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Hizzoner’s words
can be very scary

Generally, when I hear an elected official use the term "revenue enhancement," I take off running for the hills, hand firmly clamped on my wallet and screaming like a girl. I've learned through experience that when there's revenue to be enhanced, it isn't going to be mine. In fact, when the government launches a program of "revenue enhancement," it usually means taxpayers will be faced with "revenue depletement."

So seconds after Mayor Mufi Hannemann uttered the dreaded words the other day, I was halfway to the hills above Kaneohe, my already sadly depleted wallet in a death grip. Teetering on the brink of "personal bankruptcy enhancement," I feared any more jiggling of the books by city or state revenue enhancers would result in the re-establishment of poorhouses and myself as an initial resident.

But when I heard what the mayor was actually proposing to enhance revenue for the city, my palpitations decreased, and my blood pressure returned to just a little above 4.3 on the Richter scale.

He was mainly talking about raising the fees on city property and facilities rented out to groups or used for organized events. Man, couldn't he have just said, "Hey, I'm going to make people using our city-owned stuff pay more than they are now so that we don't have to raise taxes," instead of causing a near-cardiac event by employing the "R.E." words?

THE FACT IS, just because the taxpayers own certain facilities like the McCoy Pavilion at Ala Moana Park doesn't mean that the city shouldn't charge a competitive rate for its rental. One of the mayor's proposals is to raise the rental rate on that facility from its current paltry $500 per event. I heard an organizer of the well-attended annual Greek Festival held each August at McCoy Pavilion say he wouldn't mind if the rental fee was doubled.

But instead of setting a flat fee for the use of various city facilities, the mayor should consider setting the fees according to whether the event is charitable, a nonprofit community get-together or a commercial or fund-raising enterprise. In the last instances, the city ought to get a percentage cut of the money raised. That might enhance the hell out of incoming revenues.

At the risk of sounding like a kiss-up, I have to say that I have few complaints about the mayor's various moves to cut costs and increase the city's cash flow. I agree with his 50 percent hike in motor vehicle taxes because motor vehicles are about 50 percent bigger than they used to be. If something isn't done to discourage motor vehicles from getting any bigger, soccer moms will be driving their kids to the game in Pepsi trucks like P. Diddy.

I also like the way Hannemann came down like a ton of lava rocks on the Honolulu Liquor Commission's flaky agreement to let deposed administrator Wallace Weatherwax go on paid leave until his contract runs out. Hannemann said if Weatherwax, who is being forced out under a cloud of corruption, is going to be paid by the taxpayers, he's going to be working, even if it means working as a city lawyer. Whether the legal fight will cost more than simply paying Weatherwax to go away remains to be seen.

In any case, the mayor is making some deft financial moves in a difficult time. He only needs to choose his words more carefully so that the hills are not overly populated by citizens clinging to their purses and wallets.