Djou vocal against
tax hikes

The councilman says the planned
increases would put untenable
strain on the public

City Councilman Charles Djou urged residents to speak out against several tax increases -- including a 50 percent hike in the vehicle weight tax -- that will get a final vote today.

In a press conference yesterday, Djou said the budget for the upcoming fiscal year is unnecessarily bloated and being paid for by "massive tax increases."

But Budget Chairwoman Ann Kobayashi said the proposed tax and fee hikes are aimed at paying for long-neglected public works projects.

"There's just so many repairs to be done to our sewers, to our roads," she said. "None of us wants to increase fees and increase taxes, but we're kind of playing catch-up."

The City Council will vote today on whether to approve the vehicle weight tax hike along with increases in sewer and sewer hookup fees and rents for the Blaisdell Center and Waikiki Shell, which will likely translate to higher ticket prices.

The Council will also vote on city operating and construction budgets for next year totaling nearly $1.8 billion.

Djou, whose district runs from Waikiki to East Honolulu, said the city's proposed budget "will damage our local economy and hurt families" by requiring even higher tax hikes in years to come. "The government can't just continue along this path," he said.

"The public simply does not have unlimited amounts of money."

He proposed cutting pay raises included in the proposed budget for city workers and evaluating the city's employee roster to determine whether layoffs are needed.

Under a proposal before the City Council, the vehicle weight tax will increase to 3 cents per pound from 2 cents for passenger cars and trucks starting Jan. 1.

That means the tax for a 3,200-pound midsize sedan will rise to $96 from $64. The tax for commercial vehicles will increase to 3.5 cents per pound from 2.5 cents.

Sewer fees will jump 25 percent July 1 and 10 percent annually for the next five years, then rise at a lower rate for the next four years.

The average single-family monthly sewer bill, $33.05, will go to $41.31 in the first year, more than double to $66.54 in year six and increase to $83.91 in year 10.

The council is also poised to vote today on a proposal that would raise the general excise tax by half a percentage point. The vote would be the second of three required readings, and the tax hike would not go into effect until 2007.

Kobayashi said the City Council has plans to offset the tax and fee hikes with property tax relief for lower-income homeowners.

"I hope people will understand that we have to do this (raise taxes) for a while, and then things will get better," she said. "We all wish we could say, 'Yeah, no more increases.'"