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UPDATED 1/27/11 10:30 a.m

Hawaii drivers could see their annual vehicle registration bill jump¹, thanks to a tax hike proposed by Gov. Neil Abercrombie.

As part of the governor’s plan to help “meet the economic needs of the state” and pump extra cash into the state’s highway fund, Hawaii car owners would be on the hook for increased taxes when registering a vehicle.

The tax is already regressive. An earlier Civil Beat story showed that it favors the rich. Abercrombie’s proposed tax hike is yet another example of a policy decision that adversely affects the poor and elderly.

House Speaker Calvin Say introduced Wednesday as part of the governor’s package of bills. It passed first reading this week and has been referred to the House Committees on Transportation and Finance.

The bill seeks to increase the vehicle weight tax, an annual tax that all Hawaii car owners pay, in some cases doubling the current rate.

The weight tax is one of three fees Hawaii car owners pay the state annually. The other two are a vehicle registration fee and a fuel tax. Another bill, , proposes hiking the flat-rate vehicle registration fee from $25 to $45. Counties collect the tax and deposit it into the state highway fund.

The owner of a Honda Civic DX, which weighs 2,630 pounds, would see the weight-tax portion of their bill increase from $19.72 to $46.02.

The bill’s language says the “estimated cost impact to the motoring public for the one cent per pound increase in the state vehicle weight tax will be an additional $26.25 annually for an average 3,500 pound vehicle.”

Here’s a look at the proposed increases:

• From .75 cents to 1.75 cents per pound for cars up to 4,000 pounds

• From 1 cent to 2 cents per pound for cars between 4,001 and 7,000 pounds

• From 1.25 cents to 2.25 cents per pound for cars between 7,001 pounds and 10,000 pounds

• From a flat fee of $150 to $300 for vehicles over 10,000 pounds