New HART chief Dan Grabauskas wants to cut the rail budget by $1.57 million next year.

The Finance Committee yesterday approved his proposed cuts, lowering HART’s 2013 operating budget by nearly 7 percent to $21.3 million, according to a press release today.

“We are working to be good stewards of taxpayers’ dollars. Taking a hard look at our own budget is part of that,” Grabauskas said in the release. “HART will continue to look for additional ways to be fiscally prudent and to deliver Oahu’s rail system on time and on budget.”

The suggested changes to HART’s operating budget include:

• $1.05 million reduction in debt service. Because the project is not currently scheduled to borrow funds until fiscal year 2014, the debt service was eliminated.
• $300,000 reduction due to a delay in future hiring;
• $128,250 savings in fringe benefits tied to the hiring delay;
• $21,790 reduction in travel expenses;
• $75,102 reduction in scheduled reimbursements associated with other cost reductions.

Read Grabauskas’ letter to the Honolulu City Council Budget Committee explaining the cuts.