ASSOCIATION OF HAWAIIAN CIVIC CLUBS
A RESOLUTION
No. 2017 – 27
URGING THE HAWAIʻI STATE LEGISLATURE TO EXTEND THE EXISTING HALF A PERCENT SURCHARGE ON THE GENERAL EXCISE TAX IN PERPETUITY FOR THE CITY AND COUNTY OF HONOLULU TO FUND THE CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE OF THE HONOLULU HIGH-CAPACITY TRANSIT CORRIDOR PROJECT AND APPROVED SUBSEQUENT PROJECTS IN PURSUIT OF A MODERN TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM FOR THE ISLAND OF OʻAHU
WHEREAS, the people of the City and County of Honolulu voted to create a rail transit system (“Rail”) in 2008; and
WHEREAS, the current rail project is the culmination of generations of community and governmental efforts to modernize Oʻahu’s transportation system with rail since the first rail was created in the Hawaiian Kingdom in 1857 and the Honolulu Rapid Transit board was established in 1967; and
WHEREAS, the rail is a necessary component of a modern transportation system for the island of Oʻahu; and
WHEREAS, a modern transportation system provides tangible societal benefits including reduction of transportation pollution (mālama ʻāina), transportation alternatives and traffic congestion relief (mālama ʻohana), and economic development opportunities, including through public-private partnerships (hoʻōla); and
WHEREAS, the first leg of the rail is called the Honolulu High-Capacity Transit Corridor Project or Honolulu Rail Transit Project, at 20 miles and 21 stations from East Kapolei to Ala Moana; and
WHEREAS, the Honolulu Rail Transit Project has created and fosters thousands of jobs in construction, engineering, and professional services employing many local residents, including Native Hawaiians; and
WHEREAS, the rail provides the backbone for transit-oriented development projects, including opportunities for small businesses; workforce and affordable housing developments; the development of a second city center; and high-capacity residential corridors, which together will increase local employment, wealth generation capability, and housing inventory for residents, and empower Native Hawaiians to be able to afford homes on Oʻahu; and
WHEREAS, a modern transportation system will significantly improve the quality of life for residents of Oʻahu, especially those living in West Oʻahu by affording more time with loved ones and in recreation rather than in traffic; and
WHEREAS, a modern transportation system is essential to Oʻahu’s ability to sustainably transport increasing visitor loads while preserving the pristine ecologies that draw the economically vital tourism industry to the island; and
WHEREAS, successful transportation projects, and rail projects in particular, across the United States have acquired firm funding via a dedicated tax base; and
WHEREAS, the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation estimates that the total construction cost for the first leg of Rail at $8.165 billion, exclusive of the financing costs; and
WHEREAS, the current rail project costs prior to financing currently conform to the predictions of the study done by the State Department of Transportation which estimated the costs to be between $6.8 billion and $9.8 billion; and
WHEREAS, the U. S. federal government has pledged $1.55 billion to help build the Honolulu Rail Transit Project, but a lack of a firm funding source could require Honolulu to return the $722 million in federal funds already spent; and
WHEREAS, Hawaiʻi’s General Excise Tax (GET) is the tax with the broadest base of any state sales tax and tied with several others across the nation for the lowest rate; and
WHEREAS, about 38 percent of the GET is borne by nonresidents, while only about twenty-three percent of the Individual Income Tax is shifted to nonresidents; and
WHEREAS, since 2007, the one-half percent GET surcharge has been, and will continue to be, collected only in the City and County of Honolulu; and
WHEREAS, a firm funding source through a GET surcharge extension will allow the completion of the first leg of the Rail to Ala Moana and also provide resources for additional lines, including to the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, Central Oʻahu, and Makaha; and
WHEREAS, supporting Rail as part of a modern transportation system for the island of Oʻahu through firm funding via the GET is an expression of our local values of kuleana, to leave Hawaiʻi better for the next generation, mālama ʻāina, to take care of the land through minimizing the effects of our collective transportation, mālama ʻohana, to take care of our families by increasing their quality of life and allowing them to spend time with loved ones instead of in traffic, and hoʻōla, to imbue life into our communities by providing new economic opportunities.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs at its 58th Annual Convention in Seattle, Washington, in the malama of ʻIkuwā and the rising of Māhealani, this 4th day of November 2017, urging the Hawai‘i State Legislature to extend the existing half a percent surcharge on the General Excise Tax in perpetuity for the City and County of Honolulu to fund the construction and maintenance of the Honolulu High-Capacity Transit Corridor Project and approved subsequent projects in pursuit of a modern transportation system for the island of Oʻahu; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that a certified copy of this resolution be transmitted to the Governor of the State of Hawai‘i, President of the State Senate, Speaker of the State House of Representatives, Chair of the State Senate Committee on Ways and Means, Chair of the State House Committee on Finance, Chair of the State Senate Committee on Hawaiian Affairs, Chair of the State House Committee on Ocean, Marine Resources & Hawaiian Affairs, Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, City & County Mayor of Honolulu, and all county mayors.
The undersigned hereby certifies that the foregoing Resolution was duly adopted in the malama of ʻIkuwā and the rising of Māhealani on the 4th day of November 2017, at the 58th Annual Convention of the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs in Seattle, Washington.
Annelle C. Amaral, President
