Tax Hike for Rail?

[Miulang]

Re: Tax Hike for Rail?

I did, I hated the traffic so I left the island and moved to the Big Island where traffic isn't so much of a problem (with the exception of Kona, thank you Aaron). I did my part to relieve traffic congestion. But if you choose to live and work in Honolulu you ARE part of the problem and staying there isn't going to reduce the congestion for as long as you sit in your car/bus/light rail to get to work.

Eh Craig, I thought you were musing a few weeks ago about cashing out on your Kea'au house (making money hand over fist) and possibly moving back to Oahu? Is that plan off now? (Shhh! don't tell more people to move to the Big Island! It's getting too crowded as it is).

Maybe instead of light rail, the planners should consider something like an elevated system (like a monorail). It wouldn't take up much space, could even run parallel with major highways like H-1 and you'd get more riders because of the shaka view they would have as they soared in air conditioned comfort above the people who are in cars who are all huhu because they have to sit in place for hours on end.

Miulang

[bustedbyu]

Re: Tax Hike for Rail?

Honestly, I'm not sure what a working solution for traffic gridlock is... it can be double decker freeways; but, more buses or hov lanes should be tested. The state nor the counties explained why the "Zipper Lane" could not be implemented for Ewa bound during peak times. I travel via Pearl Ridge to town and traffic is not too bad as I take Nimitz exit, which offers a HOV dedicated lane to town. As of today, just the fact that UH students are in their last day of final tests alleviate some gridlock.

I recall that there was a bill to build a UH school arould Kapolei side. Why not do it? UH Professional Workers (UHPW) did get a pay raise and though they didn't get the equivalent raise like the state HSTA and UPW in 2005, they will be asking for more money once their arbitration runs out.

Rather than mandating everyone pay more money without even a plan in place, is just undemocratic; then again, the term democratic requires another thread and more arguments because it does not have the same definition in the 80's as it is today -- young babies in legislative office.

Good night. Time to sleep.

[craigwatanabe]

Re: Tax Hike for Rail?

Eh Craig, I thought you were musing a few weeks ago about cashing out on your Kea'au house (making money hand over fist) and possibly moving back to Oahu? Is that plan off now? (Shhh! don't tell more people to move to the Big Island! It's getting too crowded as it is).

Maybe instead of light rail, the planners should consider something like an elevated system (like a monorail). It wouldn't take up much space, could even run parallel with major highways like H-1 and you'd get more riders because of the shaka view they would have as they soared in air conditioned comfort above the people who are in cars who are all huhu because they have to sit in place for hours on end.

Miulang

I'm still musing however the thought of leaving paradise is weighing heavy on my heart now. It's nice out here on the Big Island but like that Keola and Kapono Beamer song goes: Each time Honolulu City lights...will bring me back again. It's tough when you're born and raised on Oahu to lose that home town connection.

Right now it's 10:40 pm on a Saturday night and my kids have invited some of their school friends for a sleep over at our house. They went frog hunting on our 1-acre property and don't have to worry about disturbing any neighbors because we don't have any adjacent to our property! Plus you can hear the surf as we're about a five minute walk from the shore. It's so dark out here you can see the Milky Way Galaxy so clearly it stands out like a neon sign. Tonight is a great night for the kids to go out and venture and I'm sure as hell am going to miss this if I go back to Honolulu.

One thing though is that even if I go back to Honolulu, I won't have to work again so I won't be contributing to the rush hour traffic every morning.

If the state of Hawaii did what it was supposed to do Kapolei wouldn't be such a bad place to commute from or to. But anyone that has played Sim City knows that you develop the Industrial and Commercial zones first then establish the residential communities in order for that city to prosper.

Our City planners did it the wrong way, they built the homes first then put in the commercial zones. It didn't work with Hawaii Kai, it didn't work with Windward Oahu. The urban districts of Honolulu simply remain a magnet for commercial employment for all points of Oahu. Until that changes traffic will remain a problem on that island.

One of the best solutions so far has been to build a west campus for the UH. But for as long as the Manoa campus stays up and running, traffic will remain. You really have to eliminate the UH Manoa campus and redirect all college activity to perimeter campuses. The same goes for government offices, and major shopping centers. You have to move the influx away from the urban core of Honolulu and redirect it to the perimeters of Oahu to disperse traffic instead of having everyone merge into the core of Honolulu.

Yeah that means a complete rebuild of Oahu and a slow disintegration of all establishments that draw people by the thousands. That is highly unlikely but if you start to build on the perimeters slowly the traffic will move in those directions. Aloha stadium was a start when Halawa was considered the boonies on Oahu.

Really, long range planning is essential and the goal should be to decentralize Urban Honolulu. Putting a sports center at UH to me was a big mistake. It should have been built as part of a west Oahu campus vision. Now we have these huge complexes in the urban core of Honolulu and all it's doing is attracting people into it like a black hole.

One easy way to limit traffic is to make it more expensive to drive. Toll booths may be necessary to discourage single occupant vehicles on certain roadways. Better implimentation of policies regarding lane closures when there are accidents, restructuring on/off ramps to allow better thru put of freeway traffic like shutting down the Ewa bound Alexander street on ramp during morning and afternoon rush hours to allow facilitation of town bound traffic on the H-1 and shutting down the Kokohead bound Ward Avenue on ramp during the afternoon rush. Certain on ramps simply create more congestion to an already overloaded freeway system during peak hours.

On certain off ramps like the town bound Kinau off ramp that street that merges with that off ramp should be limited to local traffic only and not a feeder from Downtown Honolulu. That way the Kinau off ramp can merge into Kinau street effortlessly in the morning.

I won't even talk about Lunalilo and Piikoi Streets other than police monitoring to keep people from crossing over those solid lines by the Makiki post office should be enforced more often.

These are viable solutions for city traffic. But for light rail, even if it does attract 100% ridership, that only means that for every commuter that rides the rail, there's room on the H1/H2 for another to use his/her car and it will happen.

Instead of light rail the focus should have been on using the ferry systems to transport cars in mass between west Oahu and the urban core because it's hard to get people out of their cars they work so hard to drive.

These are some solutions not just blah blah blah. I got so sick and tired of that rhetoric from our elected officials I just had to leave that BS.

But those city lights...oh that magical cityscape at night that's something I miss too. Hopefully there can be a viable solution(s) to correct the traffic woes of Oahu, but honestly I don't think a light rail will work, better traffic management can make a difference.

[Miulang]

Re: Tax Hike for Rail?

In order to help fund some critical infrastructure improvements up here (like a new bridge between Seattle and Bellevue), there will be a toll associated with usage. The other major roadway that needs to be replaced (to the tune of something like $3 billion) the State decided it can't put toll booths on because it will be a major north-south arterial and they don't want to put additional traffic on the Interstate (they'll have to do that anyway, until the new Viaduct is built---it will be an underground tunnel). Plus, we're saddled with another 9.5 cent/gallon increase in gas taxes over the next 3 years to help subsidize part of the cost of construction (our gas taxes are about the highest in the nation right now as it is).

They also figured out that some of the HOV lanes are underutilized, so they are planning to implement PASS-type permits to single occupant cars who use the HOV lanes during peak commute times. In other words, commuters with only one occupant can pay a user fee to drive in the HOV lanes. Each driver in the program will be given a sensor and everytime they trip the sensor, their account will be billed for the trip. For some people, it would be worth the $5/day not to sit in traffic along with everyone else.

Me? I'll continue to work flex hours so I avoid the rush hours and always have a 3-day weekend.

Miulang

[mel]

Light Rail Projections Disappoint Feds

Light-Rail Projections Disappoint Feds
From the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii

GRIH Comment: Note the article below designates Charlotte as a "winner" with a mere $199 million federal subsidy. The oft-stated subsidy projection for Oahu’s rail is on the order of $500 million. This is never going to happen. The federal government is learning the lesson and severely cutting back on mass transit subsidies. In other words, the residents of Hawaii are going to get soaked big-time in the long run. All the current projections are inadequate and wrong. (dn)

RALEIGH - Even while North Carolina’s three largest metro areas try to boost their “world class city” credentials with new light-rail transit systems, ridership trends suggest that such prestige projects will only aggravate already-spiraling costs.

Nowhere is this more evident than in Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, where the Triangle Transit Authority is the lead agency for a regional light-rail system that is supposed to cost about $630 million.

Select the link embedded in the article title for the complete text.

[Miulang]

Re: Tax Hike for Rail?

For in-towners who only need a car periodically, the Flexcar option might just be the ticket. You basically pay a $40/month fee plus usage, and you reserve a Flexcar, which are parked in reserved spaces all over town. This concept started here in Seattle. The cars they have up here are mostly Priuses. You don't have car payments or car insurance to hassle with, no paying extra for gas or maintenance on the car, either.

Hmmm...maybe I should start a franchise in Honolulu...

Miulang

So I emailed Flexcar's corporate HQ here in Seattle the other day and asked them if/when they might be putting in an office in Honolulu. The reply I got back from the company President and CEO, Lance Ayrault:
"Thanks for your note. We actually get a lot of inquiries from Hawaii asking about Flexcar. I will have to take a closer look. "

Miulang

[craigwatanabe]

Re: Tax Hike for Rail?

wasn't there a city somewhere on this planet that had a system of bicycles like those flexcars?

From what I heard that didn't work at all with a lot of bikes ending up getting stolen or lost.

Other than the simple logistics of how a flexcar system works, what did they do to keep people from simply stealing them or not leaving them where they can be used by others?

[mel]

GE Tax Increase will Increase Hawaii's Homeless Population

GE Tax Increase will Increase Hawaii's Homeless Population

From Don Newman as published in HawaiiReporter.com

If the Honolulu City Council passes the 12.5 percent increase in the General Excise Tax (GET) this is going to further exacerbate the homeless problem. Because of the ubiquity of the GET, the impact of this increase is much larger than it first appears.

The GET is one of the most regressive taxes possible, hitting lower income residents the hardest. This is especially true because the GET is also levied on all goods and services including food and medical bills, one of the most unfair aspects of the tax. Those who are in marginal conditions, barely keeping themselves and their families from homelessness, are going to be pressed even more. The question is: How many will be driven into homelessness by the greater drain on their family finances due to the GET increase?

Read the complete article by clicking on the title or link here.

[craigwatanabe]

Re: Tax Hike for Rail?

Hey Mel...I'm thinking Harry Kim and the county council on the Big Island may have fallen onto some good fortune by not exercising the right to raise the local county GET. By not raising it countywise, the Big Island may become the place to buy big ticket retail items such as cars, boats and other expensive retail merchandise because you'll be charged at the lower tax rate.

And that brings up the point of economics...not only the homeless but those in the gap group and those who are one paycheck from being homeless will be impacted as well.

With less money in the pocket to spend on goods, what good is an increase in the GET if you cannot afford to buy anything that is taxed by the GET?

Businesses will be hurt especially the small businesses that keep it's profits here in the islands. When businesses get hurt, it cannot afford to pay it's employees so layoffs occur and the joblessness rate increases. This results in higher unemployment figures which taxes our welfare system. But since the GET increase affects all retail (and wholesale) sales our poor as said will suffer the most, affording to buy only the cheaper variety of goods which comes full circle back to the retailer who cannot turn a profit on these low-margin goods. This further reduces the ability of a retailer to keep its employees and thus the vicious cycle turns another round.

Pretty soon you'll have a bunch of unemployed people who don't have the need to ride the rail that made them broke!

Raising taxes is not the answer for a robust economy and it's not the way to subsidize something that couldn't be bought with money in the bank!

Imagine you going to a car dealer to buy a car you cannot currently afford but try to buy it anyway based on the supposition that you will be making more money to cover the extended budget shortfall from this capital purchase. With limited funds available and going on projections that you will make more despite your current financial condition, you'd be a fool to even engage in this risky investment.

The State of Hawaii is going on the supposition that raising the GET will bring in more dollars. That's simple mathematics, however it takes a college degree to understand the complexities of economics and it's impact on society.

Yes more money will flow into the coffers, but for how long? Raising taxes is only stealing from Peter to pay Paul. The money doesn't magically appear out of nowhere, it has to come from some other source of funding that will be impacted negatively and that source of funds is your wallet! Remember the GET is a tax on tax. Your money in your wallet is what's left after government took out almost a third of your gross income. IT'S YOUR MONEY AND THE GOVERNMENT WANTS TO TAKE THAT TOO!

Yeah sure you'll get something out of it...really? The only ones that will benefit from this tax increase are those directly impacted by what it's subsidizing. In Honolulu that will be for the light rail that services only one sector of Oahu. You simply cannot take that rail and move it somewhere else if another sector says it needs it.

And like I said before light rail takes several hundred motorists off the freeway only to leave room for several hundred more cars to take their places on the road. But this time the rail has taken up some transit space as well as cost the taxpayer for those few that will ride this white elephant.

There's a reason why a fixed transit service isn't here. It's because the design of our residential/commercial/industrial sectors were designed around being highly mobile with direct routes to final destinations instead of hubs where a transit system could work. Our state planners dictate that for every commercial establishment being made you must include adequate parking! So with a policy mandate like that it only encourages people to drive their cars!

If downtown Honolulu was devoid of parking I can see some sort of transit system working. Heck with downtown parking being so expensive, I used to park at the Blaisdell parking lot and catch the bus into downtown. That worked!

Another reason why this light rail won't work is to simply look at our bandaid fix to west Oahu townbound traffic...the zipper lane. Every morning you see Jason Yotsuda (Hey Jason I had to get rid of my record collection when I left sorry but I told ya to come by and pick them up...had some good vinyl ya!) giving us the morning traffic report. You see townbound lanes clogged as usual but see the zipper lane open with relatively few cars in them.

What happened here? I thought the zipper lane was to alleviate traffic congestion? All I see is the same old parking lot on H1 AND an under utilized zipper lane that cost taxpayers a chunk of money to build and maintain.

If you cannot get people into the zipper lane WITH their cars, how do you expect to get people OUT of their cars to ride light rail? It's easier to use the zipper but despite that, IT'S NOT WORKING!!!!!! You still spend time watching paint dry as you drive Kokohead bound on the H1 freeway!

Raising taxes to pay for this project hurts us in many ways:

1) It takes disposable income away from the consumer
2) It creates anymosity for those taxpayers who won't benefit from it
3) It will definately hurt one social class over another creating a greater rift
4) It won't solve our traffic woes (the zipper didn't)
5) It will cost more to operate than budgeted (typical govt planning)

Raising taxes only hurts an economy because taxes aren't market driven economics, it's simply raiding pockets to pay for government services that won't return your investments. Government services are designed not to be self sufficient. Light rail is a government service which is not to be confused with TheBus which is a semi government/private entity which serves all of Oahu and not just one sector.

And don't get me started on ridership on the bus. Yeah there are a lot of occupied seats on the bus which is a major factor in determining the effectiveness of TheBus' viability, however how many of those seats are subsidized because of discounted student and senior rates? PLENTY OF EM that's how many.

There are so many elderly riding the bus at a time when they should be home sleeping and enjoying their retirement instead of riding the bus and making full fare passengers stand, risking their lives as the bus hurtles down potholed Beretania street on the way to work so they can pay for that seat that is occupied by grandma who is on her way to McDonalds to have one coffee and take up a seat for a couple of hours at a 4-seat table reading the Advertiser spread out so no other patrons can sit, so those patrons go to Jack in the Box because for some reason the retired doesn't like the yuppie Jack with his bolohead and pointed nose.

Yeah I got problems and that's why when I retire I will stay home and sleep in because after working all my life, I deserve a few winks while some other schmuk works hard so I can get my senior discounts at Zippy's when I go there for lunch or something. Yeah I know...friggin hypocrite

But getting back on topic, the only good out of passing this tax increase, is public awareness of who not to vote for on the next election because it will be a point of contention among voters and candidates as it always has.

So now that I'm on the Big Island and the local leaders have vowed not to exercise the right to raise the local GET, I just want to say THANK YOU MAYOR KIM AND THE HAWAII COUNTY COUNCIL for having thought of your constituants! Way to go guys! Amazing what vog does to the mind isn't it?

[bustedbyu]

Re: Tax Hike for Rail?

Hey Mel...I'm thinking Harry Kim and the county council on the Big Island may have fallen onto some good fortune by not exercising the right to raise the local county GET. By not raising it countywise, the Big Island may become the place to buy big ticket retail items such as cars, boats and other expensive retail merchandise because you'll be charged at the lower tax rate...

... But getting back on topic, the only good out of passing this tax increase, is public awareness of who not to vote for on the next election because it will be a point of contention among voters and candidates as it always has.

So now that I'm on the Big Island and the local leaders have vowed not to exercise the right to raise the local GET, I just want to say THANK YOU MAYOR KIM AND THE HAWAII COUNTY COUNCIL for having thought of your constituants! Way to go guys! Amazing what vog does to the mind isn't it?

That is not necessarily true.

I'm assuming that there is a consensus that the GET is regressive and that it is paid not only by the buyer but the distributor, seller, wholesaler, and etc as the product is exchanged from one hand to another.

Now, would it not raise the question that 'a tax' (not necessarily a GET) will also be imposed on the items shipped to the Neighbor Islands from Oahu? The average buyer sees that $$$ is the bottom line and is not aware of the pyramiding effect that it has.

Indulge me and let me share another scenario...

I own a company on the Big Island and decided to hire an accountant on Oahu. Does the accountant charge the 4.166% or maybe the 4.2025%? Business must file their own GET so that will get confusing as well.

[craigwatanabe]

Re: Tax Hike for Rail?

Hmmm that's interesting and true!

The GET was simply passed from one to another so there was no complaining however with differentiating rates, the Big Island would be the loser, however that would also mean that goods and services offered from the Big Island would be favorable to the outer islands because of the lower GET. Those consumers would actually benefit from the tax. Making export retailing to those islands profitable.

It seems the State will have to come up with some sort of policy regarding intra-island retailing.

[Miulang]

So which is it???!

If the City and County of Honolulu votes to allow that additional 0.5% increase in GET, will it cost a family of four $245 or $450/year more? Depends on which set of statistics you're using. I think the truth will be somewhere in the middle. If you don't want the increase (on top of your increased sewer taxes), go petition your City Council.

Miulang

[Miulang]

Re: Tax Hike for Rail?

This latest pas de deux between the Governor and the City Council (and probably all the County Councils, too) is hilarious! Suppose you vote in a tax, but no one wants to collect it?! Does that mean the tax isn't going to be imposed? This is the first time I've ever heard of a tax being imposed, but everybody saying it would be too costly to collect it. Why bother voting in the tax, then?

Miulang

[Miulang]

Re: Tax Hike for Rail?

Well, the gautlet has officially been lowered now: either the City Councils agree to be the ones to collect the onerous transit tax, or the Governor vetoes the bill. For once, I agree with the Gov.: each County should be the one to determine whether or not it wants to collect the funds for improving transportation in that County (and by the decision of the people of that County); however, home rule should also be used when it comes to the school system, too, in that case.

Miulang

[mel]

Re: Tax Hike for Rail?

I am cautiously keeping my fingers crossed on this one. The critical deadlines will come on July 12. The Governor says she will veto the bill and I am about 95% sure that she will stick to her word. Still, the legislature may come back in special session to stick it to the taxpayers should they decide to override the possible veto.

Lingle Announces She Plans to Veto HB 1309
Hawaii Reporter, July 8, 2005

AARP Support of GE Tax Increase is a Disservice to its 140,000 Retired Members in Hawaii
Hawaii Reporter, July 8, 2005

From Cliff Slater's HonoluluTraffic.com website:

Now it is critical that we communicate with House legislators:

HB1309 passed in the Senate along nearly straight party lines with all the Democrats but Sen. Tsutsui voting for and all the Republicans against.

In the House it was a different matter. The result was 32 for (some with reservation) and 19 against with a split vote. Democrats Berg, Chong, Carroll, Green, Hiraki, Luke, Nishimoto, Saiki, Tanaka, Wakai and Waters together with Republicans Moses, Stonebraker, Halford, Finnegan, Thielen, Mayer, Marumoto, and Pine voted against. However, despite having taken a No Tax Increase Pledge, Republican Galen Fox voted for, as did Corinne Ching.

Our supporters should now look to pursuading those House members who voted against HB 1309 to stay opposed. In addition, we must pursuade those who voted for it that it was mistaken and they should change their vote next time.

This is something to be cautiously optimistic about. The killing of this rail proposal and the death of the GE Tax Increase.

This is my 1,000th post.