LIHU‘E — The second day of Kaua‘i County Council reviews of various governmental departments’ budget submittals for the 2009-2010 fiscal year may have been considerably less heated than the previous day, but a whole lot more money was up for
LIHU‘E — The second day of Kaua‘i County Council reviews of various governmental departments’ budget submittals for the 2009-2010 fiscal year may have been considerably less heated than the previous day, but a whole lot more money was up for discussion.
The Kaua‘i Fire Department, represented by Fire Chief Robert Westerman, is asking to receive $18.99 million in county funding for the year starting July 1, more than 12 percent of the almost $154 million overall operating budget and roughly double the combined amount of funds requested by the four departments that appeared Monday.
The KFD proposal marks a $2.1 million increase from the 2008-09 budget, but Westerman said that increase was due to new accounting practices, as “other post-employment benefits” were transferred from the Finance Department to various other departments’ ledgers.
Of the total, nearly $7 million is for fire personnel salaries and another $1.7 million is for water safety personnel pay. Three positions were dollar-funded, and just one was eliminated from the budget, Westerman said. That single elimination, a public resources coordinator who ran the Community Emergency Response Team program, raised some concern from the council.
Asked by Councilman Tim Bynum if the CERT program was important for the community, Westerman said, “The very basic concept of CERT is probably one of the most critical aspects of the program … being self-aware and being able to take care of yourself in a disaster.”
“It’s not going to die a slow death,” he said, noting that the program would be moved to KFD’s training bureau similar to how the program is run on Maui and the Big Island. “It has a coordinator; it’s just a firefighter.”
Westerman said he has done everything possible — from reducing electricity use to asking staff to cut back on Band-Aids and toilet paper — to bring expenses down without sacrificing service to the community.
“You say this year’s budget is at absolute minimum,” said Councilman Derek Kawakami. “I want assurance. … Does this budget address firefighter safety and address your mission statement to keep our people safe?”
Westerman said it does.
Echoing a refrain from Monday that will likely be repeated throughout coming weeks as the county’s budget is hashed out, council members asked Westerman and those after him how they planned to take advantage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, also known as “the stimulus,” through creative grant-writing efforts.
“Every grant writer in the county, their first cup of coffee every day” should be looking at the stimulus for grant money, Councilman Jay Furfaro told Westerman, who has six fire captains who are capable of researching grants.
“What’s available today? Let’s go shopping,” Furfaro said.
Following KFD were the Liquor Control Department, Civil Defense Agency and Kaua‘i Humane Society.
The Liquor Control Department, represented by Director and Chief Investigator Eric Honma, is seeking a budget increase of more than $100,000, primarily due to the OPEB accounting change. However, Honma said business license fees went up in 2008 while the rest of the economy struggled.
“Nationwide, the feeling is generally that for whatever reason, alcoholic beverages are pretty much recession-proof as a commodity. They (drinkers) don’t necessarily give up consumption as much as move to something cheaper,” he said. “We hope we’re insulated as much as possible.”
The Civil Defense Agency, represented by Administrator Mark Marshall, stayed relatively flat in its budget requests — between $500,000 and $600,000 for the fiscal year — because it averages about $2 million in grant funding each year.
“We are probably the best deal you have in all your departments and agencies,” Marshall said. “How’s that for tooting my own horn?”
The Kaua‘i Humane Society, a nonprofit represented by President Laura Wiley and Executive Director Dr. Becky Rhoades, saw its contract with the county for animal control services decrease by $64,000 to $591,000, roughly a 10 percent cut from last year.
“We understand challenges. … I’m sure every department gets up here and says ‘Don’t cut us! Don’t cut us! We’re so important,’” Wiley said, noting that the Humane Society would have to slash into its programs unless the $64,000 is reinstated before the budget is finalized. “We feel like we can’t sustain a further deficit. We are hoping against all odds that there’s some way to make it work.”
Rhoades said San Francisco and New York used to have their animal control services rendered by nonprofits, but when those cities reduced the size of the contracts, the agencies were forced to stop the programs, leaving the work to the local governments.
To read the budget in its entirety, visit www.kauai.gov. For full coverage of the weeks-long budget review process, see a future edition of The Garden Island.
Schedule of
budget reviews
Thursday
Police Department 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Personnel Department 1:30-3 p.m.
Office of the County Clerk 3-4 p.m.
Monday
Housing Agency 9-10 a.m.
Agency on Elderly Affairs 10-11 a.m.
Transportation Agency 11:30 a.m.-12 p.m.
Finance Department 1:30-2:30 p.m.
Planning Department 2:30-4:30 p.m.
Tuesday
Parks and Recreation Department 9-11 a.m.
Department of Public Works noon-4:30 p.m.
April 16
Department of Public Works (continued, if necessary) 9 a.m.-noon
May 11-12
Deliberation and preliminary decision-making 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
