Legislative branch requests $30 million for FY26; council, clerk and auditor budgets outlined

Kenny Yamazaki, council administrative services officer, presented the legislative branch FY26 appropriation request of $30,003,310 to the Committee on Budget. The package covers the City Council, Office of Council Services, City Clerk and City Auditor. The total request represents an increase of about $743,856, or 2.5 percent, from FY25.

Details: The legislative branch position count rises from 169 to 173, driven by four positions added in the City Clerk’s office (two anticipated as year‑round and two as seasonal election contractors). The council’s appropriation request is $11,171,333 — up about $783,287, or 7.5 percent — and includes funding for three Charter Commission positions for a full fiscal year. The Office of Council Services requested $3,371,524, and the city auditor requested $2,143,795, a 1.8 percent increase over FY25.

City Clerk Glenn Takahashi told the committee that the clerk’s FY26 request totals roughly $4.95 million, with $2.78 million for personnel costs and about $2.16 million for current expenses. He said the office’s request includes $37,800 to fund Honolulu Police Department special duty presence at council and committee meetings and roughly $177,469 for temporary election staff expected to be hired in the months before an election. The clerk’s office reported a roughly 14 percent vacancy rate when seasonal positions are included and said it currently had 31 of 35 non‑seasonal positions filled.

Troy Shimasaki, acting city auditor, presented the city auditor’s FY26 request, which includes a salary component reflecting up to a 3 percent exempt salary adjustment and a small net reduction in current expenses because a triennial peer review funded last year is not scheduled in FY26.

What’s next: Committee members had no substantive follow‑up during the presentation; the legislative branch materials will be carried into ongoing budget deliberations.