HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0290.009 2016-2018 COUNTY CLERK
COUNTY OF HAWAit aternent Relating To Proposed Fuel Tax Increase
May 31, 2017
7017 NAY 31 PN3: 07
Chairperson Poindexter and Members of the Hawaii County Council, my
name is Albert Nakaji and I am a resident of Papaikou. I have lived in Hawaii all
my life and have no plans, nor intentions, of moving anywhere else (with the
exception of Heaven). Thank you for this opportunity to offer comments relating
to the proposed fuel tax increase.
In short, Impose any fuel tax increase. My rationale, and background used
for this position, is as follows:
• I have not seen a cost analysis of road maintenance/construction for County
owned road, nor have I seen such costs in comparison with the costs
experienced by other counties. It is unclear to me as to whether the cost for
Hawaii County differs from that of other counties, and, if so, why that is.
• The most often heard argument for the proposed increase has been that
Hawaii County has not increased the fuel tax for many years, while other
counties have had several increases during the same period. The passage of
time, per se, does not constitute a valid argument for an increase.
• Another argument has been that Hawaii County has the lowest fuel tax of all
Hawaii counties. The purpose of taxes is never to "keep up with the Jones".
To the contrary, it should be the aim of government to reduce taxes
whenever and wherever possible. This argument also has no validity.
• Hawaii County has more area than all the other islands combined. This
means that people here must travel farther than people on the other islands.
Hawaii County also has far fewer, people/drivers than Oahu and is roughly
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comparable to Maui County in terms of population and number.of°drivers:'.`
This translates to mean that those two other counties have rmre_people f. ".
driving over fewer miles, putting more "stress" on their roads, hence the
need for greater road work and, presumably, greater costs per mile. In those
cases, it's understandable that higher fuel taxes may be imposed.
• On a more general level, the overall argument against tax increases (fuel and
anything else), is that the people of this county face increasing costs on all
fronts, while increases in revenue may not keep up. In particular, there are
still a great number of retirees from the "plantation era" who struggle to live
on their meager retirement income. They are faced with increasing health
care costs, food costs, water and electric power costs, and other costs over
which they have no control. There are, literally, people who must choose
whether to eat a meal or take medication on any given day. There are people
who must choose whether to pay the rent or eat. These are the same people
who must drive because Hawaii County does not have a very good public
transportation system, and because taxi fares may be too high for them to
afford. It is fallacy to believe that everyone in Hawaii County lives at a
"comfortable" level. We may not hear much about it because these are the
same people who do not complain, and just do their best to survive on their
own. No, government, whether it's the County, State, or Federal level, does
not take care of their needs and, to a large extent, these people may not want
anything other than opportunities to help themselves. Unfortunately, it
seems government focuses on different things.
• Finally, rather than increase any tax, it should be a very high priority for
Hawaii County to more aggressively seek outside (meaning not from
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residents) sourcesof revenue. This can be in the form of grants, private-
public partnerships, increased volunteer use, encouragement of outside
investments in public works projects, etc. In addition, it should be an
equally high priority to eliminate waste, duplication of effort, unnecessary
processes/procedures, cumbersome rules and regulations that are so
complicated that even staff has great difficulty following them. It should not
be the County's aim to be all things to all people. Rather, it should strive to
provide opportunities to all people so they can help themselves. It should
not enable dependence, but encourage independence and self-sufficiency.
Raising taxes takes no brainpower nor creativity. It's the easiest, yet most
harmful, route to take. It would be more meaningful to really step out of the
status quo, and take the "road less traveled".
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