Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann will deliver a "State of the Rail" address today to about 200 invited guests, and the city will pay $10,000 for 30 minutes of the speech to be broadcast tonight on local TV.

The speech will be delivered at the Mission Memorial Auditorium on the civic center grounds at 1:30 p.m., and will be broadcast from 6:30 to 7 p.m. on KGMB9 and KHNL. KFVE will rebroadcast the speech on Friday from 9:30 to 10 p.m.

City spokesman Bill Brennan said the $10,000 cost for broadcasting the speech is part of the city's public involvement effort. The total cost of the event wasn't immediately available.

The city has spent more than $5.6 million since August 2005 on informing the public about Honolulu's planned $5.5 billion rail project.

"The Honolulu Rail Transit Project is one of the most significant infrastructure projects in city history and will provide jobs and a boost to the state economy," Hannemann said in a statement yesterday.

"My administration is committed to keep the public informed about the project's progress, and now is an excellent time to let the public know what to expect in the coming months."

Lowell Kalapa, director of the Tax Foundation of Hawaii, said the $10,000 expenditure was a waste of taxpayer money.

"At this point, no matter which side (of the rail debate) you're on, why do you need to tell me more by spending money?" he said. "All you have to do is hold a news conference. It's a news item in itself. It's not like all the news reporters in town have ignored him and there is no news coverage of it."

The broadcast could rile some taxpayers who would rather see the money spent on more pressing social needs, Kalapa added.

"I would like to take $1,000 and put it in the Food Bank," he said.

Most — about $3 million — of the city's spending on its rail-related information campaign came since June 30, 2008, and included a ramped-up effort ahead of last November's vote on the project.

Voters approved the East Kapolei to Ala Moana rail project by a 51 percent to 46 percent margin. The city plans to start construction of the 20-mile elevated rail line in December.

The city has said its information campaign is part of a federally required public involvement effort.

The federal government is expected to contribute $1.4 billion to $1.7 billion of the Honolulu transit system's cost.