Tax refund checkoff little help for schools
By Jennifer Hiller
Advertiser Education Writer
Taxpayer donations to help Hawai'i public schools with a massive backlog of repair and maintenance problems have fallen far short of the hopes of state officials.
The new tax-donation program, in which people receiving tax refunds could check a box and donate $2 to the public schools, so far has netted a disappointing $106,000 — probably not enough to put a new roof on even one school.
Officials had hoped the fund would approach $1 million in its first year.
"I envisioned millions when we first started this bill," said Rep. Ken Ito, D-48th (Kane'ohe). "I think that if people feel strongly about helping the schools, this is an easy way to do it."
The bill received wide support and won easy passage in the 2001 Legislature, but officials say it may have suffered from a lack of public awareness after the measure was approved. "We didn't give it any advertising; the Department of Education didn't do any public relations," Ito said.
Still, 53,000 Hawai'i residents checked the box to give $2 to the schools.
"I hope it's just lack of awareness," said state Sen. Norman Sakamoto, chairman of the Senate Education Committee. "I'm happy that it's $106,000 more that can go to help the schools, but I hope there's a bigger setup next time. It's like anything else: When you start something, people are cautious in the beginning."
Statewide, there are thousands of projects — from termite treatment to new classroom furniture — on a $640 million waiting list for the Department of Accounting and General Services, which handles school repair and maintenance. Lawmakers and education officials had hoped that the new tax checkoff would induce residents to help reduce the backlog.
Tu Pham, an economist in the state tax office, said the department had not expected the fund to earn more than $200,000, but wasn't sure what to expect because it was the first year of the program.
The $106,000 is not expected to rise much more, he said.
"Most of the returns have come in already," Pham said. But "some people who file for extensions have until October."
The donations will go into a Department of Education fund that will directly benefit the schools. Officials say it will bypass the bureaucracy of both the DOE and DAGS.
James Richardson, chief of the Central Services Division of DAGS, said the money could help principals call contractors and repair workers directly when small problems arise on campus. DAGS crews cycle through the schools every three to four months and typically visit schools in-between the maintenance cycle only if there is an emergency.
"It's the small kind of irritating things," Richardson said. "Sometimes we leave a campus and two or three weeks later something else goes wrong."
The DOE hasn't decided how to spend the money, said Raynor Minami, DOE facilities director. "We're trying to figure out how to best use it to help all of the schools," he said. "Should we make it on a need basis or use competitive grants?"
If $106,000 is divided among the schools, it comes to about $400 per campus.
Assistant Superintendent Al Suga said the DOE may be able to put the money into a trust until it builds more, or use it to train school custodians to do more repair and maintenance work. "With that amount of money, I don't know what we can do," he said. "It doesn't buy as much in hardware, but it would buy a lot in training and skills."
Next year, Minami hopes that more people will hear about the program and donate.
"We've got to do a good job of selling it," Minami said. "We've got to thank people for checking that box and tell them what kind of work the schools were able to do. We hope that more people can contribute so that this can help the schools even more."
Richardson said the $106,000 raised will be a good foundation of supporters to build upon. "That's pretty good for $2 donations," he said. "That's a lot of people checking off 'yes' on their tax forms."
This year lawmakers allocated about $120 million for repair and maintenance of the state's aging school buildings.
Typical state spending on school repairs has been about $35 million annually for the past several years, dipping as low as $10 million in 2000. Schools that need repairs typically watch their projects languish for years or even decades on the state's to-do list.
But legislators last fall, in an emergency session, approved an additional $75 million in classroom renovation work outside the regular state budget. Renovations from that effort are under way or in the planning stages at 40 campuses.
Reach Jennifer Hiller at jhiller@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8084.
