By PETER SUR
By PETER SUR
Tribune-Herald staff writer
The Hawaii County Council approved Mayor Billy Kenoi’s’s $365.1 million operating budget for the 2012-2013 fiscal year, making minimal changes and no cuts.
But pending legislation from Council Chairman Dominic Yagong would require the county to make millions of dollars in payments from its unspent fund balance to an employee retirement benefits account.
Thursday’s meeting wrapped up shortly after 3 p.m., after council members unanimously approved amendments to the capital improvements project budget. They then approved the operating budget by an 8-1 vote, with Yagong dissenting.
Along the way, lawmakers defeated an attempt by Councilman Dennis Onishi to move $35,000 from the legislative auditor’s fund to the retirement benefits account. The council also defeated motions by Councilwoman Brenda Ford to fund the purchase of software that would track the maintenance needs of Hawaii County’s infrastructure and facilities.
Ford had introduced measures to take $5 million or $10 million from the fund balance, which is the $18 million the county had left over from the previous year. The idea was that this money could have been used to make payments on future retiree health care, an accounting measure known as GASB 45, if the council could approve further amendments to find the savings from Kenoi’s proposed budget.
The budget for the current fiscal year defers payments of about $20 million, and Kenoi proposes doing the same for the coming fiscal year. GASB 45 has been a major point of contention between Kenoi and Yagong, a mayoral candidate.
Kenoi argues that his budgets are balanced, the county is paid up on its obligations and GASB deferrals are not required by law. Dominic says the deferred payments, which have to be paid at some point in the future, amount to “stealing from future generations,” that the budget is not really balanced, and he wants a law to require Kenoi and future administrations to make payments to the fund.
At the council’s June 6 meeting, Yagong will introduce a bill to require any fund balance in excess of $5 million to be applied to the GASB 45 account, unless the county’s operating budget includes a payment of at least half of the amount recommended by an actuary.
Toward the end of a late lunch break Thursday, Yagong said his staff was in the process of identifying savings from the operating budget and figured the exercise was futile because Kenoi would veto the amendments, as he did in 2011.
Six votes would then be required to override Kenoi’s veto. But Yagong expected to get the support of only council members Ford, Brittany Smart, Angel Pilago and Pete Hoffmann. He counted on council members Fred Blas, J Yoshimoto, Donald Ikeda and Onishi to be a roadblock against any veto override.
“I know that I don’t have the votes to override the mayor’s veto because he has four votes locked in,” Yagong said.
Yagong plans to introduce the bill at the June 6 meeting of the County Council. If it passes, it would require final approval at the June 19 council meeting before going to Mayor Billy Kenoi for his approval or veto.
Despite threats of a “marathon” budget session, the only amendment that was approved came from Smart to redirect funds within the County Council account and to keep the Pahoa council office lease. The office is funded by geothermal royalties, but because of a pending change in the community benefits law, payments for the lease will come from the general fund.
Public testimony at the start of the meeting was mixed on the addition to the CIP budget of $200,000 for design and construction of a “lower Puna community relief center” in Leilani Estates, which is being pushed by the homeowner’s association and Blas. Testimony was more unified against the move to take funds from the legislative auditor’s office.
After the meeting, Kenoi said he was pleased the council members did not introduce any “floor amendments” that would not have been subject to public comment.
“I just want to appreciate all the hard work that the council people put in, in reviewing our budget,” Kenoi said. “And the fact that it was 8-1, with very few if any amendments, shows that the hard work that people put in for many months was evident.” He declined to comment on Yagong’s GASB bill, pending further legal review.
“There’s a budget process in place and it works really well,” he said. “I think our team has done an outstanding job of managing our budget for many years, as tough as it’s been.”
Email Peter Sur at psur@hawaiitribune-herald.com.