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Housing office outlines $53.3 million operating request, lists projects, urges continued focus on rental assistance and affordable production
Summary
The Office of Housing and Community Development (OHCD) told the committee it is managing roughly $43 million in federal awards and presented a $53,274,413 FY26 operating request focused on rental assistance, affordable housing production, and homelessness interventions.
Office of Housing and Community Development Administrator Kehau Costa and senior staff briefed the Committee on OHCD programs, spending and priorities as the finance panel considered the mayor's operating and capital proposals.
Costa told the committee OHCD's proposed operating budget for fiscal year 2025–26 totals $53,274,413. The office told the committee roughly $43 million of its planned activity in the coming year will come from federal awards (CDBG, HOME, HTF, ESG and other federal housing grants), while the operating request includes county subsidies and revenue from county-owned rental properties.
OHCD highlighted ongoing activity across multiple project types: the department reported 39 units under construction, completion of about 200 units in the fiscal year to date, renovations at county-owned elderly housing (Kula Imano), ongoing planning and procurement for Kukuiola emergency shelter and renovation work at other county-owned assets such as O'uli Ekahi. Costa said the office administers approximately 2,300 monthly Section 8 housing choice vouchers and an expanding roster of special-purpose vouchers and project-based voucher contracts that help developers finance affordable units.
Assistant Administrator Keiko Mercado and division managers said the department handles several federal grants and emergency rental assistance funds, and that ERAP funds are being used in part for permanent supportive housing and short-term shelter costs as required by federal rules. The department said it is working to spend remaining ERAP funds by federal deadlines and to proceed with projects such as Kukuiola support services and housing design that will absorb those dollars.
Costa said the mayor's proposed capital and operating packages include priorities for affordable housing production and rental assistance, and she urged council members to preserve funding lines that allow OHCD to begin design or engineering for important projects. Assistant Administrator Mercado described plans to expand mentoring and staff training to soften staff turnover pressures in a department that manages complex grants and multi-year development projects.
Why it matters: OHCD manages major federal grant flows and the largest single rental-subsidy program in the county; its capital-program requests and federal spending deadlines shape how quickly housing projects and emergency shelters are built and operated.
Sources: OHCD presentation and Q&A, Hawaii County Committee on Finance, April 8, 2025. Figures cited by Administrator Kehau Costa and division managers.
