EDITORIAL
New city fees OK if they are used properly
Both Mayor Mufi Hannemann and the City Council deserve credit for largely making decisions about the new city budget in a straightforward, businesslike manner.
The last-minute flap about council add-ons to the Hannemann budget was unfortunate, but pretty much business as usual in the push and tug between the executive and legislative branches.
Stepping back from the political bickering, it is clear that both the mayor and the council recognize that Honolulu faces numerous expensive challenges ahead.
Most prominent among those challenges are upgrades to the sewer system, a process already under way when Hannemann took office, and a massive program of repaving and repairing our pitiful roads.
Other costs include catching up with deferred parks maintenance and upgrading an ancient information technology system that contributes to inefficiencies and added costs.
The surge in O'ahu's real property values will make dealing with these issues easier. Even without changing rates, the city has experienced a windfall in property tax collections.
But that wasn't enough. At the request of the administration, the council also approved a variety of fee and assessment hikes that will generate millions for the city treasury.
The most hard-hitting of these is a substantial boost in sewer fees: 25 percent the first year and 10 percent more each year for the next five. In the end, the typical homeowner will see sewer fees double.
Hannemann has appropriately pledged that all money collected through this charge will go directly into sewer repair and maintenance. He will not continue the previous practice of allowing unspent sewer fees to be shifted to the general fund.
That principle should apply to every assessment or user fee. It's prudent policy to set fees for discretionary city services high enough to pay for the service provided.
It is not right to use fees as a substitute for general taxes.
The council should insist on regular audits to ensure that all new fees will go to pay for associated services — and not for other purposes.
