HONOLULU – During a ceremony at Honolulu Hale attended by City leaders and members of the Honolulu City Council, Mayor Rick Blangiardi signed the budget bills for the City’s 2025 fiscal year — Bill 11 (2024), Bill 12 (2024), and Bill 13 (2024) — into law.
Bill 12 and Bill 13 represent the City and County of Honolulu’s $3.63 billion and $1.05 billion Operating and Capital Improvement Program (CIP) budgets, respectively, for FY25, while Bill 11 comprises the roughly $30 million Legislative Budget that funds operations for the Honolulu City Council, as well as the offices of the City Clerk and City Auditor.
All three budget bills were passed unanimously during the full meeting of the Honolulu City Council on Wednesday, June 5, 2024. During Friday’s ceremony, Mayor Blangiardi also signed Bill 16 and Bill 17, the $3.19 million Operating and $574 million Capital Improvement Program budgets for the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation (HART).
“This budget is a reflection of people working together collaboratively toward a vision of what’s important for our island,” said Mayor Rick Blangiardi. “Our budget is our playbook, determining where our priorities are, how best to spend taxpayer dollars, and how to maximize benefits and services for everyone who calls Oʻahu home.”
The budgets adopted by the City Council include significant investments in important City services, including $621.7 million in combined operating funding for Oʻahu’s public safety agencies. The FY25 CIP budget includes $14.9 million for fire station improvements and equipment, $11.8 million for improvements to the Honolulu Police Department’s headquarters and substations, and $5 million for ambulance facilities and Ocean Safety stations.
The adopted FY25 budget includes $22.8 million for affordable housing development, in addition to the $205 million from FY24, and serves Oʻahu’s homeless population with $19.5 million for homeless initiatives and $25 million in additional CIP funds — added by the City Council — for the development or renovation of urban rest stops, navigation centers and other community-focused projects.
In addition to the $120.6 million in operating funds for City parks in the upcoming fiscal year, the CIP budget includes several additions by the Honolulu City Council to improve park facilities, including $16.1 million to renovate recreational facilities and $10 million for improvements to play courts at various parks.
The budget approved by the Honolulu City Council also includes an additional $35 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to pay OPEB, in accordance with U.S. Treasury guidelines, providing the financial capacity to increase the appropriation for the hazard pay contingency to $115 million.
“I deeply appreciate the City Administration’s diligent work and transparency in presenting next year’s budget. This budget addresses the continuous challenge of balancing community needs, maintaining infrastructure, and managing costs responsibly,” said City Council Chair Tommy Waters. “Mahalo to the Budget Committee, Councilmembers, and Budget Chair Radiant Cordero; we have successfully allocated funds for projects and services to improve lives across O‘ahu, achieving a balanced budget of over $3.6 billion with about $1 billion in strategic capital improvements.”
“With a focus on public safety and recreation, our budget supports our emergency services–police, fire, ambulance, and ocean safety operations and First Responder employees; directs funding towards the maintenance and further development of our parks and recreational programs; seeks improvements to our infrastructure, such as roads, sidewalks, wastewater, and waterways; and continues the ongoing backing of affordable housing initiatives,” said Budget Chair Radiant Cordero. “I look forward to working with the Mayor and City Administration to implement the budget for the benefit of our citizens.”
The City and County of Honolulu’s 2025 fiscal year begins on July 1, 2024.
—PAU—
