Maui County Council adopts FY2026 budget on second and final reading with targeted amendments

The Maui County Council on June 3 adopted the county'wide fiscal year 2026 budget and related ordinances on second and final reading, approving eight bills as a package after voting to accept two amendments to Bill 41 (the operating budget).

Vice Chair Yuki Lehi Sugimura moved the package and Council member Keani Rollins Fernandez seconded; the final vote on the main motion as amended was 8 ayes, 0 noes, 1 excused (Pro Tempore Tashakama), as the council closed a special meeting convened solely for second and final reading of the budget ordinances.

The council'passed measures included Bill 41 (Operating Budget FY2026), Bill 42 (Capital Program FY2026), Bill 43 (issuance of general obligation bonds), Bill 44 (redirection of certain GO bond proceeds), Bill 45 (intergovernmental agreement for wastewater loans), Bill 46 (water supply loans), Bill 48 (amending deputy corporation counsel and deputy prosecuting attorney salaries), and Bill 50 (repealing the employee parking fees fund). All were moved together for second and final reading and carried with the same vote tally.

The most significant changes enacted during the meeting were amendments to Bill 41. Vice Chair Sugimura successfully moved to reallocate $75,000 from an appropriation originally described for Malama Maui Nui, reducing that grant by $75,000 to $155,500, and creating a new appropriation of $75,000 for Nakoa Manu Conservation, Inc. The amendment conditions the county disbursement on Nakoa Manu Conservation securing a 1-to-1 match from the Hawaii Community Foundation prior to release of the county funds; the amendment was seconded by Council member Tom Cook and approved 8-0-1.

Council member Keani Rollins Fernandez also moved an amendment that reallocated small line items within Bill 41: reducing funding to Molokai Arts Center Inc. by $2,000 (from $20,000 to $18,000) and reducing Aina Moana by $10,000 (from $90,000 to $80,000), while increasing a Department of Housing/Human Concerns grant line by $12,000 to provide support to the Ho'olihua Homesteaders Association for utilities, supplies and equipment. That motion, seconded by Council member Shane Sennenci, was carried by voice vote (8 ayes, 0 noes, 1 excused).

Public testimony preceding the votes focused on continued county support for local cultural and environmental programs. Lohilani Furtado Gaspar, director of cultural education at Ka'ahu, told council members she supports the Ka'ahu line item and said Ka'ahu served 1,707 people last year and had served 1,666 so far this year, with 886 of those attendees identified as haumana (students). Denae Marin, director of community engagement at CAEI, and other testifiers described stewardship and youth-education programs on county-managed lands, including native-plant nursery efforts and watershed restoration partnerships.

During final deliberations, Vice Chair Sugimura delivered extended remarks thanking staff, nonprofit partners and council colleagues and framed the budget actions as responses to wildfire recovery, inflation, and housing pressures. "This budget reflects our commitment to resilience, fiscal responsibility, and serving the people of Maui County," she said. Council member Gabe Johnson urged attention to the county's working families and noted the county's low property tax rates in national comparison while urging protection for kupuna and households on fixed incomes.

Budget Director Lehi Milner clarified a point raised during discussion about the size and source of a supplemental agreements contingency. Milner confirmed that $5 million was cut from a fringe-benefits line item earlier in the process but that the $15 million figure referenced on the record was not a single, discrete cut from the supplemental-agreements funding; she confirmed staff would provide further detail if needed.

The council recessed its special meeting after the vote; no further budget actions were taken at that session. The council noted a regular meeting scheduled for June 6, 2025.

Votes at a glance

- Bill 41 CD1 FD1 (Operating Budget FY2026): Passed (8-0-1); amendments adopted reallocating $75,000 to Nakoa Manu Conservation, Inc. (condition: 1:1 match from Hawaii Community Foundation) and multiple small grant reallocations including Molokai Arts Center and Aina Moana reductions and a $12,000 increase for Ho'olihua Homesteaders Association.

- Bill 42 CD1 FD1 (Capital Program FY2026): Passed (8-0-1).

- Bill 43 CD1 (GO bond authorization, aggregate principal and related actions): Passed (8-0-1).

- Bill 44 CD1 (Redirect part of previously issued GO bond proceeds): Passed (8-0-1).

- Bill 45 CD1 (Intergovernmental agreement: State Water Pollution Control Revolving Fund loan, wastewater projects): Passed (8-0-1).

- Bill 46 CD1 (Intergovernmental agreement: State Water Pollution Control Revolving Fund loan, water supply projects): Passed (8-0-1).

- Bill 48 CD1 (Amend deputies' salary provisions): Passed (8-0-1).

- Bill 50 (Repeal Chapter 3.26 relating to employee parking fees fund): Passed (8-0-1).

What changed for community programs

The amendments to Bill 41 did not change the overall budget total; council members said the amendments reallocated discretionary grant lines to better match nonprofit capacity and project readiness. The conditional $75,000 award to Nakoa Manu Conservation is explicitly tied to an external 1:1 match from the Hawaii Community Foundation.

Ending

With the second-and-final reading concluded, the ordinances become county law according to the rules and effective dates specified within each ordinance. Council members thanked staff and community testifiers for input through the budget process and adjourned the special meeting.