October-November 2002February 2003
March 2003| October-November 2002 |
Home
Newsletters
February 2003 | March 2003 |
 City Council Members Answer LWV Questions President's Message: In My Opinion (Pearl Johnson)City Budget Review (Charles Carole)Hawaii Pro-Democracy Initiative LegiWatch 2003 Fundraiser: Benefit for Domestic Violence Clearinghouse and Legal HotlineWrite Your OpinionAction Alert: Campaign Finance Reform (Laure Dillon)Welcome New Members |
City Budget Review The City and County finances are in dismal shape and will be getting worse in future years without fiscal accountability in its management. The League must examine both the expenditures and revenue sides of the budget. The City Council Budget Committee will begin to deliberate the City Budget in early March. The acting director of the City's Budget and Fiscal Services assures the committee that he will be timely in providing them with their requested information. Last year, the City Administration mobilized its workforce to testify on the budget. The Council Budget Committee could form its own private citizen group to review and report to the committee their recommendations on the budget. The League can ask for the City's 6-Year Financial Plan so we have an idea of their future situation. This is not a one year financial crisis. The newly approved Auditor's Office should be established promptly to audit all City's functions so that the City Council will have reliable and independent sources of information to assist in its legislating and policy-making duties. There is a lot of work to be done in the next few months on both sides of the City budget. The Mayor in his State of the City speech said that the 2004 CIP budget will be over $100 million dollars smaller than the current budget. He says the City will also sell over 1,200 rental housing units, privatize more City services, and maximize the return on City's assets and facilities. The Council will have to wait until March 2nd to examine the submitted budget and decide if more projects or programs can be cut from the budget before considering a tax rate increase. Charles Carole |
| October-November 2002 | Home Newsletters | March 2003 |