Council proviso, SLFRF and recurring funding collide as OER seeks to make three equity-liaison positions permanent

The Office of Economic Revitalization asked the Honolulu City Council Committee on Budget to restore three community equity liaison (CEL) positions to the city's general-fund base so the posts would be recurring after the positions were originally funded by a council proviso in FY2025.

"We are not proposing to fund the community equity liaisons with the SLFRF funding. We are proposing to fund them with general funds in this budget," the director of the Office of Economic Revitalization told the committee during the department's FY2026 presentation.

Background and the administration's proposal The CEL positions were added in FY2025 by council action as provisos to support outreach and services for immigrant, limited-English and other vulnerable communities. The managing director and mayor later sent a letter asking that the three positions be added into OER's FY2026 general-fund budget so the city could retain staff and provide continuity.

At the same time, OER told the committee it plans to use residual State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) to support nine other positions that had been funded temporarily by pandemic-relief grants; shifting those nine jobs onto SLFRF would free an estimated $594,900 of general-fund salary capacity. OER said that, after restoring the three CEL positions to general fund, the remaining general-fund savings from those changes would be roughly $376,900.

Federal and private grant activity OER reported it currently manages roughly $18 million in new and ongoing federal and private program funds aimed at business resiliency, broadband/digital equity, regenerative tourism pilots and workforce pipelines. The office highlighted a recent Economic Development Administration award of about $200,000 for business disaster resiliency work and said it has pending private applications (for example, a Dell-funded technology pathways proposal) and federal digital-equity applications.

Council questions and procedural dispute Vice Chair Tom Nishimoto and other council members pressed the administration on whether council-added provisos become part of the base budget. Committee questioning reviewed city practice for when a council proviso yields a continuing program and when funding is treated as one-time. Budget Director Andy Kawano said the administration prepares the proposed budget and will indicate program status; council adoption ultimately determines what becomes recurring in the ordinance.

Why this matters Making the CEL posts recurring would consolidate services that city staff and community advocates say support immigrant and limited-English households in accessing city services. The funding decision also illustrates budget law and practice: whether a program initially funded by a council proviso must be treated as nonrecurring unless the council or administration explicitly authorizes a recurring appropriation.

Next steps OER requested the three positions be included in the administration's general-fund budget; council members asked for written clarifications and follow-up memos about whether positions were inadvertent omissions and about the mechanics for converting provisional funding into recurring general-fund authority. The Budget & Fiscal Services office and OER said they will provide supplemental documentation to the committee.