To Hawaii drivers suffering through long commutes to work or burning gas in slow-moving city traffic, listen up: You could be paying more for this privilege.
State lawmakers are advancing a bill that would have a typical driver pay $83 more per year for the privilege of owning and driving a vehicle, so that more revenue can go into the State Highway Fund, which finances road maintenance and new construction.
There are myriad reasons to oppose Senate Bill 2938 this year, but inexplicably, lawmakers are moving forward on the proposal to raise not just one fee, but three.
Under Gov. David Ige’s plan, which was quietly introduced in the Legislature on Jan. 25 but was not even mentioned in his State of State address that same morning:
>> The gasoline tax would increase to 19 cents from 16 cents per gallon.
>> The state vehicle registration fee would rise to $60 from $45 per year.
>> The motor vehicle weight tax rate would increase to 2.75 cents per pound from 1.75 cents per pound for passenger vehicles. Tiered rates also would go up for larger vehicles, based on weight.
Put on the brakes.
SB 2938 is seeking more money from consumers — the triple-whammy increases would raise about $75 million more — at a time when the state Transportation Department has more than $600 million backlogged in unspent federal funds intended for Hawaii highway improvements.
The failure to manage these funds well underscores the fact that bloated bureaucracy, not lack of money, is a fundamental obstacle to better roadways.
High administrative costs plague our highway system performance and cost-effectiveness.
A 2014 report by the libertarian Reason Foundation think tank ranked Hawaii worst in the nation when it comes to administrative costs: $90,000 per mile of state road, compared with Texas’ $4,000 per mile and Kentucky’s $1,000 per mile.
Some good money that should be spent on improving Hawaii’s highways is instead going to administrative costs, and that certainly doesn’t benefit taxpayers.
Further, serious dysfunction at the state Transportation Department was revealed in recent stories by Star-Advertiser reporter Marcel Honore, including a 2008 federally funded analysis of ways to improve Hawaii’s highways that had been buried and ignored for eight years until Honore’s coverage brought it to light.
The report, “Pavement Preservation Technical Appraisal, Hawaii Executive Summary,” outlined initiatives that should have been launched years ago, such as: updating to a modern computerized system to effectively track roadwork projects; and, in order to prolong the life of roads, the use of crack seal and slurry seal, which have been industry standards in use for decades but, inexplicably, not in Hawaii.
Gladys Marrone, CEO of the Building Industry Association of Hawaii, was exactly right in her testimony on SB 2938:
“We believe that there needs to be more accountability on how these funds are expended, including how projects are prioritized in the use of the highway funds. … Increases in the taxes and fees without some assurance or game plan on how the projects will be identified, prioritized and implemented would be irresponsible at this time.”
It’s true that nationwide, states and local governments are struggling to fund road repairs as solvency issues surround the federal Highway Trust Fund, which uses federal fuel taxes to fund road construction and maintenance.
But the biggest problem facing Hawaii’s woeful state roads clearly is not just lack of funds. It is poor usage of proven road-maintenance techniques and of millions of already allocated federal dollars.
State politicians and transportation officials should not be asking taxpayers to pay more than we already do for such inefficiency. They should improve their performance first.
