Fiscal Year ‘12, take 2

NAWILIWILI — Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. is scheduled today to present his Budget Modification Communication to the Kaua‘i County Council’s Committee of the Whole, which will be up for consideration along with all items discussed during the budget review sessions.

The committee is now readying for decision-making mode.

The review process ran from April 8 to 25, scrutinizing all county departments’ budget proposals and Capital Improvement Projects.

On Wednesday, the committee scheduled a public hearing on the budget, even though the public could have made comments throughout the entire process.

The majority of public speakers were senior citizens voicing opposition to siting an Adolescent Drug Treatment Program in a residential area in Lihu‘e. They feared the center could bring violence and crime to their neighborhood. The administration has set aside $2 million for the project.

The operating budget proposed by the Carvalho administration on March 15 was $164.98 million, representing a 12 percent increase over the current fiscal year. The revised budget the mayor is submitting today will likely vary from that one because the county now has firm numbers in terms of tax collections and how much it will receive from the state.

The biggest threat the budget faced was losing part of the Transient Accommodation Tax revenues. County Finance Director Wally Rezentes said the state Legislature agreed with a version of the state House of Representatives, capping Kaua‘i’s portion of the TAT at $13.48 million, just shy of the $13.5 million that Carvalho assumed in the first version of the proposed budget.

The committee has set aside Monday and Tuesday for deliberation and preliminary decision-making on Carvalho’s supplemental budget. The meetings will be held from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Nawiliwili Council Chambers.

Visit www.kauai.gov for more information.