Proposed $375 million budget requires “shared sacrifice”
Hilo, Hawaii – Video by David Corrigan
Mayor Bill Kenoi addressed the governing body charged with approving his administration’s budget for the upcoming fiscal year during the first leg of hearings on the subject in Hilo.
In this video, the Hawaii County Council hears from the mayor firsthand, as the top county executive explains the reasoning behind one of the most challenging Big Island budgets in years.
This Fiscal Year 2010-11 budget is over $11 million less than the current year’s budget, thanks to a tough economy that has been rocked by declines in real property values and steep drops in collections for charges for services, investment income, license and permit fees, fuel taxes and other revenues. Spending under this budget is almost $28 million less than the budget in effect when the mayor took office in 2008.
The mayor has had to institute two day a month furloughs on county employees, and make unpopular decisions like defunding the county bands. Property taxes are also likely to rise using the a revenue neutral rate adjustment.
Kenoi took questions from the council, to be shown in subsequent videos.
