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Maui County Council Chairman Mike White is right.
In his July 16 "Chair's 3 Minutes" column in The Maui News, White talked about how the state Legislature "must stop playing games and instead make sound and fair decisions" regarding issues that affect counties.
This includes altering the transient accommodations tax so that it can benefit the construction of the rail project on Oahu. White pointed out that the TAT is a tax applied statewide but that the rail project only benefits Oahu.
"Kauai, Maui and Hawaii counties generate 51 percent of TAT revenues ($247 million) while Oahu generates 49 percent ($237 million). Given this split distribution, any increases to the tax for rail should apply only to Oahu. It is unfair to expect Neighbor Islands to subsidize one of the most expensive projects in the state's history," White wrote.
So when it comes to their transportation challenges, Oahu legislators don't have any problem tapping statewide funds. But when it comes to Maui's traffic woes, the state doesn't seem all that interested in helping out.
Recently while Gov. David Ige was visiting Maui, we talked about the traffic situation along Honoapiilani Highway. His comments were that there are "traffic challenges on every island."
In other words, it's not a priority. Because pali traffic is on Maui and the rail project is on Oahu.
I hope the governor and every single state legislator out there reads this next part carefully and remembers it, because it is important that they understand this:
Maui County and the rest of the counties are not colonies of the "State of Honolulu." We are equal partners in this state government and should be treated as such.
We can resolve our concerns by helping each other out, not by abusing our relationship with each other. But that kind of mutual respect is hard to achieve if one side believes you need them more than they need you.
For example, in a recent Maui News interview with the governor he said that "state lawmakers, in general, recognize that state support is needed by smaller communities on the Neighbor Islands 'or else basic infrastructure becomes unaffordable.' "
I respectfully disagree with this type of attitude expressed by the governor and many state legislators. Our counties don't "need" a helping hand or charity from the state, what we "need" is for the state to take care of its responsibilities.
Does one of our schools need upgrading? Do we need more resources to fight invasive species and mosquito borne-illnesses? State leaders need to adopt a new attitude that asks "how" do we get these Neighbor island projects done instead of asking, "Do they really need this?"
Please don't tell Neighbor Island counties how lucky we are to receive state funds to repair a highway or do other work when it is the state's responsibility to begin with.
(We have an excellent state Department of Transportation crew here on Maui. My criticisms and concerns are more about the Oahu-centric thinking and the short-sighted decisions made by their upper management.)
Taking away portions of the TAT to fund Oahu transportation projects while saying Neighbor Island county projects are not a priority is very troubling and frustrating. It is unfortunate that when the counties make noise to get our share back, some state legislator on Oahu usually says, "Why doesn't the county just raise property taxes?"
They know very well why. The TAT comes from tourists; property taxes come from our residents. It's the same reason why the state doesn't raise the general excise tax to solve all of its money problems, because it would be a burden on local businesses, which would pass along the increase to local consumers.
And while certain state senators and representatives have no guilt over asking the county to raise property taxes, they seem to be guilt free when it comes to allowing our lifeguards to take care of state beaches.
County lifeguards had been granted immunity from frivolous lawsuits being filed against them until the state allowed that law to expire last month.
There is no "State of Honolulu," and the sooner Gov. Ige and our Oahu-based legislators realize that the better.
* "Our County," a column from Maui County Mayor Alan Arakawa, discusses county issues and activities of county government. The column usually appears on the first and third Fridays of the month.