Honolulu Rail Funding Continues to Lag
GET revenues fall below projections for third quarter in a row.
The Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation brought in $48.5 million in GET surcharge revenue this quarter, covering July through September, according to a HART press release. So far, the rail project has accrued聽$1.35 billion in GET revenues, which are derived from a .5 percent surcharge on the general excise tax.
鈥淭he steady GET surcharge revenue, along with the $1.55 billion in secured federal funds shows our funding remains strong for the project,” HART CEO Dan Grabauskas is quoted as saying in the press release.
What city public information officers chose not to include in the press release, however, is that the quarterly revenue collection is $5.3 million below聽what was projected for the project.
Honolulu’s rail project faces significant cost challenges in part because of a fast-paced market and two lawsuits that delayed construction.
PF Bentley/Civil Beat
This was also the case for the previous two quarters. For the period ending in June, GET revenue came in 14 percent lower than what was hoped. In March, GET revenues were 20 percent short.
Overall, GET revenue is about $40.8 million behind projections, Scott Ishikawa, a HART spokesman, told Civil聽Beat.
GET revenues are expected to fund nearly 70 percent of the $5.2 billion Honolulu rail project.
In March, HART downgraded the GET revenues from “on track” to in need of “monitoring,” in its , which provides a breakdown of rail’s finances. GET revenues fluctuate聽and could pick up in coming quarters. The shortfall amounts to a聽4.5 percent revenue deficit when compared to聽projections outlined in rail’s financial plan, beginning in 2009.
Ishikawa said that revenue is still expected to meet HART’s projections over the coming years.
