By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Transportation Writer
Alternates such as gasoline taxes, tourist taxes, property taxes and a
rollback of state tax breaks all should be considered before the
Legislature authorizes raising the general excise tax to pay for county
improvements in transportation, state lawmakers said yesterday.
"It's not a question of whether we need rail or not. The question is
trying to identify the best way to pay for it," said Rep. Mark Moses,
R-40th (Makakilo, Kapolei, Royal Kunia). "Right now, we're suckering
people into believing that the excise tax is the only way."
House Finance Committee members heard testimony yesterday on House Bill
1309, which would give counties the authority to increase the excise
tax from 4 percent to 5 percent.
The bill and a similar one in the Senate are the primary measures still
alive at the Legislature this year to help finance transportation
projects, including a proposed rail rapid-transit line for O'ahu.
Moses and others suggested looking at other taxes available to the
counties, including property, gasoline and hotel-room taxes. Rep.
Colleen Meyer,
R-47th (Ha'iku, Kahalu'u, La'ie), suggested that the city start a sales
tax. Rep. Glenn Wakai, D-31st (Salt Lake, Tripler), wondered why the
state doesn't eliminate hundreds of millions of dollars in tax credits
and use the money for transportation instead.
Lowell Kalapa, head of the Tax Foundation of Hawai'i, said: "The excise
tax is the worst to increase because of its pyramiding structure."
Members of a governor's task force on transportation concluded last
year, however, that the excise tax is the only vehicle in Hawai'i that
could generate enough money to cover the estimated $300 million per
year needed to build a rail line on O'ahu.
"The group found that the excise tax was the best way to raise the
funds," said City Councilman Nestor Garcia, who was on the task force
along with Moses.
Pat Lee, a Kane'ohe resident, said he supports the excise tax increase,
even though he won't benefit directly from a transit system proposed
for Leeward or Central O'ahu. "I'd be willing to pay more taxes if it
let me and others squander less time in traffic and spend more time on
the job or with my family," he said.
While debate yesterday focused on taxes, several people offered support
or criticism for the transportation plans in general, suggesting that
any rail system developed in Honolulu also include upgrade plans for
buses, bicycles and pedestrians.
"Transportation and land use are intertwined," said Henry Curtis,
executive director of the environmental group Life of the Land. "We
need a holistic solution — not a piecemeal solution with all kinds of
unintended side effects."
Wes Frysztacki, vice president of the private Committee for Balanced
Transportation, said the bill would allow improvements in all forms of
transportation in all the counties. "This bill is for all modes of
transportation, for people," he said.
Reach Mike Leidemann at 525-5460 or mleidemann@honoluluadvertiser.com.
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2005/Feb/26/ln/ln16p.html
