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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Sunday, May 15, 2005

Tax hike theatrical gesture

By Jerry Burris

Normally, political types approach a tax increase about the same way most people deal with a wasp:

Don't touch it. Don't disturb it. Leave it alone and get out of there.

Something strange happened this year at the Legislature, and then at the Ho-nolulu City Council. Rather than run from talk of a tax hike, they ran toward it and embraced it as the next best thing to an uncontested reelection race.

What happened?

The best guess is that politicians, who have a far better sense of public sentiment than most of us, determined that this particular tax was a winner all around.

The tax, authorized by the Legislature and then enthusiastically embraced by the Honolulu City Council (with the exception of council members Barbara Marshall and Charles Djou) will add another half-percentage point to the 4 percent excise tax paid by all of us on virtually every purchase or transaction.

Half a percentage point doesn't sound like much until one realizes this is a 12.5 percent tax hike. Small change, perhaps, on an individual purchase, but massive in its overall impact on the tax take of — in this case — the county of Honolulu.

One reason this tax hike sailed so smoothly through treacherous political waters is that it is a tax hike that isn't a tax hike. Essentially, what everyone is saying is that we are preparing to raise taxes if and when we need them.

And if and when we need them could be a long time off. The tax is supposed to help pay for a transit system for Honolulu, presumably some form of fixed rail system. Just exactly what that system would look like, who it would serve, how it would operate and so forth remains to be determined.

In the meantime, giving the green light to the supportive tax makes for dynamite political theater:

Voters: Tired of traffic? Tired of congestion? Want something done about it?

Well, your political leaders have done something about it. They have, or are about to, authorize millions upon millions of new taxes to deal with, solve and take care of that most vexing problem: Traffic.

Thus far, this is a no-pain, high-gain deal. We have seen dramatic action, but in reality, it is all theater.

The real crunch will come when (one is tempted to say "if") Honolulu comes up with a workable transit plan and then has to vote to pay for it.

That's when the true profiles in courage will or will not emerge. Several times before, we have seen our leaders approach the precipice of imposing a tax hike to pay for transit and then back away.

Will it be different this time? Perhaps. In the meantime, the voters should recognize that all that has happened so far is theater. It might turn out to be important, surely.

But to date, theater it is.

Jerry Burris is The Advertiser's editorial page editor.