Kauai County Council Budget Review for Fire, EMA, Police, and Prosecuting Attorney – April 3, 2025
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Kauai County Council Budget Review for Fire, EMA, Police, and Prosecuting Attorney – April 3, 2025
The Finance and Economic Development Committee met on April 3, 2025, to review the proposed Fiscal Year 2025-2026 budgets for the Fire Department, Emergency Management Agency (KEMA), Police Department (KPD), and the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney. The meeting included public testimony, departmental synopses, and detailed line-by-line budget discussions focused on staffing, equipment, and operational priorities.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Tommy Pasarella expressed full support for public safety personnel, calling for best equipment, competitive salaries, mental health support, and respect for all first responders. He also advocated for safe zones for homeless individuals and addressed addiction issues. He thanked fire, police, and prosecutors.
Fire Department Discussion Items
- Chief's Synopsis: The FY2026 budget includes a $16 million twin-engine helicopter (financed over 7 years; first-year lease payment of $1.7 million), replacement of two aging fire engines (Kapaa and Koloa), new end-of-life AEDs, and advanced training. The helicopter will enhance safety and provide a dedicated backup, ending reliance on tour operators.
- Budget Questions: Vice Chair Kuali'i noted a 15% increase in benefits ($2.4M) due to higher ERS contribution rates for sworn personnel and anticipated collective bargaining increases. Councilmember Cowden asked about potential state contributions for the helicopter; chief said none are currently planned. Councilmember Kuali'i also discussed savings on overtime due to the 12-hour shift implementation.
- Fire Station Alerting System: A $380,000 one-time investment for hardware and software to reduce response times by 1-2 minutes. Pulse Point app is used by off-duty responders.
- Wildfire Mitigation: The department partners with large landowners for fuel reduction; severity staffing plan allows for additional firefighters during red flag warnings. Councilmember Kuali'i inquired about controlled burns; chief noted lack of certified burn bosses but is exploring training with Maui Fire Department.
- PFAS-Free Turnouts: Chief acknowledged future need but cost is triple ($10,000/set vs. $3,000); waiting for NFPA standards.
- Recruitment of Women: Chief stated willingness to work with HR; minimal investment ($35,000-$50,000) could fund seminars. All candidates meet same stamina and strength standards.
- Ocean Safety Officer Retention: A recent pay raise has not yet reduced movement to fire operations; only one transferred in five years.
- Helicopter Fee Recovery: Current county attorney opinion limits charging to personnel time; chief will seek updated guidance.
Emergency Management Agency Discussion Items
- Administrator Synopsis: Budget prioritizes multi-term contract obligations, investment in new telecom technologies (FirstNet, UPS project), and support for travel and training. Recent wildfire responses (Koke'e, Kawaikini) informed lessons learned.
- CERT Program: Administrator proposed $10,000 grant-in-aid packages for communities to form their own CERT teams, moving from top-down to grassroots approach. Councilmember Cowden expressed support.
- Innovative Readiness Training (IRT): In May 2025, a Department of Defense cyber mission will partner with county IT and potentially KIUC to test cybersecurity. Councilmember Cowden commended the initiative.
- Dam Safety: KEMA partnered with DLNR on a FEMA technical assistance program; focus was on safety, not funding for rehabilitation.
- Search and Rescue: KEMA coordinates with fire, police, and Coast Guard for annual exercises. No dedicated line item for urban search and rescue.
- Staffing: Two vacancies: senior staff officer (filled by retired assistant chief via short-term hire) and staff specialist (recently filled). Reclassification of senior staff officer to executive officer is underway.
Police Department Discussion Items
- Chief's Synopsis: FY2026 budget request is $50.98M (5.8% increase). Highlights include: transition to 12-hour patrol schedule effective January 12, 2025 (resulting in fewer canceled days off and estimated $158,000 overtime savings by June 30, 2025, and $435,000 over 11 months); recruitment partnership with Epic Recruiting (website, videos highlighting women officers); continued challenges with 39 sworn vacancies (most in patrol) and 9 out of 20 dispatcher vacancies.
- 12-Hour Shift: Chief reported positive feedback, better team cohesion, and dramatic reduction in canceled days off (from over 100 per month to 31 in first 30 days, only one due to staffing). Councilmember Holland asked about exhaustion; chief cited Honolulu PD survey showing better sleep and family time.
- Vacancy Funding Debate: Vice Chair Kuali'i noted that only 8 of 67 vacancies are partially funded, while most are fully funded despite unrealistic hiring expectations. Chief argued that vacant salary funds are needed to cover unanticipated overtime from critical incidents (e.g., $1.4M in overtime last year). Council requested a more accurate budget with overtime properly funded rather than reliance on salary lapses.
- Abandoned Vehicles: Budget of $300,000 for tows (about $1,000 per car). Chief acknowledged process delays (vehicle sits too long) and is implementing a new procedure to call for tow immediately after officer assessment, aiming to reduce time from sighting to removal to 7 days. Council discussed the state's notice of transfer law as a root cause.
- Recruitment: Deputy Chief Ozaki announced a new partnership with DOE to offer a one-week teacher academy at KPD (June 16-20 and July 21-25) to expose students to law enforcement careers.
- Dispatchers: Nearly half of 20 dispatcher positions vacant; classified as clerks with low pay. Chief noted statewide PSAP vacancy rate of ~50% and efforts to reclassify at the legislature.
- Less Lethal Munitions: New line item for special response team expansion.
Office of the Prosecuting Attorney Discussion Items
- Prosecutor's Synopsis: Budget is flat ($7.6M), with most going to salaries. Challenges include 3 deputy prosecutor vacancies and 3 clerical vacancies; remote work restrictions hinder recruitment. Office focuses on enforcement, prosecution, and prevention (Life's Choices grants, fentanyl task force).
- Re-entry Program (Ahoe Eka Pico): $1 million grant from BJA is in planning phase; delayed due to performance-based payout structure and definition of recidivism. Office meets regularly with Council of State Governments.
- Mental Health Diversion: New $550,000 BJA grant (2.5 years) to partner with Ho'ola Lahui for low-level offenders. Includes funding for a part-time deputy prosecutor and data analysis by Vera Institute. Councilmember Kuali'i raised concerns about couples counseling for domestic violence cases and liability.
- Life's Choices Grants: $1 million per year for community organizations; second year of program. Council requested a report on grantees and outcomes.
- Performance Data: Councilmember Cowden requested quarterly performance reports (cases accepted, charged, convicted, etc.). Prosecutor stated staffing constraints but agreed to provide updated information from last year's budget follow-up.
- Budget Detail: Grant employee benefits line item increased 57% ($262,900) due to grant reductions and salary increases. Council requested a breakdown.
Key Outcomes
- No formal votes were taken; the meeting was a review. Expectation that departments will provide additional information:
- Fire: Cost estimate for controlled burn training program.
- Police: Revised vacancy report with realistic funding levels (6-month or 9-month for positions unlikely to be filled July 1), and updated overtime budget request.
- Prosecuting Attorney: Updated performance data (similar to prior years) and breakdown of grant employee benefits.
- The committee recessed at approximately 4:30 p.m. and will continue budget reviews on subsequent days (April 4, 7, etc.).
- Council emphasized the need for accurate budgeting to avoid reliance on salary lapses for overtime.
Meeting Transcript
Okay, good morning. I'd like to call back to order the Finance and Economic Development Committee and Fiscal Year 2025 2026 departmental budget reviews that the record reflect that all members are present on the schedule today. We'll be hearing from fire, emergency management agency, police, and office of prosecuting attorney. As we do each morning, we'll take public testimony at the beginning relating to any of the departments or agencies that we're reviewing for today. Is there anyone in the audience in the public wishing to testify? Yeah, Tommy. I'll suspend the rules. This is on the budgets for fire, emergency management agency, police, and prosecuting attorney. What that encompasses a lot, and the first thing I want to say is a low oh, I kept Tommy Pasarella, Kawaii Hawaii. First off, I want to say say a big aloha to everybody. Um I'm glad I don't have any warrants today. Um I uh would love to thank everybody there behind me. We have people that save lives on a daily basis while putting their life on the line on a daily basis. That encompasses a lot of money. Um one of the things I would address would be having the best equipment, having the best salaries to attract the best people, having the best schedules, and encompassing the efficiency to serve the public. Uh safety is a huge issue when you talk about public safety, of course. Mental health should be put into that equation with helping the prosecutor's office deal with the epidemic of the substances that roll through these islands and addressing that issue versus um making it a criminal act a lot of times. A lot of times we need to address the addiction issue. One of the biggest things with addictions is to break the cycle. A year ago. I didn't play that game for a year. Health is very important. So if we could teach our young ones how to become healthier, how to eat healthier, that encompasses a lot. We're hitting about 15 different departments within the county and the state. I don't think we need to spend the incredible amount of money that's proposed at the state level for the correction center. And I think that we deserve our lifeguards. I'm glad that they make at least 25 an hour. They deserve every penny. They deserve the best equipment from our rangers who put their life on the line on a daily basis, just dealing with people that live in this community, or it could be from around this country. We don't know who we're dealing with sometimes. The main thing I would propose is to treat these people with dignity to serve, to thank them on a daily basis. When I see somebody in a military hat, I salute them. When I see a vehicle with veterans' place, I salute that vehicle whether they're in the car or not. We need to do the same for the people behind us, including our prosecutors, including everybody encompassing all of those entities that incorporate, we need an efficiency to move forward to publicly serve. I would say for our homeless people, I would love to see safe zones. We could set up tents, we could have beds, we can have food, we can have clean water, we could have internet, we could have free phones, and that could be done today with just donations through people like to people. Thank you. I know I hit a lot of different areas, but I three minutes is the biggest thing I want to say is thank you, thank you, thank you to everybody behind me. I was a sheriff's officer in Jersey, and I want to thank everybody. Okay, thank you. Anyone else in the audience wishing to testify? If not, um we'll begin with the uh fire department. Um someone wants to come up, Chief. You want to come up and just provide um a quick synopsis? We'll ask any questions on the synopsis, and then from there we'll just go through each department your budget. Good morning. Chair, council. Um get the jitters out of my system and talk for a little bit before I start. But um, first I'll address I'm very grateful to the attendance from our department today. Our budget is their budget.
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