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OHA outlines biennial budget timetable, spending limits and priorities ahead of public input
Summary
OHA chief financial staff presented a draft biennial budget timeline, spending constraints and three funding priorities — workforce, infrastructure and transformational programs — and trustees and public testifiers flagged community outreach and packet availability concerns.
Office of Hawaiian Affairs finance staff on Wednesday presented the agency’s biennial budget development timeline, described key funding constraints and said the final budget will reflect trustee priorities.
Ramona Hink, OHA’s chief financial officer, told the Budget and Finance Committee the agency is building the fiscal 2026–27 budget from its strategic plan and implementation tactics. She said current constraints include the board’s spending‑limit policy, Public Land Trust (PLT) annual revenues, and the 5 percent rolling average draw from the Native Hawaiian Trust Fund.
Hink gave specific figures: “The current spending limit for fiscal 26 is $47,800,000 and the estimated spending limit for fiscal 27 currently is $50,100,000,” she said. She added that PLT revenues in the plan are estimated at $21,500,000 and that the trust‑fund draw for fiscal 26 is estimated at $22,700,000.
The presentation outlined three spending priorities that will shape appropriation requests: (1) making OHA an “employer of choice” by addressing compensation and filling vacancies (personnel fringe was budgeted at about a 64% load), (2) improving operational systems and infrastructure (procurement, travel, recruitment and program monitoring), and (3) funding transformational programs and services tied to the Mana‘i Mauliola strategic framework.
Timing and public input: staff said the development calendar includes combined administration and board budget reviews in early April, community budget presentations April 22–23 and additional meetings April 26 and May 2, a Budget & Finance action item on June 11 and Board of Trustees consideration on June 26. Staff told trustees they plan to publish a budget summary and to include project justification documents for trustee proposals so reviewers can see costs and timelines for proposed programs.
Public testimony at the meeting focused on transparency and access. Jermaine Myers, a public testifier who identified himself as an OHA beneficiary and Nanakuli homestead lessee, asked for a UIPA request to obtain the full PowerPoint slides and asked how OHA will ensure beneficiaries in each county — including kupuna without internet access — have meaningful opportunities to review and comment on the proposed budget. Myers noted neighborhood boards’ meeting schedules and asked how the short comment timeline will accommodate community deliberation.
Hink and staff acknowledged some slide‑pack and packet distribution gaps and said staff will provide more detail on project forms and travel request templates. Trustees asked for access to ongoing project status information and for staff to coordinate with trustees proposing program initiatives.
The committee took no final budget votes at the meeting. Staff said the spending‑limit revision will be presented to the Budget & Finance Committee on April 16 and to the full Board of Trustees for first and second readings in May, and that the committee will return with line‑item recommendations and any required budget action items before June 26.
