Posted on: Friday, June 10, 2005

EDITORIAL
Transit tax should not be put on back burner

Something as important as a major increase in the general excise tax deserves an appropriate measure of caution.

But the City Council's decision to go slow on a decision to increase the excise tax on O'ahu residents from 4 percent to 4.5 percent looks more like waffling than prudence.

The result might be yet another setback in the endless struggle to come up with answers for Honolulu's traffic woes.

The Legislature this year approved a "county option" increase in the excise tax to pay for transit improvements, which now awaits the governor's signature.

Gov. Linda Lingle has said she will wait until the July 12 deadline before deciding whether to approve or veto the tax option. The timing is delicate, since the council has now set its second of three needed votes on the tax for July 6.

There's an obvious element of politics here: Lingle would have no reason to put her signature on a tax-hike plan if the City Council won't approve it.

Conversely, the council has no interest in signaling its intent to raise taxes if the governor is not going to approve the necessary implementing legislation.

Both the council and the governor need to muster the political courage to do the right thing and approve the tax option.

Council members say they're concerned about approving a tax before a preferred transit option is identified. And they have questions about the availability of federal funds.

Those are not good reasons for postponing a decision. Federal support is dependent on an assured local source of funding.

If Honolulu is determined to do something about traffic and congestion that will have meaningful impact in the years to come, here's the order of what must be done:

• The council must first approve the tax — with the clear understanding that it does not go into effect until a concrete plan is in place.

• With local funding assured, the push for federal money can move forward with at least a modest level of confidence.

• Finally, a realistic conversation can begin on what transit alternatives O'ahu needs, how they would work, where they would go and precisely how much they would cost.