High time Council answers tough questions on rail tab

It is time to have that talk. No, not that one. It’s time for the City Council to talk to us about the so far unexplained, perhaps unintentional, but still very real and increasing costs of the city’s train.

If before the election the Council cannot demonstrate the ability to control the increasing cost overruns, then voters will certainly question the reason for keeping any incumbents in office.

The proposal today is estimated to cost $5.2 billion. A new report prepared by Porter & Associates for the Federal Transit Administration points out that if the economy or city finances get even slightly twitchy, Hono- lulu will not be able to afford rail unless it cuts its budget, raises taxes or figures out new ways to charge for services or zoning.

And yes, that fellow over there shouting "I told you so" is former governor and current candidate for mayor, Ben Cayetano.

Back in April, Cayetano predicted that the proposed heavy rail system will strain the city’s ability to operate as it does today. It will need to borrow more money, it will need to spend less, and more of its cash will go to paying interest on debts it owes.

"The HART debt load is changing the spending priorities at the city," Cayetano said of the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation, the rail’s overseer.

While Mayor Peter Carlisle disagreed with Cayetano’s arithmetic, now the federal study is pointing to new fears about the cost of rail.

The Porter report says if costs increase or tax collections waver, the only thing the city of Honolulu can do is continue the half of 1 percent excise tax surcharge past its 2022 expiration, or create special tax districts to extract more money.

"It is unclear how much political support exists or would exist to gain the necessary approvals," the report notes for either suggestion.

HART officials took the report to mean the glass was still half full. Don Horner, HART finance committee chairman, said it shows the "financial plan is reasonable when compared to other projects around the U.S."

Not mentioned, however, is the recent news reported by Kevin Dayton in the Ho- nolulu Star-Advertiser. That story said delays are already costing the city at least an extra $114 million. The construction was halted when the city lost a state Supreme Court decision that stopped construction.

Rail critics have said for more than a year that the city was needlessly rushing the rail project, and now the city is paying the price.

This is where you can ask the City Council: "What does ‘go slow, think before you spend taxpayers’ money’ mean to you?"

The city has a $644 million contingency fund to pay for unforeseen extras — but the rail line is not built, the land for the rail is not purchased, the route through downtown is not even settled, but the city has already spent 17 percent of the contingency fund.

As the Porter report notes: "At this time, there is no additional capacity in the project financing plan to fund project cost increases or mitigate other adverse events."

That means the question you want to ask the Council and candidates is, "Will we have a train no matter what it costs?"

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