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JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARADVERTISER.COM
HART executive director Andrew Robbins speaks during a news conference on Thursday in downtown Honolulu. Robbins said he plans to meet with officials from the FTA this month to try to convince them that there is no need to step up the pace of the city’s contributions.
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The Honolulu rail project’s ongoing financial dance with the Federal Transit Administration continues — and as usual and unfortunately, the steps are more complicated than hoped.
HART was hoping for the FTA’s sign-off this year for a remaining $744 million in federal funds, but recently got word that approval would not be forthcoming until February, at the earliest. That’s because the FTA wants to see cost details of the winning development bid for the massive $1.4 billion City Center job, which HART expects to award in January via a public-private partnership (P3).
Of course, securing the federal money before putting out the P3 request for proposals in summer would be ideal, to give potential bidders added assurance of project security and cash flow.
Another snag: The FTA wants HART to put up more local dollars sooner, not later. It wants the city to contribute $25 million to rail in the year starting July 1, $26 million the next year, $21 million in fiscal 2022, and so on; unfortunately, that’s a far cry from HART’s proposal to commit $15 million total in city funds over the next six years.
HART CEO Andrew Robbins will be meeting with FTA’s regional chief at month’s end in Hawaii, to amplify and persuade. A lot of fancy footwork will be needed in this high-stakes money dance.