Maui County councilmember Tamara Paltin makes comment on a bill in Tuesday’s Maui county council meeting via video conference from Japan. Courtesy photo

The Maui News

KAHULUI–The Maui County Council held their second meeting of the month of May and attended to many items throughout the course of the day, but mainly focused on the passing of bills relating amendments to the county fiscal operating budget for 2025.

The fiscal budget for 2025 will run from July 1, 2024, until June 30, 2025.

One of the amendments to the budget involved reducing funds for the Maui Food Bank. Funds were reduced from $300,000 for the proposed budget for 2025 to $100,000 as one of the amendments to the final budget.

“The Maui Food Bank is agreeable to receiving a reduced grant of $100,000 from the county in fiscal year 2025,” a prepared email to the council stated. “The Food Bank is able to reduce its grant request this year due to the strong financial donations received in response to the August 2024 fires.”

The council met for the better part of the day in order to achieve the required passing of a budget. In total, the council entertained 18 bills and resolutions throughout the course of the meeting.

Councilmember Tamara Paltin participated in the meeting from Japan, video conferencing and making comments while at a public train station.

Another item of interest was the cut of $100,000 to the Office of Human Concerns that the department asked the council to restore $70,000 of those funds to the 2025 fiscal year budget, which the council decided to do at the meeting Tuesday. The $70,000 will come from the Office of Recovery, the council decided, pulling from a surplus office to fund the request from the Office of Human Concerns.

“During the budget (process), we kept testimony open every single day except for the last two days with corrections,” Vice Chair Yuki Lei Sugimora said of the budget process. “And the departments never came to say, ‘Hey, don’t do that,’ right. So I’m not too sure why, but they said they thought it would get handled or whatever.”

Sugimora said cuts are the outcome if directors are not there to testify for their departments.

“The departments have to pay attention to the budget process,” Chair Alice Lee said of the budget process. “Otherwise, don’t grumble at the end.”