LIHU‘E — Proposals to increase taxes are usually unpopular, especially when they raise the cost of something used by the majority of taxpayers — gasoline. But not this time. A bill to increase the liquid fuel tax by 6 cents
LIHU‘E — Proposals to increase taxes are usually unpopular, especially when they raise the cost of something used by the majority of taxpayers — gasoline.
But not this time.
A bill to increase the liquid fuel tax by 6 cents — with 4 cents to be used to help pay for The Kaua‘i Bus and expand its services — received overwhelming support from the community at a public hearing at the Kaua‘i County Council chambers Wednesday.
“Every time someone gets on the bus, it’s one less car on the road,” Kapahi resident Luke Evslin said.
To Evslin, it would make sense to increase the fuel tax, which also helps pay for road construction and maintenance. But since cars are increasingly more efficient, less gas per mile is being consumed — thus generating less tax revenues — while the roads still need repairs.
Also, fewer cars on the road means reduced emissions from internal combustion engines, responsible for 28 percent of emissions causing global climate changes, Evslin said.
“The car is by far the world’s most wasteful means of transportation imaginable,” he said.
Out of about 60 testimonies — verbal and written — from individuals and organizations, only five were against the fuel tax increase.
“The bus is essential,” said Alice Parker, who lives in senior housing complex in Lihu‘e, and rides the bus with two friends every Monday to Kilauea to take a ‘ukulele class.
“We couldn’t afford it otherwise,” she said of the classes on the North Shore.
Despite praising The Kaua‘i Bus, Parker’s testimony had a request that was similar to the majority of those in favor of the fuel tax increase: More buses are needed to accommodate a growing number of users and to make the service more user-friendly.
In the last eight years, fixed-route ridership went from nearly 200,000 annual trips to about 750,000 trips per year. During the same period, paratransit ridership grew from about 67,000 per year to almost 75,000 annual trips.
Former bus driver Debra Kekaualua, of Wailua, criticized the bill, and said that on the Big Island, bus services were free and now charge $1 per trip. Fares on Kaua‘i are $2 per trip or 50 cents for neighborhood shuttles, though bus passes lower the cost significantly for regular users.
Chair Jay Furfaro said the Big Island is able to offer such low fares because it receives a disproportional amount of federal funding due to being home to the Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park.
Currently, drivers pay a 13-cent fee for each gallon of liquid fuel, and nothing for biodiesel.
Bill 2484 proposes an increase of 3 cents per gallon starting July 1 for all liquid fuels. A year later, on July 1, 2014, an additional 1 cent per gallon would be charged. A third increase, on July 1, 2015, would add 2 cents per gallon to the liquid fuel tax.
The projected revenue from bus fares for the current fiscal year is $870,000, and Transportation Agency officials are forecasting a revenue exceeding $900,000 in the upcoming Fiscal Year 2014, which starts July 1. Ten years ago, those revenues were about $140,000, and have increased each year.
The agency’s budget for FY 2013 was $5.82 million, and the proposed budget for FY 2014 is $4.08 million. The bulk of this $1.74 million decline for the upcoming fiscal year was from a $1 million reduction in operations and a $358,500 reduction in leases for vehicle and equipment.
Dr. Neil Clendeninn, who sent testimony in favor of the bill, said for the average 15 gallon car that fills up four times a month, the increase would mean an additional $3.60 per month by 2015.
“The additional taxes per month will cost the driver of an average car less than a cup of coffee at Starbucks or a meal at McDonald’s,” he said.
The 4 cents the county Transportation Agency would get from proposed the fuel tax increase would add more than $800,000 per year in subsidies to the bus, helping in operations and a service expansion yet to be determined.
Kapa‘a resident Glenn Mickens was against raising taxes to add buses to the roads.
“We have to prioritize our limited funds, and since 98 percent of our population uses their vehicles for transportation, let’s get alternative roads built on Kaua‘i and help alleviate the traffic problems,” he said.
But it is exactly this high percentage of vehicle users that the council, specially Councilwoman JoAnn Yukimura, want to reduce by expanding bus services.
The Kaua‘i Bus was implemented during Yukimura’s term as mayor from 1988 to 1994, and she has since championed it as a citizen and as a councilwoman.
Of residents who spoke of the importance of having an adequate bus system, some criticized the one-hour span in the bus schedule, hoping more buses would be added to come at 30-minute intervals.
The rack in front of the buses accommodates only two bicycles. Evslin said he once had to toss his bicycle in the bushes because the rack was full, and when he came back, it was gone.
Residents were not the only ones who testied.
“I am a visitor here and I have been delighted to use the bus,” said Rita Wilken, with a telling British accent.
She said her host provided her a bicycle, but the roads are “quite dangerous,” so she walks a lot and takes the bus to the beach.
“I am a senior citizen and I was able to have a reduced rate,” said Wilken, adding she wouldn’t mind paying more. “But I would have loved to have had a more frequent bus service, so I would have used it more often.”
Barbara Labitska, of Nevada, Miss., sent written testimony stating that for the last six years she and her husband have spent winters on Kaua‘i — and plan to continuing doing so.
She supported a schedule that services every half hour, especially during rush hour, to decrease crowding and increase ridership.
“For the past five years, we have not rented a car, we have used the bus as our only means of transportation,” Labitska said. “The money we save by not renting a car enables us to stay several extra weeks.”
Bill 2484 now goes through the council’s Transportation Committee May 1, when there will be opportunity for more public testimony.
The following steps would be second and final reading, with the full council taking up the recommendation from its Transportation Committee, and ultimately an approval from Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr.
• Léo Azambuja, staff writer, can be reached at 245-0452 or lazambuja@ thegardenisland.com.
