Hawaii County Council Public Hearing on FY 2026-2027 Budgets - May 19, 2026
Hawaii County Council Public Hearing on FY 2026-2027 Operating and Capital Budgets - May 19, 2026
The Hawaii County Council held a public hearing on May 19, 2026, at 5:01 PM in Hilo, with all nine council members present. The hearing, conducted under Section 10-4 of the Hawaii County Charter, covered the proposed operating budget and capital improvement budget for fiscal year July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027. Council members did not engage in discussion or answer questions; the session was solely for public testimony. Six individuals testified, offering comments on bridge projects, sewer infrastructure, wildfire safety, affordable housing, and property taxes. The hearing closed at approximately 5:30 PM, with the council scheduled to debate Bill 135 (operating budget) and Bill 136 (capital budget) on May 21, 2026, at 9 AM.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Joshua Andrews (Hilo resident): Reviewed the $1.4 billion budget, noting challenges with infrastructure projects. He questioned the slow progress on a bridge north of Hilo (affecting cyclists) and asked for an investigation into the failure of a park project at Isak Halle Park (south of Pahoa), where an additional $15 million is allocated for remediation. He also encouraged more cycling programs.
- Debbie Hecht: Urged the council to include $350,000 in the budget to complete the design for one mile of sewer line to protect Kotalu Bay, citing 69 cesspools and 14 septic tanks along Ali Drive. She noted the design from Bowers and Kubota is nearly done and requested that funds be used to reach shovel-ready status for potential pilot project financing.
- James Hoover (Hilo resident): Criticized the Coconut Island Bridge project ($8 million) and other bridge projects (Waiakaumuli and Four Mile Creek at $18 million each, Kilauea Avenue Safe Routes at $20 million), demanding itemized cost breakdowns and bidding transparency. He argued that $1-2 million for affordable housing is inadequate and proposed progressive surcharges on high-value non-resident properties (over $3 million) to fund housing, childcare, and solar programs.
- Bob Yunkey (Waikaloa Village): Raised wildfire safety concerns, stating the budget exacerbates the evacuation risk by including $11 million for workforce development at Kamakoa Nui (adding 3,000 residents) without funding a second access road promised since the 2008 community development plan. He warned that if priorities are not adjusted, residents may try to block the budget under the county charter for misalignment with community plans.
- Matt Chocker (Executive Director, Wildfire Safety Advocates, Waikaloa Village): Detailed that recent developments (Nahale Makoa workforce housing at $84.5 million, a new $21 million state library, and a proposed community center) add population but no new road. A 2.5–3 mile second road is needed, but only $2.5 million was committed last year. The mayor secured a temporary emergency egress route on existing graded dirt paths, with $4.5 million from the state for chip sealing, but that remains gated and insufficient. He urged real funding for a permanent road.
- Janet Tiari (Hilo): Proposed that the Coconut Island Bridge be designated pedestrian and bike only to reduce costs, suggesting debris could be removed by barge instead of heavy vehicles. She also supported higher taxes on high-value investment properties owned by non-residents.
Key Outcomes
- No votes or decisions were taken during the public hearing. The hearing was officially closed at approximately 5:30 PM.
- The council will deliberate Bill 135 (operating budget) and Bill 136 (capital budget) on Thursday, May 21, 2026, at 9 AM in the Hilo chambers.
- Immediately following the hearing, a separate public hearing on proposed real property tax rates began at 5:30 PM.
Meeting Transcript
Aloha Kako. Welcome to the public hearing of the Hawaii County Council. The date today is May 19, 2026. It's 5.01 p.m. Calling this meeting to order. Present in our HELO chambers this evening. Our council members, all council members, actually, all nine of us here present. So at this time, as a reminder, this is a hearing being held pursuant to section 10-4 of the Hawaii County Charter. And covers the proposed operating budget and capital budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1st, 2026 through June 30th of 2027. During this public hearing, the council will not be engaging in any discussion or answering of any questions. This is a public hearing for members of the public to provide their testimony directly to the council. With that, we will proceed with the public hearing testimony. Thank you so much, Chair. I'd like to note that currently we only have our testifiers here in Hilo and via Zoom. So what we'll do is we'll start with our first testifier here in HELO. And then we'll close it off with our Zoom testifiers. That being said, our first testifier is Joshua Andrews. To be followed by Debbie Hecht via Zoom. Joshua, when you're ready to begin, you can turn the mic on by hitting that green button at the base of the mic, introducing yourself, and you'll have three minutes. Well, thank you very much this evening. I appreciate the opportunity to provide testimony, and I'd just like to thank all the council members. You have tough jobs and uh I reviewed the budget, and 1.4 billion dollar budget is no joke. That's uh that's a lot of money. Um I'm a resident of Hilo. I grew up here on the island. I moved away for a while, returned back a couple of years ago. Love the island. Um, and understanding no questions are this is not a time for questions or discussion. I guess the comments I would just like to make are uh much of the budget made sense to me. Um I have noticed uh, and I know there are a lot of challenges in the island with infrastructure projects. That's a significant portion of the budget. Uh as a resident, sometimes um I realize the uh internal aspects of this and the complications are probably different for the council members. It's not always apparent just as a normal member of the public, sometimes what's going on with certain infrastructure items. Uh, for one example, there's been a bridge that's been under construction for a long period of time now, a little north of Honolulu. Um not sure where it's going or what's going on with it. And uh it's relevant to me because I'm a cyclist and uh it's difficult riding on the belt road, and that's a nice alternate route. And uh, you know, it would be uh helpful to have just some sense eventually what's happening with that. Um that's one example. Another example, I know that um the uh uh at the Isak Halle Park in uh down in uh down south uh south of Pahoa there or east of Pahoa. Um I know there have been some challenges with the remediation of the park project there and with the dredging. Um I know that uh if I'm not mistaken, I believe uh there's another 15 million dollars allocated for that this next year. It makes sense. I understand why the residents would want that. Um I I don't know if there was ever a good kind of investigation or explanation of why the the previous in detail why the previous project didn't succeed well to make sure that we're not throwing good money after bad as a member of the uh of the public. Um so you know, just some some thoughts. Uh again, there are many other things that go well, and and I'm very appreciative, and I know many other people are very appreciative of that as well. Uh, and then the one other thing I would say is I know there's a couple of cycling programs, but as a cyclist, um, you know, I I would say there's uh uh a lot of continued things that it seems like could be done around the island. Um so that would be uh we live in a place that would be great for that. So thank you. 30 seconds, please.
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