EDITORIAL
Tax credit for Ko Olina still bad precedent

The bill is the same. The Legislature is pretty much the same. What's radically different is the governor.

Last year, lawmakers passed a tax-credit bill for financing an aquarium at Ko Olina Resort, but Gov. Ben Cayetano vetoed it.

This year, the same bill appears positioned to pass easily again. The difference is Gov. Linda Lingle has said she will sign it.

Among the things that haven't changed is this newspaper's opposition to the Ko Olina tax credit. It's a shaky idea, and we urge lawmakers not to be dazzled.

The biggest and best argument being used in favor of the bill is that the Wai'anae Coast is a depressed area, badly needing jobs. All that is true, and truly lamentable. The question is exactly what a tax credit to build an aquarium at Ko Olina would do to improve the situation.

We agree with Cayetano's assessment when he vetoed the bill last year:

• The build-out of the resort will continue with or without the aquarium. The developers didn't buy those lands with the idea of hanging on to them on the outside chance that someone might come along and build an aquarium there.
• It's not good public policy to target a single, private development for a tax break.

What appears to be dazzling lawmakers about the Ko Olina aquarium deal is intimations that certain hoteliers are eager to build facilities there — but only with the aquarium. We urge lawmakers to note the difference between letters expressing interest from formal "letters of intent."

Moreover, lawmakers must be clear on who will own the facility, who will profit from it, who will pay to operate it, and who will be left holding the bag if it turns out to be too far from the critical mass of customers to succeed.

Finally, we urge lawmakers to compare the proposed Ko Olina aquarium — dollar for dollar, feature by feature — with the one proposed by KUD International for Kaka'ako.

In Kaka'ako, the visitor-oriented exhibit space would be combined with state-of-the-art research facilities. Yes, the Ko Olina proposal includes research features, too, but at Kaka'ako, they could tie in with the nearby medical school and related start-up companies that would result.

In the end, the decision about boosting the Ko Olina aquarium is not about helping Wai'anae, which will benefit from an expanded Ko Olina in any case, but plain old-fashioned prudence.