It may be time for a family meeting on the issue of the household budget.

The "family," in this case, is the City and County of Honolulu. Final bills have not yet arrived in the mail, but everyone knows the news won't be all that uplifting.

The City Council last week approved a budget that included a modest cut in the tax rate charged to homeowners but also a hike in the commercial property-tax rate and a plan to phase in new sewer-fee increases over four years. The $1.6 billion operating budget is the city's largest ever, growing by about 60 percent over the past 12 years.

There has been some effort in recent years, amid the clamor from taxpayers, to find ways of diminishing the bite taken from those likely to complain the loudest: homeowners. But the fact remains that the commercial tax hikes will inevitably be passed on to the public in higher prices, so some of the money being deposited in one pocket will surely come out the other.

What's lacking is any evidence that the lens of frugality is ever thoroughly applied. The city's essential needs should be established first, and then the means to pay the bills can be defined.

City officials rightly point out that the bulk of the spending is not discretionary: It covers salaries and benefits for workers providing basic services, that the "wiggle room" appears only in the final 20 percent of the budget.

But it would be easier to stomach increasing taxes and fees if there was greater public confidence that it's buying something the broad community needs or desires.

Now sewer fees, most people understand — "Remember the Ala Wai!" — but there is some reason to question the rest.

Here's just a tiny case in point: A resolution sponsored by City Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi proposes the city consider opening and operating a municipal bowling alley. This is frugality?

In cities around the world, the notion of "participatory budgeting" is being discussed. This month, in fact, it's the topic at the U.S. Social Forum, an international conference in Atlanta. The idea is that the public can have a voice in a systematic setting of spending priorities. Yes, every budget goes through numerous public hearings, but this is a step further.

It might be a useful concept that could involve O'ahu's neighborhood boards. The public must have confidence that taxes are being spent according to a plan that they helped shape.