The Maui County Budget, Finance and Economic Development Committee on April recessed its discussion and deferred action on Bill 15, a proposal to use about $51,000,000 in carryover savings to shift several capital improvement projects from bond funding to cash, and agreed to take up the item at the full Council meeting tomorrow.

Committee members said the $51 million appears both in Bill 15 and in the mayor's proposed fiscal year 2026 budget, raising questions about whether the amount has been double-counted and what adjustments would be required if the council enacts the transfer.

Chair (Lee) opened the meeting by framing the options: file Bill 15 and proceed with the mayor's proposed budget as submitted, or pass Bill 15 and identify about $51 million in projects to remove or reduce from the FY26 budget. A member summarized the choice as: "file the bill, and then we go with the proposed budget as we received it from the mayor, or we pass the bill and figure out where we're going to... delete from the FY26 budget as the mayor proposed," and said they were not inclined to cut $51 million of projects.

Budget Director Milner told the committee the budget as proposed is "balanced as is with the revenues that are in the bill" and that the administration had requested only that the council file or rescind Bill 15 rather than take immediate legislative action. Milner also said the $51,000,000 "was included in the carryover savings for fiscal year 26" and that departments had been consulted after committee inaction.

Legislative attorney Peter Hanano summarized the sequence for members: Bill 15 was considered alongside Bill 17 earlier; Council passed Bill 17 after amending the cap from $250,000,000 to $150,000,000, and Bill 15 remained deferred in committee. Hanano said, "That's correct. This bill was basically considered, at the same time as bill 17... and, as a result, bill 15 was basically, deferred where it sits in committee right now."

Members asked whether recognizing the $51 million as carryover savings in the FY26 budget would force equivalent reductions in appropriations. Director Milner and staff clarified that the amount has been allocated in the proposed FY26 budget and is not "spent" but is part of the budget allocations; the budget director said that if the carryover savings were reduced by that amount, "the equivalent amount of expenditures would also need to be reduced." Committee members who spoke generally favored filing the bill so the council can adopt the mayor's proposed FY26 budget without removing $51 million of projects.

No formal vote on Bill 15 took place during the recess meeting. The chair announced the item would be placed on the full Council agenda tomorrow for a formal vote; the committee adjourned after agreeing to defer the item until that meeting.

Ending: The committee deferred action to allow the full Maui County Council to consider whether to file or pass Bill 15 and to decide how, if necessary, to reconcile a $51 million carryover allocation in the FY26 budget.