EDITORIAL
Hanauma Bay can't be the city's cash cow
How about this for timing: Hanauma Bay has been named the best U.S. beach by the Florida environmental scientist known as "Dr. Beach."
Meanwhile, the City Council wants to divert $1.1 million from the Hanauma Bay special fund, amassed from admission, parking and other fees, to the general fund. Councilman Gary Okino says it would only be a one-time raid and be limited to the concession fees.
But the money in the special fund is supposed to be restricted to Hanauma Bay's upkeep, recreational and educational programs and has undoubtedly contributed to Hanauma Bay's excellent beach rating.
That's what U.S. District Judge Alan Kay suggested when he ruled in 2002 that the $3 fee charged to nonresidents visiting Hanauma Bay was reasonable as long as the object was not to make a profit from its operation of one of the premier snorkeling spots in Hawai'i, but to help defray the expenses it incurs.
As we have understood the law, then, excess collections are not supposed to find their way into the city's operating budget. Use of Hanauma Bay fees to pay for, say, pothole repairs in Waipahu would constitute an unauthorized tax.
Some City Council members are, yet again, tempted to use Hanauma in just that way, as a "cash cow." Judge Kay has made clear that is a temptation that must be resisted.
Raiding this fund of user fees is not what the city intended when it established the Hanauma Bay Preserve Fund in 1995. The appropriate way to pay to fill potholes and the other functions of the general fund is to raise taxes.
Meanwhile, in diverting Hanauma money to the general fund, what becomes of the state's premier snorkeling beach, which sees more than 3,000 visitors a day? It costs to maintain restrooms, parking lots, landscaping, shuttles, concession stands and other amenities for that many beachgoers.
The heavy demand for access to this unique and fragile nature preserve requires entry and parking fees to offset all these costs. Those fees have helped rank Hanauma Bay as the best beach in the United States. They're obviously paying off, and that's what they should continue to do.
