It is too easy to dismiss this edition of the Honolulu City Council as just another version of Lewis Carroll’s Mad Hatter’s Tea Party, but Carroll and Alice in Wonderland may be the place to search for guidance on this Council.

After all, it was Carroll who wrote what may be the Council motto: "Sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."

The Council last week appeared ready to top that number as it worked on a bill to extend the rail tax for the over-budget city rail project.

The issue is the growing sentiment on the Council to cap how much extra taxpayer money it gives the rail system — up to an extra $910 million — even though the extra five years of taxes would bring in $1.5 billion or more.

Yes, even though the Legislature gave the Council permission to raise taxes for another five years to pay for rail costs, the Council, led by the chairman and maybe candidate for mayor, Ernie Martin, wants to limit how much goes for rail.

Not cap how much tax money they collect, just how much of that goes for the train.

Don Horner, chairman of the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation board, told the Council during last Wednesday’s Budget Committee meeting, it wouldn’t work.

"We need $1.5 billion; $910 million would not be enough money. Something would have to give," said Horner, who warned that by capping the money, "the bottom line is (that) our budget does not balance."

Honolulu Star-Advertiser City Hall reporter Gordon Pang wrote that Horner’s warning did not stop the committee from capping " the amount that would be available to rail construction at $910 million, although Council members disagree about whether such a restriction is a good idea."

Watching the antics from across Punchbowl Street, Speaker of the House Rep. Joe Souki predicted the Council will eventually give the nod to the the tax surcharge, saying all the rest "is politics."

If the budget-busting cap does remain, however, Souki would not be pleased.

"That cap is a terrible idea. And the money can only be used for rail, the law is clear, so why are they even talking about it?" Souki said in an interview.

Adding to the "impossible things" being tossed around by the Council, is using money gleaned from capping the tax surcharge for a low-income housing fund. But, as Souki noted, that would mean the Council must ask the Legislature to write a new tax surcharge bill.

"If they return to the Legislature to amend the law, I will do everything I can to see that it is not amended," warned Souki. "I want the rail to be completed."

Cars, congestion and more people living on Oahu mean that expecting growth to be limited "is kind of naive," said Souki — although Lewis Carroll put it better by simply saying: "Curiouser and curiouser!"

Richard Borreca writes on politics on Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Reach him at rborreca@staradvertiser.com.