Raising the gas tax may sound good but there are some major problems. Parts of the mainland already figured it out. Because of electric, hybrid, other alternate fuel cars, motorcycles, mopeds, and much higher fuel efficiency vehicles, the revenue from gas taxes has gone down. Also the higher gas taxes hurt everyone who has to drive to and from work, drive for a living, service providers, construction, and it drives a higher delivery cost for everything.
Yes, the need for more revenue is there and well documented. A better way is the county should pass a separate county vehicle registration fee on top of the license fee. An example is to raise the fee by $20 for all vehicles under 8,600 pounds, and for those 8,601 pounds to 26,000 pounds by $30, and all higher GVWR vehicles by $50. The more weight a vehicle weighs the more road damage may occur. This way the county will have funds to fix our roads in a more fair equally shared way.
As far as property taxes, yes, the county needs more funds to operate because the state has given raises across the board to workers without considering what the counties may say, so maybe the state should fund those unfunded liabilities and not the county because the state keeps the money that they want, which is unfair. Don’t get me wrong, our workers deserve a raise for their hard work but also have to be more efficient which sometimes costs more to get there (bus service or lack of, better equipment, streamline the government processes). Raising everyone’s taxes who lives here full time seems unfair because you get a raise but have to pay more in property taxes and fuel, and you don’t get ahead.
Another way, raise the property taxes on those who don’t live here full time or just invest. There are homes in the northern part of the county that rent out for more than $35,000 per week and they are booked most of the time. Another example is a home in Alii Heights that rents out for $250 per night and is owned by a mainlander over 60 who gets tax breaks. By the way, it is illegal to rent vacation homes there per their CC&Rs, but they get around it by saying it’s a family member for the week. Double their taxes and then there are no tax breaks. Start our own county room fee (not a tax, $5 per night) at the hotels and resorts that goes to the county so the state can’t get their hands on it.
Here are six bullet point ideas that could also help:
1. Go after the state for our share of the room tax. Hold the state accountable.
2. No property tax breaks for anyone who doesn’t live here full time (eight months per year), capture all the short-term vacation (less than three months) rental fees/taxes. Raise the resort fees to go to the county and not the state.
3. Raise only the property taxes two times higher for all non-full time residents, and no property tax breaks.
4. Charge a county vehicle fee, do not raise the gas tax because it doesn’t work and hurts us in many different ways including food, goods and services, and county construction costs.
5. Make the county process and jobs more efficient on a daily basis.
6. Have public employees pay more toward their retirements.
John Powell is a resident of Kailua-Kona