Maui Council reverses budget course, adds $55.4 million for fiscal year 2026

A little more than two weeks after Council Chair Alice Lee signaled the potential for “deep cuts” to Mayor Richard Bissen’s proposed $1.512 billion fiscal 2026 budget, the Maui County Council’s Budget, Finance and Economic Development Committee has reversed course, recommending an increase of approximately $55.4 million – nearly 3.7% more than the mayor’s proposal.

When asked about the apparent turnaround for overall county spending, Lee described the budget process as being “long, complicated and constrained by a number of critical deadlines set in the Charter.”

“Most, if not all, of the Council Members hoped to reduce the Mayor’s proposed budget, but there were a number of projects and programs which we considered to be a high priority, which needed to be added,” she said. “Further, about $15 to $20 million of the additional $50 million added to the budget were additions from the administration, including a shortfall of $7 million in real property taxes.”

On Tuesday, Maui Now asked Lee for more specifics about the “high priority” projects and programs. She responded by saying: “It would be premature to address your other questions since first reading is not until May 16th. Our staff is still working on finalizing reports, verifying numbers, drafting needed ordinances and many more detailed tasks. Changes can be made at first reading as well.”

To get a flavor of the council members’ budget priorities, see the following matrices submitted April 21 and April 23. Not all of the members’ proposals were adopted. Some were withdrawn or reduced.

While Lee said her initial response was “intended to be general” and deferred a detailed breakdown of priority budget items until after first reading.

Budget Director Lesley Milner agreed it’s premature to discuss specific impacts of the budget bill before final approval. However, she clarified that the administration only requested one budget addition during committee discussions: $500,000 for an Affordable Housing Fund project.

That was “consistent with the administration’s budget proposal and reflects our ongoing effort to present a fiscally responsible plan that supports long-term financial and operational stability, while also balancing opportunities for improved efficiency and sustainable growth,” she said.

Milner also noted that the administration informed the committee of $13.9 million potentially available for the Budget Committee’s proposed funding addition for the Lipoa Apartments, though that was not an administration request.

That project came before the Budget Committee, which heard a grant request from Lipoa Investments LLC for the Lipoa Apartments, an affordable rental housing development.

Milner explained a $5.5 million change in the Water Fund, noting that $5 million was a reclassification of existing funding from the administration’s proposed budget to the capital improvements budget. (The funding was budgeted for a watershed grant proposed by the committee and supported by the Department of Water Supply.) There was no revenue change for the $5 million, but there was a change for the remaining $506,457, which was from a hotel and resort water service rate adjustment.

During a Budget Committee meeting on Sunday, Council Member Gabe Johnson pushed back against the notion that the Council’s overall budget price tag should be less than that of the mayor’s proposal.

Johnson said that he has never agreed to that. “Why is that a thing?” he asked rhetorically. “It doesn’t make any sense to me… When I looked at the members’ priorities, I was proud. There’s a lot of good work in this budget… We moved the needle on a lot of our community issues.”

Johnson said he didn’t approach the budget from a “position of scarcity, and I don’t think we should as a body. I think that’s a mistake.”

He pointed out that Maui County’s property taxes are among the lowest in the nation, and “very wealthy folks live here. I want to remind the members there’s a state income tax cut— one of the largest in our state’s history.”

And, Johnson said, he expects federal income taxes—under Republican President Donald Trump—will be “heavily weighed for the wealthy. As we all know, the Trump tax cuts always do that.”

Lee said she was not in favor of raising real property taxes.

“I would have preferred that we keep looking for other areas to trim in the budget, but we had a Monday morning deadline that had to be met,” Lee said. “The Council’s decision-making process involves building consensus. In most cases, five votes are required to pass an ordinance. Our Council is very independent minded and deeply committed to the entire community.”

Now, Bill 41 for the County operating budget, Bill 42 for its capital program and other accompanying bills advance to first reading on May 16 and second reading on June 3. A 103-page Budget Committee spreadsheet (Fiscal Year 2026 Exhibit “1”) contains hundreds of details and tracks the committee’s budget decision-making process.

To help the public understand the spreadsheet, Budget Committee Chair Yuki Lei Sugimura explained the document’s color-coding and notations.

Budget revisions are highlighted in green, red and blue, she said. Green is a budget addition; red is a reduction; and a revision that did not result in a number change but in language is highlighted in blue. Failed motions are highlighted in brown and struck through, Sugimura said.

Sugimura said the Council’s budget process was fundamentally committed to maintaining core county services while carefully reviewing department needs and incorporating community input from listening sessions across Maui County.

Noting that the Council’s budget review came within the context of “growing federal and global economic uncertainty,” Sugimura said “the Council prioritized investments that build local resilience, sustainability, and economic diversification.”

She cited specific areas of increased support include local food production, watershed protection and feral animal control, workforce development, rental housing assistance for the “missing middle” families, support for ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) households, emergency financial relief (rental/utility assistance), early childhood education (with a Head Start safeguard), and preparing for supplemental agreements for civil service employees.

“In sum, this budget seeks to meet present needs while preparing for future challenges,” Sugimura said.

Among challenges council members repeatedly faced during budget discussions with department heads was hundreds of vacant positions and recruitment challenges, and the administration’s budget proposal to add 90.9 positions in fiscal 2026 to the 3,175 full-time equivalent positions (paid with all sources of funds) already approved in fiscal 2025. That represents a 2.9% growth in County jobs year-over-year.

Instead of cutting back positions, the Council committee tacked on another five full-time positions, although overall salaries were somewhat lower, according to the Office of Council Services.

As for capital improvement projects, the Council dropped two projects proposed by the mayor—Kula Gym and the Lānaʻi Community Field House.

Lee noted that, for the last month, Budget Committee members held multiple community meetings, met numerous times with department heads and “scoured thousands of pages of budgetary information and communications.”

“We have tried our best to create a budget that will bring many benefits to the community now and for the future,” she said.

In light of the Council’s proposed budget revisions with overall higher spending, Milner said: “the administration remains focused on finalizing a budget that responsibly supports County operations, wildfire recovery, and core capital improvement projects.”

Maui County budget documents and ordinances can be found here.