County budget getting a workover

TGI Staff Writer

The Kaua`i County Council and various county department heads are talking turkey about the county’s 2001-02 fiscal year budget.

Since last Friday, the council has been reviewing Mayor Maryanne Kusaka’s proposed $82.9 million operating budget for the county and the $11.5 million capital improvements budget.

Friday, the council talked to the Fire Department, the County Attorney’s office and the Prosecutor’s office.

Officials from the Police Department, Civil Defense, personnel department, Office of Community Assistance have been before the council so far to discuss their portions of the budget. So have the county clerk, the finance department and the Public Works Department.

All the preliminary meetings are open to the public and are held in the council’s chambers on the second floor of the Historic County Building.

More meetings are planned for May 9 through May 15. Final budgetary decisions will be made next month.

The mayor has pointed out to the council that this year’s budget “continued an emphasis on public safety (and) issues surrounding Kaua`i Electric.”

The budget shows an increase of $6.4 million that Kusaka said was directly related to collective bargaining costs and increased employee benefits due to labor negotiations. These costs are up 9 percent over last year.

But Kusaka says employee-related costs are offset by the rebound of real property assessments, which are expected to exceed the previous year by 9.9 percent ($6.02 billion as compared to $5.48 billion in the fiscal year coming to an end).

The county is preparing for a new bond issuance of $31.9 million, earmarked to cover American Disabilities Act projects, landfill expansion and siting costs, and sewer system improvements and expansion. The much-publicized park renovations are also in the proposed budget.

Kusaka has been stressing public safety, too, but that discussion usually funnels into an argument about adding lifeguards to beaches.

Other public safety issues being debated are the addition of 10 police aide positions. These hires, if accomplished, would serve as guards at the new police facility being built by Vidinha Stadium. Because the state is no longer willing to allow Kaua`i Community Correctional Center to assist with housing offenders, the Police Department is being required to provide holding cells within the new facility for pre-arraignment detention, thus the need for guards.

Kusaka has requested that the guards be hired toward the end of the upcoming fiscal year, so they can be trained before the new building opens late in 2002.

Prosecuting Attorney Mike Soong has asked for an additional deputy, and Kusaka supported his request. The position, for the county’s sexual assault unit, which boasts a conviction rate of more than 90 percent on an island where sexual assault is a serious problem, had been grant-funded for the past four years. Those funds are no longer available.

The county’s general fund was tapped for $465,000 this year to sustain Wailua Golf Course, and a deficit is projected for the upcoming fiscal year, too. To offset this, the administration is proposing raising the fees required to play the county-operated course.

“We realize this proposal will probably draw some criticism,” Kusaka stated.

Solid waste is costing the county more than the golf course. The solid-waste fund is the least solvent of all the county’s special funds. The administration is anticipating that the general fund will contribute $4.5 million to the solid-waste fund this year.

In addition, there is $2.1 million included in the county’s newest bond issuance to cover some of the cost for the expansion of the Kekaha Landfill and for the acquisition of a new landfill site.

There has been much debate about the $2.075 million the administration is requesting for possible consultant fees and legal costs related to the county’s possible purchase of Kaua`i Electric.

Staff writer Dennis Wilken can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) and dwilken@pulitzer.net