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+--- Thread: FoPF - Tax Dollars Not at Work / Money for Roads (/showthread.php?tid=6570)
FoPF - Tax Dollars Not at Work / Money for Roads - Rob Tucker - 01-17-2010
How Mayor Kenoi’s Appeal for TAT Supports Puna’s Appeal for FTR
Most people are vaguely aware of paying tax on their gasoline purchases and that the taxes are used to maintain the roads they drive on. However, what they may not realize is that these taxes haven’t been used to maintain all the roads they drive on - just some of them. If you live and drive in any one of a number of private subdivisions on the Big Island you pay the fuel taxes but you do not receive full benefit of them.
This is the center point of a bill to be proposed in council by District 1 Councilman Dominic Yagong. Recently, as then Chairman of the Finance Committee, Councilman Yagong was approached by Friends of Puna’s Future (FoPF) with a proposal to create a grant-in-aid program to benefit the nonprofit community organizations bearing the responsibility and financial weight of maintaining the roads in their subdivisions.
The logic of the bill goes like this:
Fuel Tax Revenue (FTR) is charged on every gallon and is intended for the maintenance of roads in our county. But for decades the funds have only been used for some of the roads, not all of them. FoPF views this as a issue of tax fairness. Thousands of Big Island residents live within private subdivisions created by the county at the time of statehood. There are hundreds of miles of such roads with no county funding. Those who drive on these roads pay fuel taxes but fail to get the benefit of those taxes for their roads. Residents, tourists, police, fire and emergency vehicles all use these roadways -- but the homeowners associations are left on their own to deal with the entirety of road maintenance.
Mayor Billy Kenoi recently made a similar argument to the state government regarding the TAT (or hotel tax). Mayor Kenoi maintains that the County is rightfully due a share of the TAT funds collected by the State in exchange for shouldering a large portion of the maintenance burden of tourism. Likewise FoPF says that since the county collects FTR taxes for road maintenance and private subdivisions carry the cost burden of keeping their roads maintained for everyone, - the subdivisions are due a share of FTR funds. As Mayor Kenoi says regarding TAT - It’s only fair.
FoPF is proposing that the Public Works Department be instructed by council to fund a Grant-in-Aid program. Nonprofit organizations with road maintenance responsibilities could apply for cash grants in a simple process which would be completed in ninety days or less. The funds would not be allowed for acquisition of land for new roads. Under no circumstances would county work crews be expected to perform maintenance on private subdivisions roads. The nonprofits would have full discretion in allocating the funds for road surfacing, road base, shoulders, signage and safety.
There is a history of FTR funds not being fully used by the county year by year. This has resulted in a carry-over of funds from one year’s budget to the next. For example, a total of $4.6 million dollars of fuel tax allotments for the entire island from 1994 – 2004 lapsed and had to be re-appropriated. This is appalling considering the conditions of our County roadways. Having to carry over and re-appropriate fuel tax funds is not productive when one considers the struggle of private subdivisions to maintain these roads - roads which were established by acts of council and are open to everyone’s use.
Please call FoPF at 965-1555 or email to friendsofpuna1@mail.com or visit www.fopf.org.
RE: FoPF - Tax Dollars Not at Work / Money for Roads - KeaauRich - 01-17-2010
Makes sense to me...which probably means it has a snowball's chance in hell of getting adopted
RE: FoPF - Tax Dollars Not at Work / Money for Roads - Bob Orts - 01-17-2010
Can someone explain to me why the County of Hawaii, unlike the other Counties, does not have a fuel tax? Seems if Hawaii County wants to step outside the restrictions placed on the County when they use the State revenue, they would simply add a small tax onto the fuel (Like the Other Counties) and use it with less restrictions. But if they don't want to have their own tax and are relying only on the State money, they have to accept the restrictions on use that comes with it.
When that restriction was enacted it was done because the citizens of other State (and Counties) didn't want government money (TAXPAYER MONEY) to go to private developers to fund or fix these private roads. Now if the vast majority of residents of the State of Hawaii want that reversed, they can contact their State legislators to repeal that restriction. But I think that there are more people who would be opposed to their tax dollars doing for private roads and would want the restrictions to remain.
RE: FoPF - Tax Dollars Not at Work / Money for Roads - Rob Tucker - 01-17-2010
Aloha Bob,
....there are more people who would be opposed to their tax dollars doing for private roads and would want the restrictions to remain.
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I am sure you are correct there. It is also likely that taxpayers might object to any one of a number of Grant-in-Aid programs that currently exist. Lunch programs for seniors, training programs for unemployed, after school programs for students.
We feel that the spirit and intent of the Fuel Tax is to benefit the payers of that tax in their use of roads. Every gallon of gas burned on any one of several hundred miles of private subdivision roads has paid that tax.
I do not think this is a case of asking someone to have their fuel taxes go to the benefit of another who has not paid the Fuel Tax. Quite the opposite. But it is bound to be an interesting debate at council.
RE: FoPF - Tax Dollars Not at Work / Money for Roads - Rob Tucker - 01-20-2010
West Hawaii Today has an article on this topic...
http://www.westhawaiitoday.com/articles/2010/01/20/local/local02.txt
RE: FoPF - Tax Dollars Not at Work / Money for Roads - james weatherford - 01-20-2010
Clearly, this Bill is meant to redress an injustice of taxation without benefit and address a need for road work in the subdivisions.
Dominic Yagong is the right person to draft it right.
Let us hope the rest of the Council evaluates the Bill strictly on its substantial merits of fairness, equity, and good government.
This statement catches my attention: "The nonprofits would have full discretion in allocating the funds for road surfacing, road base, shoulders, signage and safety."
I take this to mean that the Dept of Public Works will not be micromanaging the work to be done, nor having any influence on who gets the contracts to do that work. If so, that is good.
Nevertheless, another matter that comes to mind is the need for transparency and accountability in the expenditure of the funds.
Best practice for grants-in-aid would require a clear audit trail and public reporting of expenditures and work done.
Again, because Dominic Yagong is the author of the Bill, I can have faith that proper transparency and accountability will be included.
James Weatherford, Ph.D.
15-1888 Hialoa
Hawaiian Paradise Park