Fund for highway repairs growing
By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Transportation Writer
After years of decline, the state highway fund is making a comeback.
The fund, the primary source for construction and road repairs in Hawai'i, rose to $197.4 million at the close of the fiscal year in June. That's an 8.7 percent increase over 2001.
The increase — the second in a row — comes after a long decline that began in 1997 and saw the fund sink to a low of $133 million in 2000. Much of the decline was caused by the state's siphoning nearly $100 million to its general fund to help offset budget shortfalls elsewhere.
"It's starting to go back up and that's good," said Glenn Yasui, head of the state Highways Division.
"The revenue stream has been steady and we've managed to cut some expenses so the surplus is growing."
The figures are in an independent audit of the Highways Division released by the Transportation Department earlier this month.
Although the fund actually received less money in 2002, expenses were down even more, in large part because the state has deferred maintenance and repair work.
In recent years, the state has lengthened the regular maintenance schedule on most highways from 10 to 13 years to offset the diversion of highway fund revenue to other areas.
Highway gasoline taxes are the primary source of income for the fund. Honolulu residents pay almost 55 cents in taxes on each gallon of gas, of which 16 cents goes to the state fund; the rest is federal, county and sales taxes. The fund also receives money from vehicle registrations, fees and permits.
Revenue from the gas tax has remained steady this year, even as the price of regular gasoline has climbed near $2 a gallon, an indication that Hawai'i motorists aren't driving any less, Yasui said.
Even so, the increase in the fund won't necessarily translate into immediate changes in repairs and construction, Yasui said.
"We are still subject to a statewide cap on spending and the 5 percent across-the-board spending cut the governor has ordered," Yasui said. "We still need legislative and the governor's approval to spend."
The highway fund might have been even healthier this year if some money hadn't ended up elsewhere. The state this year deposited nearly $22.5 million into the fund from a settlement of a lawsuit against several gas and oil companies accused of price fixing. All but $500,000 of that money, though, ended up in the state general fund.
The highway fund continues to serve as an $11-million-a-year "pass-through," by which a special tax on rental cars goes to the general fund.
By far, the larger part of the fund's spending last year, $39 million, went to O'ahu operations and maintenance. Statewide administrative expenses were $20.8 million. Hawai'i County received $16.5 million; Maui, $13.6 million; Kaua'i, $7.8 million; Moloka'i, $2.4 million; and Lana'i, $246,305.
The healthy state of the highways fund is in sharp contrast to the special fund used to run airport operations. That fund lost more than $43 million last year, in large part because of reduced revenues from airlines and airport concessionaires after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Net assets of the state's Harbors Division increased by about $4 million in 2002. The figures show a 2 percent drop in revenue coming into the Harbors Division, but that decline was offset by a 9 percent decrease in spending and a $1 million increase in foreign cruise ship passenger fees.
