Honolulu City Council Budget Chair Radiant Cordero Proposes Budget Cuts To Ensure Long-Term Relief For Taxpayers

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 30, 2023

HONOLULU, HAWAIʻI - Today, Budget Chair Radiant Cordero is holding a Special Budget Committee Meeting to discuss this year’s proposed budget bills, including the Blangiardi Administration’s proposed $3.41 billion proposed budget, as well as tax relief measures for Oʻahu residents.

Since January 2023, when Councilmember Cordero assumed the reins as Budget Chair, she has been dedicated to creating opportunities that provide long-term tax relief.  Most recently, she and Chair Tommy Waters have co-introduced four tax relief measures, BILL024(23), BILL025(23), BILL026(23), and BILL029(23).  These measures seek to provide relief for low-income kūpuna, certain individuals affected by Residential A, and those renting out their properties long-term–12 months or more.  Along with other tax relief measures introduced last year, including increasing the homeowners exemption, looking at the tax classifications, and applying a vacancy tax, the Honolulu City Council will review and consider all options to provide relief for residents.

“This year, we have seen a 14.1% increase in assessed valuations for real property,” said Budget Chair Cordero, “With such a significant increase, we need to seriously consider the impact to our residents.  In this upcoming Committee Draft, I am looking to reduce the budget to last year’s budget with an additional 5% to ensure collective bargaining is covered and have an open dialogue with the departments for Councilmembers and the public to understand the $200 million that is the current request over last year’s budget.  These are taxpayer dollars, and my goal is that we can finally provide for our community’s needs through Council community additions and provide meaningful tax reform and relief.”

As part of the annual budget process, this first round of Committee Draft (CD) amendments marks the beginning of the City Council’s deliberations in crafting and balancing the City’s budget for the coming fiscal year and Budget Chair Cordero’s recommended CD1 is a reduction of approximately $214 million of the Administration’s $3.4 billion proposed budget.  This balanced budget will focus on providing for community needs through Council added Capital Improvement Projects (CIP) projects, ensuring adequate city services, and providing tax relief for residents.

“With the growing needs of our communities, providing timely relief and quality City services are critical,” said Council Chair Waters.  “We need to take a closer look at what the City is doing with the increased funding and ensure we are considering long-term tax relief as part of the solution. The City is seeking to address the high cost of living and housing needs, so we are looking at tax relief that will provide respite for our kūpuna, low-income residents, and homeowners, as well as provide for the rental community.  Our rental community is approximately 40% of our Oʻahu residents, so we are looking into figuring out ways to support those residents and keep housing in the long-term rental market.”

After today’s Special Budget Meeting, the Budget bills are scheduled for second reading on April 19, 2023.  From there, the Budget Committee will meet again for a Special Budget Meeting on May 15 and a third and final reading on June 7, 2023.  The Council continues to encourage the public to submit testimony on these measures.  Testimony may be submitted at https://hnldoc.ehawaii.gov/hnldoc/testimony.

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