Bill would charge $5 per car to help junk car cleanup

LIHU’E — Gov. Ben Cayetano last week signed into law a bill allowing the

counties to charge up to $5 per registered vehicle to help pay for the removal

of junk cars from public lands.

Nearly before the ink was dry on Cayetano’s

action, the Kaua’i County Council drafted legislation to hike the

beautification fee from $1 to $5, the maximum allowed by the new law. The

beautification fee appears on the county’s annual vehicle registration renewal

forms.

The Council’s draft ordinance is being reviewed by folks in the

county Finance Department and Office of the County Attorney, said Beth Tokioka,

county public information officer.

The state legislation, now Act 111,

before Cayetano’s signature was named House Bill 2643, House Draft 1, Senate

Draft 2, which specifies that any increase over $2 shall be used only “to

defray the additional cost in the disposition and other related activities of

abandoned or derelict vehicles.”

The law exempts rental vehicles registered

in the county, which will continue to pay $1 per vehicle into the

beautification fee fund.

Mayor Maryanne Kusaka earlier estimated that a

$5-per-vehicle beautification fee would generate about $200,000 a year in the

fight against abandoned (operable) and derelict (inoperable) vehicles.

The

state legislation became law on Cayetano’s signature Monday, May 22.

Both

the mayor and council hope to have county legislation passed before the end of

this year. Such legislation requires a public hearing before it can be

enacted.