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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0569.016 2002-2004 H I CAHAWAII ISLAND CONTRACTORS'ASSOCIATION 494 C KALANIKOA STREET HILO ,HAWAII 96720 PHONE (808)9351316 FAX (808) 934J779 EMAIL hical@ ihawaii.net Date :April 6,2004 c~'°-----.1412 To: Hawaii County Finance Chair Person and committee members: ~-~~^tv Fc The Hawaii Island Contractors Association has held a special meeting of the Board of Directors and Voted in OPPOSSITION to the Fuel tax increase proposal presented by The Public works division and Mayor of Hawaii Gounty. Presented Hear are Questions and Comments to the Proposal, presented by the proponents of the Fuel Tax Increase, that we would like you to consider when making your Vote. FUEL TAX 20004 -HIGHLIGHTS WHAT Proposed increase from the existing 8.8 cents per gallon to 4.0 cents for the highway fund and 2.0 cent increase for Mass Transit expenditures. Example given in favor of increase vehicle with a 20 gallon a Month usage will pay an added cost of $14.40 additional taxes a year. Question ? What is the method used to calculate this example? That figure in our calculation is a Vehicle that is getting an 20MPG average and traveling only 5,800 miles per year. Why the Mass increase of nearly Double the current Tax? The increase will have the adverse affect of added cost's to ALL THE TAX PAYERS. The county included. Example :Added fuel cost to contractor will need to be reflected by increase in contract amount plus State and Federal income taxes on that added amt. County contract amounts will Increase. WHY Additional roads are added to our inventory annually. (This does not include roads in limbo) Comment: Any new roads are built to county standard at minimum and should have bin engineered and have a warranty (county needs to not accept roads that do nat at minimum meet these standards.) Example :Wood valley Road. We are the only County that resurfaces its roads in house. (we save money doing this) Question? Can the cost of a total resurface project be done by the Public works? Comm. No. 509 • ? b , Ref. To: er~f~d FL Ref. Uate _ APR fi 1004 ( All the additional work). Example :Raising all the utilities back to the proper elevation. The Kamehameha Ave Test project utilities are still buried and the public works has the Drain box adjustments out to bid. This is now at an added cost to the tax payer. WE the county are unable to keep up with regular maintenance and operational responsibilities. Question? Why is the Public Works using a Fuel Tax to increase personal? How :The value for the fuel tax increase was determined after looking at: Comment: The Public Works has bin using capital improvement monies to purchase high Value special equipment .That monies could have bin used to do improvements to the roads. Benefits: We would be able to resurface roads on a 20 year cycle. Comment: All CIP projects are engineered fora 20 -year life. To date the projects done by the Public Works do not and have not had a preliminary survey (making sure they are in the proper easement). Have not done any pre construction engineering to address flooding and safety concerns. Kam AV. WE would be able to keep up with our regular responsibilities-lessen the ratio of number of miles per employee. Comment: The Public Works employee ratio wound not hold true for the proposed 20 -yr. Life cycle. WE would be able to better address traffic flow problems. Comment: The Public Works has not shown this to be accurate. The Public Works has only resurfaced existing roads . When: The administration will submit the fuel tax increase to the county council in March 2004. Question? What will be the tong range effects of larger government? Does the Public Works feel they want to become contractors and suppliers also? Respectfully submitted: Richard P. Rego u President 2003-2004 Hawaii island contractors association.