Public needs in forefront

The Maui News
Editorial
Monday, January 23, 2006

Gov. Linda Lingle wants the Legislature to approve a tax rebate. With an expected $574 million state budget surplus, Lingle is proposing putting $300 million back into the hands of taxpayers at the expense of state responsibilities.

Dividing $300 million by the number of taxpayers in the islands will produce very little for the individual, most of whom seem willing to forgo the chump change in favor of the state taking care of long-neglected business, including adjusting the deductions allowed when filing a state tax return.

Last week's admittedly unscientific online poll conducted by The Maui News showed 35 percent of the respondents in favor of repairing and expanding school facilities. More than 32 percent of them favored tax breaks, not a rebate.

Sen. J. Kalani English made one of the more vivid comments about the governor's proposed rebate. He represents East Maui, Molokai and Lanai. "It's the poor residents of my district that are saying, 'Give the money back (to schools and infrastructure). . . It's the wealthy resident that are saying, 'We want that hundred dollars.'"

With extra money coming, it would be a good time to attend to the woeful state of the schools, roads and water systems in the state, particularly on the Neighbor Islands. Even if the Legislature sees fit to invest in the well-being of the public by appropriating money for infrastructure, there is still the problem of getting the money spent. The state bureaucracies, notably the Department of Education and the Department of Transportation, are notorious for spending years and large amounts of money doing what should be accomplished in months at a much lower cost. Just why does it require $750,000 to design a high school for Kihei. Doesn't the DOE have plans they have used for, say, King Kekaulike?

South Maui Rep. Chris Halford has a good idea about having each state department audited, although such a study is unlikely to change basic bureaucratic sluggishness.

In addition to looking at schools, roads and water systems, the Legislature might also increase the standard deduction for residents filing state income taxes. The last adjustment was in 1989 and has been called for by the Tax Review Commission for years.

Copyright © 2005 The Maui News.

Original article URL: http://www.mauinews.com/story.aspx?id=16279

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