After hinting at it for months, Gov. Linda Lingle on Wednesday promised to veto legislation that sought to increase personal income, general excise or transient accommodation taxes.

At a press conference, the governor also said she would seek concessions on wage and benefits expenses during negotiations with state employee unions whether or not the Legislature approved a budget that assumed those savings, as she has proposed it do.

If legislators pass tax increases that have broad impacts on the public, "I'll have to veto them and then their budget won't be balanced anymore," said Lingle, referring to income, general excise and transient accommodation levies.

"I don't know why they would choose to raise taxes when there's an alternative to doing that," the Republican governor added.

But Rep. Marcus Oshiro, chairman of the House Finance Committee, called Lingle's comments "disappointing." He said the governor did not threaten to veto a hike in income or transient taxes during a private meeting he held with her on Tuesday.

"It's way too early to take that uncooperative stance," Oshiro said. Her veto threat "tells me that for the remaining three weeks of the (legislative) session that she is not interested in collaborating or finding a compromise."

Lingle's latest budget plan asks the Legislature to assume that she can gain $278 million in labor savings later this year from state worker unions, which so far have shown little willingness to accept lower wages or reduced benefits. She has warned that if concessions are not realized, layoffs could be the next step.

Democrats contend that it is too risky to pass a budget that contains a $278 million hole that the governor may not be able to fill.

They also are loath to give her too free a hand in dealing with one of their key political constituencies.

The Senate Ways and Means Committee on Tuesday approved its version of a budget for the next two fiscal years that begin July 1. It does not assume the labor savings Lingle wants, but it would cut 21 state jobs, attempt to reassign 42 jobs to the federal government and eliminate 163 vacant positions.

The budget bill also contemplates an increase in the top tax rate for state income taxes, from 10 percent to 11 percent for those making more than $150,000, and to 12 percent for those making more than $200,000.

Because Democrats hold veto-proof majorities in both the House and Senate, they could override her veto of tax increase legislation. But Lingle said she would seek the labor savings regardless of how the tax issue was settled.

"We have to have these labor savings," she said. "It's a time of shared sacrifice and that means everybody sacrificing a little bit now in order for the recovery to happen much quicker."

An income tax hike could force high-income wage earners from sending their children to private schools, from buying appliances, cars and other high-priced items, or even prod them to move from Hawaii, the governor said.

A rise in the transient tax would contradict marketing efforts that tout the good bargains tourists can find by traveling here, she added.

Lingle has proposed her own hikes on taxes and fees tied to fuel, vehicle weight, cigarettes, alcohol, rental cars and vehicle registration. The cigarette and alcohol tax increases would help close the state's budget shortfall, while the others are earmarked for transportation improvements and would take effect only after the economy rebounded.

The governor also insisted Wednesday that the state's budget situation could grow worse in late May, after the Legislature adjourns, when the Council on Revenues is due to issue another forecast on receipts of state taxes.

If the council projects less revenue than it has already estimated for the next two fiscal years, the governor and Legislature will have to find additional savings.