Support sought for Neighbor Island bills

By Treena Shapiro
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawai'i's four counties are renewing their call for broader taxing powers and a share of the money from uncontested traffic fines as part of the package of bills they will push at the 2004 state Legislature.

The four executive members of the Hawai'i State Association of Counties spent yesterday lobbying state House and Senate Democratic leaders for support of the six-bill package.

Only Honolulu would immediately benefit if state lawmakers allowed the city to exchange its share of the hotel tax for the authority to set a general excise tax. "Honolulu is the only one that has the tax base to afford to consider an excise tax," said HSAC president Dain Kane, chairman of the Maui County Council, at a meeting with The Advertiser's editorial board.

The other counties are years away from having a population of at least 200,000, the minimum to make a general excise tax economically feasible. Gary Safarik, a Big Island councilman and vice president of HSAC, said Hawai'i County has the second-largest population, but is not expected to reach 200,000 until 2012.

However, if Honolulu gets excise taxing power, the Neighbor Island counties would benefit by receiving larger shares of the hotel tax.

The counties are also repeating their request for a share of the traffic fines, since the tickets are issued by county police, but fines are collected by the state judiciary. Since the state does not handle uncontested fines, the counties have lobbied for 26 years to keep those fines to offset the cost of providing law enforcement.

Honolulu City Council Chairman Donovan Dela Cruz, secretary of the statewide association, pointed out that traffic fines could have been used to pay for police raises. Honolulu last week raised the motor vehicle weight tax to cover those raises.

Other county requests include bills that would:

• Require motor-vehicle insurers to notify the counties when a policy is canceled or not renewed.
• Raise the maximum highway beautification and abandoned-vehicle disposal fee from $5 to $10.
• Authorize counties to collect an additional fee when issuing a driver's license to someone who has been previously convicted of driving under the influence of intoxicants.
• Extend the time to approve or disapprove affordable housing applications from 45 days to 75 days.

In addition, the package could also include a bill that would repeal the 2007 expiration date for a law that protects the counties from liability when people are injured at public beaches and another that requires the state to pay for audits it requires the counties to perform.

Reach Treena Shapiro at tshapiro@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8070.