Rail in better financial shape

Honolulu rail officials reported a third-quarter turnaround Thursday on how much cash the massive project is collecting. They also offered a rosier forecast for how much its yearlong construction delay will cost.

The elevated rail transit project received $55.3 million in state general excise tax revenue from January to March — about $4.3 million more than the Hono­lulu Authority for Rapid Transportation had anticipated, HART board Finance Chairman Don Hor­ner announced during a joint meeting with the board’s project oversight committee.

GET dollars are projected to cover more than two-thirds of the 20-mile rail line’s $5.26 billion cost. The project is expected to be completed in 2019.

Even with that better-than-expected haul in the third quarter, HART received $33 million less in GET revenue than it had anticipated in the previous six months, so the project is still about $29 million behind on its revenue projections for this fiscal year, which ends June 30.

The discrepancy, state officials say, generally stems from the state Department of Taxation being short-staffed — leading to a delay between what the state reports collecting and the processing of the actual tax returns. HART CEO Dan Grabauskas has said he’s confident the project eventually will get its full GET share, but for planning purposes he needs to know when to expect those funds.

Additionally, HART officials overseeing construction told board members that they estimate the construction delays from last year’s Hawaii Supreme Court ruling likely will cost about $68 million, nearly $16 million less than they previously estimated.

HART had figured the yearlong delay would mean an extra $51.9 million in costs directly related to stopping construction and about $32 million in inflation for future construction costs based on material prices once the work resumes, totaling $84 million.