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The City Council continues its budget briefings, Honolulu rail planners forge ahead, Civil Beat is reporting from the inside.

Mayor Testifies Against TAT Grab

1:53 p.m.
Honolulu Mayor Peter Carlisle checked in with Inside Honolulu after giving testimony against the state’s attempt to cap counties’ TAT revenue.

“The gist of what I said was the transient accommodation tax is based on tourists paying city services that they use,” Carlisle said in a phone call. “If the transient accommodation tax is taken by the state, and resident tax payers will have to pay for services provided to tourists throug increases to real property taxes, increased fees or decreased services.”

The bill was deferred back to committee, a move that the mayor isn’t calling good news just yet.

“It means this will be something we discuss in more detail later on,” he said.

All Four Mayors Submit Testimony Against TAT Cap

11:30 a.m.
Honolulu Managing Director Doug Chin told Civil Beat that Mayor Peter Carlisle has must-hear testimony for the TAT hearing this afternoon.

For a preview, check out with the three other Hawaii mayors. All four met yesterday morning at Honolulu Hale.

“In these difficult economic times, we ask that you remember that we all serve a common constituency,” the mayors wrote. “We believe that the current TAT rate and distribution equitability serves the underlying intent of the law, which is to support and improve the quality of Hawaii tourism product and infrastructure.”

Flushing Money Down the Toilet

10:41 a.m.
In an attempt to break down costs, Environmental Services Director Tim Steinberger says his department has figured out how much wastewater services cost individuals.

“So, how much it costs to have that water to leave your sink to go down the pipes to go to the treatment plant,” Steinberger said.

Flushing the toilet, he says, costs 2.5 cents each time.

H-POWER’s Third Boiler One Year from Launch

10:38 a.m.
Environmental Services Director Tim Steinberger says the city is about one year from firing up the third boiler at H-POWER.

“We’re projecting right now to have it online in March of 2012,” Steinberger told the City Council Budget Committee.

The new boiler is expected to dramatically reduce the amount of solid waste that goes into the city’s landfill.

Mayor, Budget Director Prep Testimony on TAT

10:06 a.m.
Keep an eye out for the mayor at the State Capitol today. Peter Carlisle is preparing testimony with Budget Director Mike Hansen this morning, ahead of a on a that could cap counties’ share of the transient accommodation tax.

The state is looking for money anywhere it can find it, but the city says its budget will become unbalanced if the bill passes.

Furloughs Still Possible for City Workers

9:39 a.m.
No question: Mayor Peter Carlisle has made it abundantly — or, should we say “absolutely and unequivocally” — clear that he does not want city workers furloughed next year. He didn’t include furloughs in the spending plan he presented earlier this month, but he did include a 5 percent labor savings.

But what happens if the mayor doesn’t get his way? We’ve explored the possibility before, and found Carlisle isn’t in a position to set the tone on union negotiations.

Carlisle’s Cabinet members in the Human Resources Department told City Council members in a budget briefing this morning that the process is so “dynamic” and “fluid” that anything can happen. If not furloughs, city Budget Director Mike Hansen says the administration could try to get the City Council to pass real property tax hikes.

“If we are unable to get that 5 percent, we’re going to need to look at other areas to create and generate savings,” Hansen told the Budget Committee. “It could run the gamut, really. We don’t have any of what I’d call reserves set aside … The Plan B, in my mind, is that we would really need to start making some harder decisions on what we need to do. The easy one is raising real property taxes.”

Hansen said it would be “inappropriate” for him to weigh in on how the city’s negotiations with unions are going so far.

Federal Transit Officials Visit Honolulu

Mayor Peter Carlisle will attend a reception for visiting U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood this evening. The Pacific Resource Partnership is a group that links contractors and Hawaii unions.

LaHood is in town with Federal Transit Administration Administrator Peter Rogoff. The two plan to meet on Wednesday morning with Carlisle and other city transit officials.

Governor Neil Abercrombie indicated on his public schedule that he plans to attend. Decades-long rail supporter Sen. Daniel Inouye is also in town.

Catch Up on This Month’s Inside Honolulu

March 21, 2011: Honolulu awards two new rail contracts; All four mayors talk labor; Firefighters get boisterous at City Hall; City Council continues budget briefings.

March 17, 2011: City Council questions necessity of long-planned bond float for rail; Lengthy executive sessions moves rail talks behind closed doors; Aging bus fleet, city workers.

March 16, 2011: City Council tables transit resolution; City Council members slam administration’s proposed fuel hike.

March 15, 2011: City Council member Ann Kobayashi tips off rail opponents to try to change City Council member Ikaika Anderson‘s mind; Rail arguments to continue in court next week; City Council members get an extension on HART nominations.

March 15, 2011: Honolulu spends $900 million on booze; Santa Claus moves to Pearl City; Mayor Peter Carlisle takes a 15 percent pay cut.

March 10, 2011: Landfill site-selection committee meets for third time, loses two members; HECO provides generators to family center; Like Honolulu, other cities and state grapple with spending on rail.

March 9, 2011: City’s rail groundbreaking ceremony costs about $30,000, consistent with Honolulu Mayor Peter Carlisle‘s estimate.

March 8, 2011: HART seeks $21 million in first budgetl; City IT Director Gordon Bruce works out kinks on new budget website; City gives HPD 9,000 hours in legal defense in two years; City moves forward with compost facility in Waialua; Could Honolulu ask residents to pay-to-play?

March 7, 2011: Honolulu Mayor Peter Carlisle says he doesn’t want a raise; Salary Commission recommends bump in pay for vacant medical examiner job; Tom Berg‘s chief of staff blasts HECO.

March 4, 2011: Landfill channel not designed to handle rainfall equivalent to storm that caused near-catastrophe; Six City Council members out of town.

March 3, 2011: Line-by-line budget to go online in about a week; Five City Council members are D.C.-bound.

March 2, 2011: Mayor Peter Carlisle raises taxes, fees in first budget; More money for autopsies; Liquor commish nominee Wesley Fong talks commission image issues; TheBus turns 40; Ides of March deadline for City Council’s HART nominees.

March 1, 2011: City Council member Breene Harimoto worries about bandaid approach to homelessness; Planning Committee advances North Shore communities plan; Parks and Rec eyes new dog park; Tom Berg pitches Matson containers as possible living space.