Mayor Kimo Alameda laid out Hawaiʻi County's finances in his first State of the County address on Tuesday.
The Big Island takes in roughly $937 million in revenue, the majority of which comes from property taxes.
About half of the budget goes to wages and salaries for county workers. Public safety eats up the second largest chunk at $230 million.
On top of routine expenses, the county is facing significant costs for repairs to its aging wastewater infrastructure.
"This wastewater obligation… keeps me up at night," Alameda said in his address.
The county has signed a $337 million contract to rehabilitate the Hilo Wastewater Treatment Plant, which the Environmental Protection Agency had repeatedly flagged for corroded equipment and accidental wastewater discharges into the nearby ocean.
The county also just settled a lawsuit brought by community group Hui Mālama Honokōhau over the Kealakehe Wastewater Treatment Plant in Kona.
The group alleged that county officials allowed treated sewage to flow from the plant into a nearby harbor without the required permit, in violation of the Clean Water Act.
The county is expected to invest $50 million into upgrades at the Kealakehe plant.
Alameda listed several other sewage plants that needed attention and added that funding is also needed to address the island's nearly 50,000 cesspools.
"We're gonna need federal help," he said. "We cannot do it ourselves."
The Hawaiʻi County Council begins its review of Alameda’s proposed budget Wednesday.
