Community Services director pitches $182 million budget, highlights homelessness pivots and Section 8 changes

Anton Krucky, director of the Department of Community Services, told the Honolulu City Council Committee on Budget on March 11 that his department is proposing a roughly $182 million operating budget for fiscal 2027 and remains heavily dependent on external funding. "Eighty percent of our funds come from outside of the city," Krucky said during the presentation.

The department said the budget aims to protect services for vulnerable residents while keeping the city fiscally prudent. Krucky told the committee the department has prioritized homelessness triage, shelter capacity and casework continuity: it is expanding the Kokua Command Center to track shelter availability and hospital discharges and to triage calls diverted from 911.

Why it matters: The Community Services budget funds core safety-net programs — Section 8 vouchers, emergency housing, senior services and child care — and the department told council members it must pivot often because federal policy and grants change frequently.

Krucky described two recent operational pivots: using extra Section 8 funds cautiously to avoid creating future obligations, and using emergency housing vouchers to house households during federal uncertainty. "So we took the waiting list down to 0," he said, explaining the department brought emergency-voucher households into housing immediately rather than keeping them on a waiting list.

The presentation included program highlights and capital items: an expanded Honu triage model (the department’s tent-village triage), two proposed Kala'i triage centers tied into the command center, investments in shelter upgrades (including a Waimanalo village upgrade), and continued grant-funded activity. Krucky said grants management had helped secure more than $10 million for community organizations in recent awards and that similar amounts are expected in the coming year.

Council members followed with questions on multiple fronts. Councilmember Cordero asked whether prior restrictions on properties purchased with Community Revitalization Fund dollars limit reuse; Krucky said the department aims to finish current renovation work this fiscal year and to use funds for renovation of units restricted at 60% area median income. Councilmember Kia'aina praised the grants-in-aid criteria as "very, very fair" for smaller nonprofits and asked the department to consider raising individual award amounts.

Several members raised personnel and compensation issues. Kia'aina and others pressed the department to review temporary hazard pay determinations; Krucky said HR and the managing director’s office were reviewing documentation and expected a determination within seven days. Members also asked the department to provide an itemized estimate of overtime covered by salary savings; Krucky said staff would analyze the figures and supply them to the committee.

What’s next: Members requested updated unit counts for transitional housing, details on the Community Revitalization Fund property restrictions and the overtime/salary-savings breakdown. The department invited members to tour the new ADRC facility at 222 North School Street on April 7. No formal votes were taken at the hearing.

Sources: Presentation and answers to member questions by Anton Krucky, Director, Department of Community Services; Deputy Director Edward Los Banos; Committee on Budget, Honolulu City Council (March 11, 2026).