Posted on: Saturday, March 26, 2005

House panel moves legislation exempting police from state tax

By Tara Godvin
Associated Press

In an effort to address the problem of Hawai'i's police officers leaving the state to find better pay, state lawmakers are considering making officers' salaries tax-free.

Police officers everywhere have a dangerous and stressful job. But they are paid less for it working in Hawai'i, said Tenari Ma'afala, president of the State of Hawai'i Organization of Police Officers.

The 16-year veteran of the Honolulu Police Department said he lives his life with his "head on a swivel" looking out for the guys that he has put away in prison and making sure they don't come after his family when they get out.

The role of a police officer on the beat is also no longer about simple citations and reports, it's about terrorism preparedness — which comes with new concerns and the need to learn new equipment, Ma'afala said.

"So I ask you that you consider the demands of our job," Ma'afala told a joint meeting of the House Public Safety and Military Affairs Committee and Labor and Public Employment Committee.

Committee members on Thursday advanced a bill that would exempt the salaries and wages of police officers from state taxes.

One of the key goals of the bill would be recruiting and retaining officers in the Islands.

Police in Hawai'i earn about 17 to 20 percent less than officers in comparable cities on the Mainland, said Ma'afala.

As a result, many police officers leave Hawai'i after three to five years to find better pay and a better life for their families in states such as Washington or Nevada, which don't have a state income tax, he said.

While sympathetic with the bill's intent, the state Department of Taxation opposes the measure because it is not part of the state's six-year financial plan and because the department says it would be unfair to single out one group for the benefit.

There is no state income tax exemption for a single collective bargaining unit of public employees in Hawai'i.

The tax department estimated the cost to the state would be about $7.6 million per year for the program.

In passing out the bill, Labor and Public Employment Chairman Kirk Caldwell, D-24th (Manoa), said it had "real merit," particularly in recruiting and keeping officers in the state. He also suggested the possibility of implementing the program provisionally or structuring it so that more senior officers would receive a higher benefit.