We face the most challenging economic environment in many years, and Mayor Kenoi believes that government must respond by becoming smaller, more efficient, and more affordable. His administration has met that challenge, and cut spending each year. The 2011-12 budget is $35.9 million less than the budget in effect when Mayor Kenoi took office.
Mayor Kenoi’s 2012 Budget represents a $35.9 million reduction in the size of government since 2008.
Collecting Less In Taxes
Under the strong fiscal leadership of Mayor Billy Kenoi, the County is collecting less in taxes from our property owners each year. The County collected nearly $226 million in property taxes in fiscal year 2008-09 when Mayor Kenoi took office. The County expects to collect $207 million in property taxes in fiscal year 2011-12. The Mayor’s freeze on property tax rates in the homeowner and affordable rental classes protects our homeowners and tenants in affordable rental units.
Doing More With Less
In these difficult economic times, costs have increased, while tax collections and other revenue have decreased. The cost of fuel, electricity and health care have dramatically increased, which means it costs more each year to provide the same county services as the year before. As tax collections decreased, that has made it doubly important that county government become more efficient.
And it has.
To reduce the cost of government, Mayor Kenoi scrutinized county spending from top to bottom, and cut costs. He slashed county-wide overtime spending by 18 percent in Fiscal Year 2009-2010, and kept those overtime costs down in Fiscal Year 2010-2011. The administration reduced the County’s fleet of take-home vehicles by 54 percent, and reduced the amount of money the County spent on private consulting work by more than 48 percent in the Fiscal 2010. Mayor Kenoi eliminated funding for 222 vacant positions for a savings of about $7 million over three years.
In this challenging time, Mayor Kenoi has also asked for concessions from county workers. Hiring restrictions have reduced the number of County workers and there were 121 fewer County employees on the payroll by Spring 2011, than when he first took office. All County workers except for police, fire and critical service personnel must took two-day furloughs each month in the 2010-11 budget year. These public workers lost more than one month’s worth of pay during that year, sharing the sacrifice and saving the county about $7 million. A pay cut of about 5 percent has been negotiated with the Hawaii Government Employees Association (HGEA) for fiscal year 2012.
Mayor Kenoi's budget prioritizes Public Safety by protecting Police and Fire and Critical Services.
Protecting Our Priorities
Despite the furloughs and cuts in staffing, Mayor Billy Kenoi’s budget protects public safety and essential services. Mayor Kenoi has kept his commitments to continue free or low-cost island-wide bus service. His budget continues to maintain grants to non-profit organizations that serve the needy. It protects nutrition programs and other services for seniors, and preserves important programs for children and youth.