EDITORIAL
Still time to salvage the county transit tax

The emerging standoff over a proposed excise tax hike for mass transit is a body blow to those who believe Honolulu desperately needs transportation alternatives for its economic and social well-being.

It is time for Gov. Linda Lingle, Mayor Mufi Hannemann, the City Council and the Legislature to find a way to make this work.

If you believe that Honolulu's transportation picture is working fine and will remain so, then this is no big deal.

But you would also be in denial.

There are legitimate arguments over what kind of transit alternatives we should have, where they would go, who they would serve and how much they would cost. But it is wishful thinking to say Honolulu can go forward 10, 20, 30 years with no substantive changes to our current system of crowded roadways, private vehicles and an at-grade bus system.

The Legislature took the first step in the right direction earlier this year when it authorized the counties to increase the general excise tax from 4 cents to 4.5 cents on the dollar. That increase is expected to generate millions for transportation projects.

Gov. Lingle has said she may veto the bill because of her concerns over "home rule." That is, while the bill leaves to the counties the decision on whether to impose and collect the tax, the state would be responsible for actually collecting the tax and would keep fully 10 percent for its efforts.

That's contrary to the concept of home rule and would in fact generate far more for the state than it estimates it would need to administer the tax for the counties, she says.

But Hannemann rightly points out that it would be inefficient and expensive to have the counties administer and collect the tax. While the state already has a system in place to do the job, the counties would be essentially starting from scratch.

Clearly, state collection and distribution is more straightforward. The state also has the power to ease the regressive impact of this tax on lower-income families through tax credits, rebates and the like.

The City Council should go ahead and authorize the tax increase but implement it when, and only when, a sensible transit plan is in place. The state should collect it, keeping only what it needs to defray the rather minimal costs involved.

And the Legislature — perhaps as early as a special session this summer — should make the necessary adjustments, including additional tax relief for lower-income families.

With those promises in place, the governor should let this bill become law.