Council advances tax hike for transit
By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Transportation Writer
Which comes first: Honolulu's new mass transit plan or the tax increase to pay for it?
Honolulu residents yesterday said the City Council shouldn't "put the cart before the horse" by approving a $2.2 billion transit tax increase without knowing exactly how the money would be used.
After more than three hours of testimony and discussion, however, members of the council's budget and transportation committees approved a bill that would increase the general excise tax to 4.5 percent from 4 percent to pay for transit improvements in Honolulu.
"Please give us a detailed plan for rail before raising the tax," Rep. Galen Fox, pleaded with council members, echoing the concerns of several other residents who testified. "Otherwise, you're just asking us to hand you a blank check."
Waikiki resident Helen Carroll added that residents deserve more opportunities to discuss rail transit options in public hearings before "you take all our money away."
Others said the city needs to act quickly to put a financing mechanism for mass transit into place even before a preferred option is identified.
"Time is money," said city Transportation Services Director Ed Hirata. "The more we delay, the more we're going to end up paying."
Federal officials have told Honolulu leaders that a local financing mechanism for transit must be in place before the city becomes eligible for federal money to supplement construction. The state bill authorizing local officials to raise the excise tax for transit mandates that such action be taken before Dec. 31.
City officials said yesterday that it will take at least until the end of 2006 to come up with a locally preferred transit option and a draft environmental impact statement for it. There are no plans to begin collecting the extra tax before 2007, they said.
Hirata said the city cannot propose a specific transit plan at this point.
"That's the job of the Locally Preferred Alternative process," he said, rejecting reports that the administration of Mayor Mufi Hannemann already has a route and timetable in mind.
"Any discussion of routes, phases and timing is premature," he said.
Hirata told council members that he expects the half-percentage-point increase in the excise tax to generate about $2.25 billion for transit over the next 15 years, while the federal government might contribute about $500 million to the rail project. Officials earlier had said that the increase could cost a family of four an additional $450 per year.
Councilwoman Barbara Marshall wanted to know if that would be enough money to build a proposed rail line from Kapolei to downtown and beyond.
"We're going to pay for what we can with the money we have," Hirata said. "We'll build a system and see how far the money will take us. We feel confident we can build a system for $2.75 billion."
Cliff Slater, of the Alliance for Traffic Improvement, suggested that a better, more affordable alternative would be development of an elevated, two-lane reversible toll road that would give buses and van pools priority use.
Several council members wondered later, though, if the project could even be considered under the bill's language which says no money from the surcharge "shall be used to build or repair public roads or highways."
Reach Mike Leidemann at 525-5460 or mleidemann@honoluluadvertiser.com
