The Honolulu City Council is in no rush to take a final vote on extending the 0.5 percent excise tax surcharge that transit officials say is critical for the $6 billion rail project.

Council Chairman Ernie Martin told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser he intends for the Council to take its time with Bill 23, holding public hearings in different Oahu communities so people from around the island can weigh in.

Gov. David Ige signed off on the legislation giving state approval for the extension on July 15, putting the ball in the Council’s court.

“We have the luxury of time,” Martin said, noting that the city has until June 30 to make a decision.

The Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation asked for the extension, citing projected cost overruns.

The surcharge is now scheduled to be collected through 2022. The measure passed by the Legislature, after much contentious debate, means taxpayers would be paying more on their purchases through Dec. 31, 2027 — provided the Council OKs it.

HART Executive Director Dan Grabauskas was in Washington, D.C., on a business trip and unavailable for comment.

But in a letter to Martin and Caldwell last week, HART officials said state law requires the city have funding in place before it can award contracts for the rail project, and the contracts for key portions of the project need to be awarded between now and April.

Among them is the design-build contract for the last four miles of the rail line, the so-called City Center guideway and stations segment, which is expected to be advertised in November and awarded in April. Proposals are expected to come in between $700 million and $825 million, the letter said.

“Because this City Center contract package is for the last major segment of the project, it is the critical path for all testing and start-up,” the letter said. “Commissioning for the entire project is dependent on the successful completion of the City Center segment.”

Martin gave no timeline for a final decision but anticipates public hearings in West Oahu and Windward Oahu, and possibly East Honolulu.

“It’s always been my philosophy to take these more sensitive issues out into the community to encourage testimony,” he said. “I’ll poll the members to see if there’s any interest in their particular districts.”

Martin said that Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell lobbied hard for the extension at the Legislature and was at every hearing at the state Capitol, and “we would expect the mayor to be present at every hearing.”

But Martin said it may actually be a good thing to hold off on awarding some contracts. “The worst time to put out a public works project is when construction is booming, because naturally the bids will come in higher,” he said.

While he said he recognizes that HART officials would likely prefer to see the bill passed quickly, “from a public perspective, is that a reason to expedite this through?” Martin said. “This is the largest public works project in the history of the state of Hawaii.”

Given the large deficit the project is facing relatively early on in construction, “it would be irresponsible for the City Council to expedite this particular matter for the mere convenience for the transit authority.”

The 20-mile rail line will run from near the University of Hawaii-West Oahu campus in East Kapolei to Ala Moana Center. The first phase, from East Kapolei to Aloha Stadium, is slated to open in 2018 with the remaining portion starting a year later.