The Honolulu Salary Commission wants to give councilmembers and top department officials a 3.59% raise for the upcoming fiscal year.
The commission has recommended a salary schedule that’s part of an ongoing commission plan to give top city jobs competitive salaries and to help fill a high vacancy rate within the city.
“If we're paying positions poorly compared to the overall market, then essentially the city is hiring folks, training them and then almost immediately losing them into the private sector. Then we're back at square one, lapsing $1 billion a year for those vacancies,” said Rebecca Soon, a member of the salary commission, at a recent meeting.
“That absolutely impacts the ability to do their job and it impacts, frankly, the executives’ ability to deliver for the public,” she added.
Here's a summary of the changes:
- Department heads would earn just over $194,000, a jump from $187,000.
- The Honolulu Police Department chief would earn nearly $240,000, up from $232,000.
- The Honolulu Fire Department chief would earn over $232,000, up from $224,000.
- The Royal Hawaiian Band director would receive about $184,000, up from $178,000.
- Corporation Counsel would earn just under $200,000, up from $193,000.
Some of the highest city positions wouldn’t get any pay increases because their pay was deemed adequate, according to a salary study of city positions. Those positions include the mayor, managing director, deputy director and the Honolulu City Council chair.
The commission did not recommend salary increases for the city’s chief medical examiner and their first deputy, and will instead continue discussing the needs for the positions.
The shortage within the city’s Department of the Medical Examiner is of particular concern to the commission.
Dr. Masahiko Kobayashi, the city medical examiner, in a written testimony said that the deputy role has been vacant since 2019 and that efforts to recruit for the position and forensic pathologists have proven unsuccessful.
While salaries may be competitive, that has shown not to be enough.
“When forensic pathologists in the mainland consider relocation, they carefully examine cost of living in Honolulu, not cost of labor this study factored in. The high cost of living in Honolulu is an extremely discouraging factor for relocation to Honolulu,” Kobayashi said.
Kobayashi added, “I still believe Honolulu has a huge disadvantage that cannot be ignored. Many doctors have student loan debt, and they may be attracted to a job with (a) high salary (and) low cost of living.”
He also noted an increasing workload for a group of just a handful of forensic pathologists, and that losing even a single member can significantly disrupt their work.
Last year the commission and the city council came under some criticism for a 60% pay hike given to councilmembers.
The commission will further discuss the salary schedule in March.
