Committee delays decision on creating standalone Department of Building after finance analysis shows multi‑million cost

The committee on Oct. 7 postponed Bill 68 (Draft 3), a proposed charter amendment to establish a standalone Department of Building and a Building Codes Commission, to the committee’s Oct. 21 meeting after finance provided preliminary cost estimates and members requested additional data from the building division.

Finance Director Diane Nakagawa told the committee the estimated ongoing annual cost of a separate building department would be about $1,900,000 and the first‑year cost would be at least $6,400,000. Her summary cited 11 new positions (including a director and deputy director), salary and fringe increases of about $1.34 million, one‑time equipment costs (computers, vehicles, printers) and lease‑space estimates (an average of 10–12,000 square feet in Hilo and about half that in West Hawaii) that drove a $540,000 lease‑cost estimate.…