Arakawa Presents FY 2016 Budget to Council Members

Maui Mayor Alan Arakawa presenting his FY 2016 budget to the Council. Photo courtesy County of Maui, Office of the Mayor.

By Maui Now Staff

Mayor Alan Arakawa presented a $699.9 million budget to Maui County council members today, stressing a need to “stay the course” when it comes to investing in the community.

“For all intents and purposes, this is not my budget, it is our community’s budget, as it represents the projects that the public has mandated for us to carry out,” said Mayor Arakawa in a statement.

Council Chair Mike White joins Council members Don Guzman and Michael Victorino as Maui Mayor Alan Arakawa presents the Council with his version of the FY 2016 budget. Photo courtesy County of Maui, Office of the Mayor.

“Investing in our community’s needs requires planning and patience, which I feel are accurately reflected in this budget’s operational costs and capital improvement projects,” he said.

The budget proposal includes an operating budget of $533.2 million and a capital program budget of $166.7 million.

“These figures are indicative of the growing needs of our community and our need to step up the county’s repairs and maintenance of our rapidly decaying infrastructure,” the mayor said. “However keep in mind that once these projects are caught up, hopefully our expenses will be lowered as ongoing maintenance will be greatly reduced.”

Budget Chair Hokama receives budget from Director Sandy Baz. Photo courtesy County of Maui, Office of the Mayor.

Some of the major capital improvement projects included in the mayor’s version of the budget include the following:

• $47.4 million for road resurfacing and improvements
• $29.4 million for Water Supply improvements, including $15 million for a new treatment plant
• $37.3 million for waste water improvements and expansion, which includes $22 million for West Maui alone
• $13.5 million for park facility improvements, including the South Maui Community Park Recreation Center
• $39.5 million for government facilities including $29.8 million in construction funds for the Kalana O Maui Expansion Phase 1A
• $13.7 million for drainage improvement projects, including $9 million for continued work on the Lahaina Watershed Flood Control Project
• $8.4 million for specialized vehicles and equipment for road paving, fighting fires and maintaining the county landfill
• $5.7 million for upgrades to the county’s public safety radio system

“We’ve got a lot of projects going on out there in the community, Hansen Road, Kokomo Road, the gym in South Maui, just to name a few,” said Managing Director Keith Regan in a county issued press release. “This budget continues our forward thinking. It’s about making long-term investments for our community.”

“The council has had a tradition of supporting a majority of our projects,” said Budget Director Sandy Baz. “We hope that they
continue to do so this year as well.”