Council Budget Committee chair calls for fiscal discipline amid rising costs of living

Maui County Council Member Yuki Lei Sugimura called for a “disciplined” fiscal year 2027 budget Monday, citing the strain high gas and grocery prices have placed on local residents. Sugimura, who chairs the Budget, Finance and Economic Development Committee, said the move is necessary as inflation continues to squeeze household pocketbooks across the islands.

“Our household budgets are being stretched, and we are having to really count our pennies,” Sugimura said. “And in this kind of environment, we must be disciplined to keep taxes reasonable and build a budget that accounts for our economic circumstances while also addressing community priorities.”

Her remarks came at the end of a morning-long committee meeting Monday, with council members reviewing the budget proposals for the Department of Fire and Public Safety and Department of Housing. Committee members also heard funding requests from nonprofits, including $4.5 million for the La‘akea Village’s housing project for adults with developmental disabilities above Pā‘ia town and a $554,000 request for the Pā‘ia Youth and Cultural Center. 

Sugimura noted that while Mayor Richard Bissen has proposed a $1.61 billion budget, the county is carrying over $174 million in savings from previous years. She questioned whether the surplus suggests residents are being overtaxed.

The discussion highlighted a sharp disparity in the cost of living within Maui County. Council Member Gabe Johnson reported gas on Lānaʻi is subsidized at $4.99 per gallon, while other members shared that prices have climbed to $6.90 in Hāna and topped $7 on Molokaʻi.

For a Hāna resident filling a 15-gallon tank, these prices mean spending over $100 per trip to the pump, leaving less for other essentials like food. Sugimura noted that even basic items like eggs have hit nearly $13 a dozen at some local stores.

She also raised concerns about the county’s ability to spend the money it collects. With roughly 500 vacant positions currently in the workforce, Bissen’s proposal includes requests for more than 90 additional new roles.

Last week, Budget Director Lesley Milner responded to similar concerns, saying that promised county goods and services have been delivered and that cost savings has come from actual costs coming in lower than estimated costs.

Regarding vacant positions, now estimated around 500, Milner said last week that the county has looked at reducing those, but some expansion positions are for jobs where there’s no existing position or where there’s growth requiring a new position.

On Monday, Council Member Tom Cook echoed Sugimura’s call for a conservative approach, noting his own monthly expenses for gas and groceries have jumped by hundreds of dollars. He said the “working people on the island” are feeling the pressure of basic necessities.

Sugimura warned of looming financial shifts, including the 2030 sunset of general excise tax revenue and potential negative property tax impacts from the pending phase-out of short-term vacation rentals in apartment-zoned districts.

Fire Department presents near-flat budget

Fire Chief Brad Ventura said his department is proposing a “nearly flat” budget with a 0.6% increase over the current fiscal year. He explained that his department’s priorities are on training, equipment “and preparing our firefighters and lifeguards for the hazards that they will face in the coming years.”

Sugimura noted an increase in the number of emergency calls to the Fire Department – 10,931 in 2016 and 17,497 in 2025, a 60% increase of 6,566 calls.

“Obviously that’s a major increase and not too much of an increase in personnel,” she said, asking what can be done to ensure the department has enough resources to respond to such an increase in demand.

Ventura said more fire stations are needed. He noted that the last Maui County fire station to open was in 2003 in Wailea, when the Fire Department had a little more than 5,000 calls per year.

“And so you’ve seen the increase, and we’ve done about all we can within our current operating structure,” he said, adding that every fire station has maxed out every parking space and every bed.

“So it’s critically important that we continue to grow our department over the years, do it responsibly and in phases,” Ventura said.

He noted the department is getting support for a new fire station in Haʻikū and in Olowalu.

Council Member Tamara Paltin asked about the department’s request for 200 replacement radios, and Ventura said replacement radios is “one of our big investments this year,” because the current system of portable radios is getting obsolete. “The company is not supporting repair and maintenance of them anymore,” he said. “So we still have enough to kind of get us through this year, we’re starting to kind of do that Frankenstein thing where we take parts off of one to make the other one work.”

The department’s goal this year is to conduct a phased-in approach to replace current radios with new 800 megahertz radios that have high wind capability, “which gives us a longer reach for our radio system.”

Ventura said his department also is working on a secondary (to the Maui Police Department) Public Safety Answering Point that would dispatch fire, medics and ocean safety officers.

Police emergency dispatchers could then “focus on the police side,” he said. “It would impact operations a little bit on the call taking side,” although the initial call could still be taken by MPD, that operator would immediately transfer calls to a police dispatcher or a fire, ocean safety or medic dispatcher.

Housing director lays out department budget plans

According to Housing Director Richard Mitchell, his department’s top priorities include the mayor’s Kama’aina Housing Initiative; keeping local families in Maui County.; administering housing policy initiatives and streamlining department processes to achieve efficiencies.

The department has increased its fiscal 2027 Affordable Housing Fund appropriation request by more than $21 million, which would support the development of rental, rent-to-own and workforce housing. The funding also will be used to help entitle county-owned parcels.

Meanwhile, $2 million has been appropriated for predevelopment and construction costs related to the Komohana Hale Apartments rebuild in wildfire-devastated Lahaina.

The department’s proposed budget includes increased funding for the rental assistance program from $3 million to more than $7.4 million. The rental assistance program supplements rental assistance for residents making 80% of the area median income and below. Proposed funding for the Homeowners Programs Revolving Fund includes $2 million for the Ohana Assistance Program and $2 million for the First-Time Homebuyers Program.

The department’s overall budget decreased, however, because of a large decrease in general funds from the deletion and reduction of one-time fiscal 2026 grant subsidies, including

• Lānaʻi Affordable Housing Project – $10 million
• Lahaina Community Land Trust – $6 million
• Hale O Laie – $2.7 million reduction
• Kilohana Makai Workforce Housing – $1 million

La‘akea Village

Council members also heard funding requests from nonprofits.

La‘akea Village Executive Director Ashlee Klemperer testified in favor of Bill 55, which would tap money in the affordable housing fund to provide an appropriation of $4.5 million for the project to build affordable housing for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

The village would include 22 single-story detached homes ranging from one to three bedrooms, she said. Facilities will be fully compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act and come with a full-time, on-site support specialist, an open-air community center, laundry, covered lanai, shaded green areas, regenerative agriculture and community gardens, she said.

Klemperer asked the Council to fund its full $4.5 million request. “This funding would be a cornerstone and foundation of our village, a vital opportunity for us, but truly a great fit for partnership with the county,” she said.

Pā‘ia Youth and Cultural Center

Dean Wong, chief executive officer of Imua Family Services and the contracted chief executive officer for the Pā‘ia Youth and Cultural Center, also spoke in favor of Bill 55.

He said the Department of Human Concerns has sent out a congratulatory award letter for about $400,000 for the youth center, “which is what we had been previously getting in terms of support for a very long time.”

“I really appreciate the department’s continued support to the Pā‘ia Youth and Cultural Center and the programs that they’ve been running for so many years. It’s the only youth center on the North Shore providing services to that number of youth. However, it cannot continue to operate at that funded amount.”

The center is seeking $554,000 “because it has not seen an increase in so many years,” Wong said, pointing out that the agency’s operating budget is closer to $835,000 annually.

“With the amount of young people today that are needing more mental health support and counseling, it is important that we not just provide recreational drop in experiences and programs for these young people, but that we also build in opportunities for them to receive the help and support that they need around substance abuse, around youth and teen suicide, depression and anxiety,” he said.

Budget committee members went to Hāna on Monday evening to hear public comments on the proposed fiscal year 2027 budget. 

Here’s the schedule for other meetings, all of which begin at 6 p.m.

• April 8, Kīhei Community Center, Main Hall, 303 E. Līpoa St., Kīhei
• April 9, Lahaina Civic Center, Social Hall, 1840 Honoapiʻilani Hwy., Lahaina
• April 13, Mitchell Pauʻole Community Center, 90 Ainoa St., Molokai
• April 15, Lānaʻi High & Elementary School Cafeteria, 555 Fraser Ave., Lānaʻi City
• April 16, Council Chamber, Kalana o Maui Building, 8th floor, 200 S. High St., Wailuku (County Council public hearing)