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Millions of dollars in taxpayer funds are being funneled to nonprofits and other special interest groups with little public vetting or oversight through a series of earmarks placed in Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s budget by Honolulu City Council members.

This money, which could amount to as much as $8 million depending on how you classify the appropriations, is in addition to $5.5 million that was set aside as part of a voter-approved Grants-in-Aid program that was created for the specific purpose of funding nonprofits.

The Grants-in-Aid fund is in its first year. It dedicates 0.5 percent of the city’s general fund revenues in a specific pool of money that can only go to organizations that serve economically or socially disadvantaged populations or that provide other public benefits, such as those related to arts, culture and the environment.

But while there’s supposed to be a system of checks and balances to ensure these funds are spent properly — such as an advisory commission and other administrative procedures — questions remain about council members’ earmarks.

Last week, Honolulu City Councilman Breene Harimoto took a stand against the practice of his colleagues burying their pet projects in the budget without so much as an explanation.

It wasn’t his first time raising the issue. He did it once before when the council had only inserted about $3 million in the budget for nonprofits. He said it was even more important to speak out now because the amount has more than doubled.

“Why am I here?” Harimoto asked. “Is it just to bring money home to my district or is it just to do what I think is right for all the people of the city and county?

“Sometimes we like to go along, but I think sometimes we have to really stop and analyze what we’re doing. In this budget I think there are really some things that we need to stop and ask questions about.”

The earmarks Harimoto referred to are in the $2 billion operating budget. Among them are $1.5 million Councilwoman Kymberly Pine inserted for the Leeward Coast Community Benefits Program and $3.4 million Council Chair Ernie Martin tacked on for several different programs, including those that focused on high-risk and socially disadvantaged youth.

These are similar to the programs the $5.5 million Grants-in-Aid fund could support, Harimoto said, except the projects don’t appear to be scrutinized as much as they should.

“I’m concerned that now outside of this voter-approved process the council members are inserting into this budget line items with named nonprofits that we’re giving money to and I don’t think that’s what the voters signed up for us to do,” Harimoto said.

“I really want to stress that nonprofits are doing great work and I would like to support them. But I don’t think that we’re being good stewards of the taxpayers’ money by us deciding to give away money to specific nonprofits largely with no discussion. Up to this point we had no discussion about who we’re giving money to, why or what for, and I’m really concerned about that.”

Most of the new appropriations come from Martin, whose district includes Wahiawa and the North Shore. Geographically he has the largest council district.

According to budget figures, Martin inserted more than $6 million into the budget for nonprofits and other groups that Harimoto referred to at last week’s meeting. But Martin was not shy when addressing Harimoto’s concerns, even openly admitting that he had included the most earmarks.

“I submitted the bulk of them, and I’m not ashamed of it,” Martin said. “Contrary to what may be asserted, when I ran for office I’m doing exactly what I said I would do because there was a critical need in my particular area, and as you can see from a lot of the proposals that are proposed, it extends beyond just my district.”

It’s no secret that Martin has an affinity for nonprofits. In fact, he that put the Grants-in-Aid program on the November 2012 ballot.

He pushed for the measure because of cuts in Community Development Block Grant funding. Typically this money goes to the types of programs the Grants-in-Aid fund support, but the city had seen these dollars dwindle from $14.5 million in Fiscal Year 2010 to $11.9 million in Fiscal Year 2012.

Martin noted that CDBG funds could become even more scarce in the years to come, citing from the National Association of Counties that says the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s CDBG program had been cut by $1 billion since Fiscal Year 2010. That’s a drop of about 25 percent.

He also said there’s plenty of oversight when it comes to approving who gets the funding. Not only does he have to convince the majority of the nine-member council to go along with his proposals, but the administration also gets its say on how the money is spent.

“I put my money where my statement is,” Martin said, directing his comments toward Harimoto. “You cannot say you support (nonprofits) and not be willing to support them with providing them with the funding to do the necessary work that they need to do. It’s just a matter of differing philosophies, and I respect (Harimoto’s) opinion.”

But what the council decides to do with the money has very real consequences.

Council members want to restore bus routes that the Carlisle administration cut last year by about $7 million. While Caldwell has dedicated about $3.5 million to restoring these cuts, many council members want more to be done.

There’s also about $26 million in impending salary increases from newly negotiated union contracts. The administration is considering raiding surplus and retirement funds to help cover these costs along with money that has been set aside to fill employee vacancies.

Budget Director Nelson Koyanagi touched on this last week when he questioned the timing of the council’s earmarks, something that could be seen as part of the tug of war over city finances.

Koyanagi said the $5.5 million in the Grants-in-Aid fund is “quite a bit of money.” He also said it was about the same amount the council gave out last year.

“Five-and-a-half million dollars is a lot of money,” Koyanagi said. “To take an additional $9 million or $10 million from the general fund and put that toward grants in aid when these collective bargaining and other expenses are increasing, I’m not sure that this is the right time to do that.”

So far the city council hasn’t moved to take any of the earmarks out of the operating budget. Another committee meeting is scheduled to finalize the budget next week, and the full council is expected to vote on the spending plan on June 5. It will then go to the mayor for final adoption.

While Harimoto’s concerns Thursday focused on the operating budget, he has also taken umbrage with the $623 million capital budget.

Council earmarks in that budget are more than $50 million, again with Martin submitting the largest share.

Here’s a list of earmarks council members inserted in the operating budget for nonprofits and other special interests:

Here’s a list of projects council members added to the capital budget: