Mayor Harry Kim sits down to talk about his proposed budget with the Hawaii County Council.

(BIVN) – Proposed tax increases for Hawaii County home owners are on the table, as the Hawaii County Council held a special session on Thursday to go over the proposed operating budget for fiscal year 2017-18.

Mayor Harry Kim sat down for a face to face discussion with councilmembers, some of whom appeared uneasy with the mayor’s plan to raise property taxes by 6.5% on all classes except affordable rentals.

“I am confident,” Mayor Kim said, “that we can defend comfortably the entire budget as a good one, in regards to the choices that have to be made.”

“I do not expect people to agree with our priorities, but our goal here today and the days to come is to explain to you why these decisions were made,” Kim said.

The estimated revenues and appropriations of spending plan total $491,241,880.