• Rail transit tax Rail transit tax Mayor Jeremy Harris, a former Kaua’i councilman, is asking for support in the construction of a light rail transportation system for O’ahu. “Honolulu must build fixed rail,” Harris said in his final State
• Rail transit tax
Rail transit tax
Mayor Jeremy Harris, a former Kaua’i councilman, is asking for support in the construction of a light rail transportation system for O’ahu.
“Honolulu must build fixed rail,” Harris said in his final State of the City address delivered Thursday night in Honolulu.
The Honolulu mayor said the City & County of Honolulu needs to have taxing authority to pay for the system, which would be one of the costliest public construction projects in the history of Hawai’i.
Harris is calling for avoiding the lengthy process of drawing federal funds to the project.
Harris’ remarks come at the end of his ten-years as Mayor of the City & County of Honolulu and it is unlikely his vision for a massive light rail system in Honolulu will have a start anytime this year.
Even so, there is a danger that later this decade this billion-plus dolloar project could increase the state excise tax of Kaua’i and other Neighbor Islands.
The economic interaction of Kaua’i with Honolulu does benefit the economy of the island, such spending by city residents who visit family or vacation on Kaua’i. And many of our island visitors, as well as our container ships, take advantage of the international-level airport and port in Honolulu.
However, the argument that Kaua’i needs to help underwrite a ground transportation system in Honolulu through increased state taxes is an argument that doesn’t sit well here, nor in Maui County and Hawai’i County.
The issue is also a political one with a task force created by Gov. Linda Lingle looking at the issue.
In addition, the average citizen of Kaua’i isn’t ready to pay the price for solving Honolulu’s traffic problems when the state Department of Transportation is years, if not decades, behind in solving our week-day state highway traffic jams. It’s doubtful if local residents would pay for the improvements on Kaua’i through a steeper excise tax, let alone pay for improvements on O’ahu in the same manner.
Though education is already off and running as the big issue of the 2004 session of the Legislature, creating a tax to pay for the fixed-rail system could make a third act appearance a few months from now.
Hopefully Gov. Linda Lingle’s experience as Maui’s mayor will keep her from taxing the Neighbor Islands for this O’ahu necessity. Kaua’i’s senator and three representatives should also heed the desire of the island’s residents and not go along with legislative power brokers who seek support for this O’ahu project.
