As sea levels rise and severe weather events become more frequent, Honolulu voters will decide whether to dedicate a portion of property tax revenue to preparing for and mitigating the effects of climate change.

The proposed city charter amendment would establish a Climate Resiliency Fund to pay for things like electric buses, tree plantings, solar panels over parking lots and programs to protect people from flood and hurricane damage. It would take effect in 2025.

The ballot measure calls for the City Council to dedicate half of a percentage point of real property taxes to the fund each year, which would translate to just over $8.5 million based on this year’s projected property tax revenue.

It specifies the fund would not require a simultaneous increase in real property tax rates. However, critics argue siphoning money away from the general fund would pressure the city to find more revenue, which could eventually mean raising property taxes anyway.

The appropriation would be equivalent to the Affordable Housing Fund and the Clean Water and Natural Lands Fund, which are already in the City Charter.

People on both sides of the issue agree it’s important to spend money on climate change resilience but differ over whether a new fund is needed to do so.

Critics, including from the mayor’s administration, contend the city already spends a lot of money on this, including through projects like bridge-hardening.

“Preparing for climate change is very important and we support it. The mechanism to do that should be the budget process we have,” Budget and Fiscal Services Director Andrew Kawano said.

Natalie Iwasa, a certified public accountant and frequent testifier at the council, believes a new fund would make the City Council less flexible if something else comes up that also needs funding, like homelessness or Covid hazard back pay.

“They have the ability to put those funds in a budget already, every single year. They don’t need a special fund to do that,” she said. 

She worries about tying up money in the fund since it could be difficult to spend. The Clean Water and Natural Lands Fund, for example, has proven difficult to spend, Kawano said at a council meeting last year. But supporters of a Climate Resiliency Fund say this time would be different. The Clean Water and Natural Lands Fund is used for big real estate purchases, which can be difficult and take a long time. In contrast, a Climate Resiliency Fund would have more flexible requirements for how the money can be spent.

Current spending on climate change resiliency isn’t enough, Council Chair Tommy Waters has said in support of the fund. He pointed to recent rainstorms that have flooded Oahu’s streets and said upgrading the stormwater infrastructure will be expensive. 

To pay for this, city officials have discussed a new stormwater utility fee that would cost about $25 per month for a typical single-family home. The thinking is that the current funding mechanism, which is mostly through yearly property taxes, incentivizes a patchwork of quick fixes rather than big upgrades for the long term. 

Instead of creating a new stormwater fee, Waters thinks a Climate Resiliency Fund could accomplish the same goal. 

“We can set aside money through this charter amendment to take care of the stormwater utility, so that we don’t have to charge local folks, property owners, more money,” Waters said at a council meeting last year.

But that still wouldn’t be enough to cover upgrades, Kawano said to Waters during the same meeting. A fully funded stormwater infrastructure upgrade program would cost in the neighborhood of $200 million each year – more than 20 times what the Climate Resiliency Fund would collect. 

“In all honesty, the city is going to spend more than $8 million a year on public safety and resilience,” council member Matt Weyer said.

The big reason he supports the fund is because it emphasizes climate change resilience as a priority.

“I think it’s appropriate to have the fund and ensure that in our charter, which is our city constitution, there’s an identification that we need to be using funds in supporting public safety and resilience,” he said.

Ballots will be mailed to voters on Oahu this week, ahead of the Nov. 5 general election.

Civil Beat’s coverage of climate change is supported by The Healy Foundation, Marisla Fund of the Hawaii Community Foundation and the Frost Family Foundation.