HILO Thirty-five new police personnel, including 10 officers each for Kau and Puna, nine new sergeants and six dispatchers, along with body cameras and computer upgrades, play center stage in a $573.5 million budget proposed Friday by Mayor Harry Kim.
HILO — Thirty-five new police personnel, including 10 officers each for Ka‘u and Puna, nine new sergeants and six dispatchers, along with body cameras and computer upgrades, play center stage in a $573.5 million budget proposed Friday by Mayor Harry Kim.
The budget, which is $55.5 million, or 10.7 percent, higher than this year’s, won’t raise property taxes, but relies on increased property values and an assortment of other taxes and fees.
“Nobody wants to rely solely on property taxes,” Kim said in an interview in his office. “Seventy percent of our revenues are from property taxes already.”
Among the sources of new revenue are the one-quarter percent surcharge on the general excise tax, expected to raise $25 million, a 5 percent increase in property values that will bring in an additional $15.7 million, previously approved increases in fuel taxes for $6.1 million, new grant money for $3.1 million, increases in sewer and landfill fees for $2.8 million, and registration and fines for the new, short-term-vacation-rental program for $846,000.
The budget includes $26.1 million in additional salaries, wages and benefits, most due to state-level, collective-bargaining agreements and mandated contributions to retirement funds. In addition to police with an additional $5.8 million, other priorities are speeding up road repaving, with an additional $2.7 million appropriated, and enhancing the mass transit system, with an addition $5 million.
There is no additional funding for homelessness programs, as the administration believes funding from the governor’s programs will be sufficient to address the most pressing needs this year.
Kim said an increased police presence has been the most requested addition to county services among the various communities he’s talked with. He said Puna, as the fastest-growing region in the state, and Ka‘u, which has few police officers patrolling an especially large rural district, were most in need of the officers.