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Several members of the Honolulu City Council met with the Federal Transit Administration earlier this month as authorized by Resolution 18-38. Their clearly outlines who was at the meeting.

So far, so good.

The report then goes into a brief discussion of the recent five-year and three-year rail tax extensions. Here we run into problems with the numbers — in both cases, the report erroneously states the general excise tax surcharge as “0.05 percent.” The actual rate is .5 percent. The difference is like saying rail is going to cost $950 million instead of $9.5 billion.

Maybe I noticed this right away because I work with numbers, but this report was signed by three members of the council. It would seem a communication as important as this would have had additional reviews to at least make sure there were no glaring errors.

The letter Mayor Kirk Caldwell wrote to the FTA in February also includes the GET surcharge as 0.05 percent. In fact, the wording is very similar to that used in the council report and is also signed by three people. This error is repeated in an attachment to the mayor’s letter in which he states the city’s commitment to rail. 

Everyone makes mistakes, but errors like this seem to be pervasive, including instances in which they are called out and not corrected.

In October, the Council adopted , regarding rail and public-private partnerships. The second “whereas” clause indicates that Act 001 of the 2017 Special Session included a “one percent increase” in the transient accommodations tax.

The TAT went from 9.25 percent to 10.25 percent, so the resolution should have stated there was a “one percentage point increase,” or simply that the rate increased from 9.25 percent to 10.25 percent.

Errors like this seem to be pervasive, including instances in which they are called out and not corrected.

The increase in the TAT is actually about 11 percent, not 1 percent. This error was brought up twice in testimony, yet it was not corrected.

What message do these errors send to the “FTA team” that is still in the process of reviewing the rail recovery plan? How many more errors are included in rail’s budgets or financial plans?

Several rail-related measures are included on the agenda for Wednesday’s full Council meeting, including the PIG Report. At least they have an opportunity to correct that one before it gets finalized.

Honolulu Mayor Caldwell’s Letter To The FTA, Feb. 23, 2018:

Editor’s note: Natalie Iwasa is a 2018 candidate for the Honolulu City Council District 4 seat.

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