the mayor forcing most employees to take two unpaid days off per month. We look forward to reading the auditor’s report — hopefully ready soon — to learn more.

In the meantime, our council members should spend less time joshing around like they have during some of the budget sessions this year and more time asking the tough questions that need answered.

For instance, the Kaua‘i Humane Society — which remains without an executive director after the last one left under still-untold circumstances requiring lawyers — breezed through its budget hearing. If KHS wants more money from taxpayers to fund its mission, the public deserves to know the status of its leadership.

Another example is the Wailua Golf Course. The county can’t afford to keep shelling out millions to subsidize this facility. While acknowledging the efforts made by the Cost Control Commission to help the course become self-sufficient, we recognize the inability of price increases alone to solve this problem.

Maybe the council should be asking Carvalho’s old campaign manager, now the director of Parks and Recreation, for out-of-the-box solutions like a public-private partnership to ease the course’s burden on taxpayers.

Some important questions were asked of key department heads over the last two weeks, but council members seem to have allowed them to dodge giving any real answers.

The council should be armed with tough questions and the administration should be prepared with thorough responses. Enough of this self-praise in front of the cameras.

We can no longer sit idly watching our hard-earned dollars spin down the drain. We’ve demonstrated over the past year that we can get by spending much less.

The County Clerk seems to be the only one who understands this to date. We appreciate that his department bore the brunt of the temporary office relocation but we suspect that, once scrutinized, most offices can operate effectively with little or no increase.

We are also confident that other departments, like Public Works, can operate with less money. Reduce the Solid Waste Division’s out-of-control overtime by clamping down on “sick” leave abuse on transitional days. The budget review process presents the perfect time for our local leaders to bring this discussion to the forefront.

For the good of the community, we hope the mayor’s supplemental budget includes a public information officer exclusively for the police department. Enough is enough.

We’ve demonstrated both the failings of the current set-up and the need for accurate, timely and consistent information from KPD. Chief Perry is more than capable of overseeing this function. It’s one less item to distract the mayor’s office.

In the end, this is our money. We encourage residents to get involved in the decision-making process by providing testimony on the proposals and asking questions at the public hearing May 4. With unprecedented access to this year’s budget review sessions due to the county streaming the meetings live online at www.kauai.gov, concerned citizens can and should tune in to the discussion.

We call on the county to spend the community’s tax dollars wisely and exercise caution when looking to future projections on tax revenues. Let’s hold the line in FY12 and revisit potential increases in FY13.