While the Big Island is expected to benefit from statewide expenditures in operating and capital improvement budgets proposed Monday by Gov. David Ige, there are just two specific projects, one in East Hawaii and one in West Hawaii, earmarked in his first spending plan.
While the Big Island is expected to benefit from statewide expenditures in operating and capital improvement budgets proposed Monday by Gov. David Ige, there are just two specific projects, one in East Hawaii and one in West Hawaii, earmarked in his first spending plan.
The two Big Island CIP plans account for $6.7 million of $1.1 billion statewide planned for the fiscal year that starts July 1.
The governor also plans to spend $12.6 billion in his fiscal year 2015-16 operating budget, a 4 percent increase compared to the previous year.
Mayor Billy Kenoi said he’s been meeting with Hawaii Island’s state legislators, and his administration still is working on its wish list for the upcoming legislative session that starts Jan. 21.
The budget Ige unveiled Monday was created mostly by former Gov. Neil Abercrombie’s administration. Ige, who took office Dec. 1 and hasn’t yet completed filling his Cabinet, said his administration plans to modify the budget.
Kenoi said his main focus will be to ask the state to pay for state infrastructure and projects while the county works on its own projects. He did add, however, that Hawaii County is asking the state for some help in Puna, which is facing a slow-moving lava flow that could sever its main artery — Highway 130.
“I understand that it’s the governor’s preliminary budget and that there will be additional important projects for Hawaii Island,” Kenoi said.
In West Hawaii, the state Department of Transportation is asking for $5 million in revenue bond funds for a regional aircraft rescue and firefighting training facility at Kona International Airport for the new fiscal year, with an additional $36 million in revenue bond funds and $20 million in federal funds in the 2016-17 fiscal year.
A 24,000-square-foot aircraft rescue and firefighting station opened at the airport in June. It cost $19.3 million, with just more than $17 million coming from federal coffers, via the Federal Aviation Administration. The state picked up the remainder of the tab for the station, which has five drive-through bays within the apparatus area. The station is home to 25 employees and 24 firefighters and captains.
In East Hawaii, the state Department of Defense wants $1.7 million to provide improvements at Keaukaha Military Reservation for the Youth Challenge Academy.
The Youth Challenge Academy, funded by the state and federal government, takes a quasi-military approach to help its students plan and prepare for the future. The academy moved from the Kulani Prison site in July as the state worked to reopen the minimum security correctional facility.
Having the new campus nearly doubled the program’s capacity to 100 cadets, with expansion plans for another building to house an additional 50 students set aside for future growth.
Email Nancy Cook Lauer at ncook-lauer@westhawaiitoday.com.