July Newsletter Message
Aloha,
These days, families across Oʻahu are feeling the crushing and unabating pressure of rising costs: groceries, utility bills, insurance premiums, and housing costs (to name a few) are all creeping up in unison, making more of us work harder than ever just to make ends meet - and there are even more increases on the horizon. That’s why I’ve had such an unrelenting focus on utilizing the considerable resources that the City carries over year-over-year to help manage cost increases much more deliberately and wisely.
Each year, hundreds of millions of dollars that have already been appropriated to City departments and salaries go unspent, and lapse into large, hidden and unused pockets of money. While some of this is unavoidable, some of it - as in the case of positions that will never get filled in the fiscal year - can be used to help mitigate rising costs, as was the case last year with spiking sewer fees, and which go into effect this year.
Before we ask families to shoulder any additional costs, we should first examine the City’s lapsed funds to see if they can mitigate or eliminate extra fees. Whether it’s investing in infrastructure or maintaining our parks and roads, we should make every taxpayer dollar count. That’s why I’ve championed greater transparency around lapsed funds and have worked to make sure those dollars are put to work serving our communities instead of sitting idle.
By making our City government more efficient, more accountable and more transparent, we can lower costs, strengthen core services and build a stronger future for Oʻahu - one that keeps local families at the center of every decision we make.
With Aloha,
Tommy
