City Council to convene Friday for third reading of key bills

HONOLULU — The Honolulu City Council will convene of Friday, June 3, for a regular meeting that will determine the fate of dozens of bills and resolutions that will codify publicly how the City spends taxpayer dollars in the coming fiscal year.

Those bills and resolutions will have their third reading and either be killed by the Council or move on to Mayor Peter Carlisle for signing. Carlisle has ten days to send measures back to the Council for amending, allow those measures to pass without signing, or sign them into City law. 

Perhaps two of the most controversial bills are Bills 13 and 14, which set the City’s Operating and Capital Improvement Budgets. The Operating Budget determines the amount to be spent on maintaining basic City services, much of which involves payroll monies. The Capital Budget will determine the amount of money spent on improvements to the City’s facilities and services.

Bills 33 and 34 relate to the Operating Budget and Capital Budgets for the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transit (HART). These bills will determine how much money goes into the amount allotted to HART for the construction of the controversial rail project looming over many of Oahu’s residential and commercial districts.

Resolution 11-74 will determine real property tax rates. An increase in property tax rates will likely result in the rise of the cost of residential rentals on Oahu.

Sewage fees are also set to rise under Bill 20. Sewage fees are based on the amount of water consumed by a property.

The use of City parks and recreation facilities are set to increase under Bill 28.

Bill 30 will allow for parking charges at City parks, which will impose or increase the cost of public parking onto taxpayers at places where City workers or contractors cut the grass.

Lawyers and lobbyists will join lawmakers and laypersons Friday,at the last scheduled full Council meeting on matters related to operating, maintaining, and improving the City of Honolulu for the coming fiscal year.

For the Council agenda, click here.

To register to speak at the Council meeting, click here.

To submit written testimony to the Council, click here.