The price tag for the astronomical backlog of estimated repairs needed in our state public housing system: $600 million.

The state has long been put on notice about making repairs in a timely manner. Now it's time to hold it accountable and get those jobs done.

Years of neglected maintenance has turned what should be a valuable public resource — affordable public housing —into an embarrassing, broken-down system, which often poses health and safety hazards.

Recently at Honolulu's Kuhio Park Terrace, a 613-unit project, paramedics were delayed getting to an asthmatic mother on the 14th floor and forced to take the stairs because two elevators were out of order.

HUD, which provides some $12 million a year to the state in capital funds for more than 5,000 public housing units, has been so concerned about the red tape and inefficiencies in procurement and contracting that it has red-flagged those areas as crucial flaws in the system.

Still, there are glaring examples of poor contract management. In the Kuhio Park Terrace example, the state has been forced to take legal action against a contractor who failed to maintain the elevators.

Linda Smith, the governor's senior policy adviser and member of the Hawai'i Public Housing Authority board of directors, said that in emergency situations, managers can go directly to the state procurement officer to expedite the process.

Smith acknowledged the need for a more streamlined process that would allow the executive director to approve contracts directly. That will happen once the housing authority secures its new director, she said.

That's a step in the right direction. Families living in state housing need relief. It's the state's responsibility to ensure that public housing is decent, safe and sanitary for all who live there.