State Lawmakers React To Caldwelll’s Request To Extend Rail Tax

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Hawaii lawmakers took turns hammering Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell on Monday over his ask to let a county continue charging a half-percent surcharge on a General Excise Tax to account a city’s rail project.

The 20-mile, 21-station plan is now estimated to come in adult to $910 million over a $5.2 billion budget, spurring a mayor to ask a Legislature to make a surcharge permanent instead of vouchsafing it nightfall as designed in 2022.

“I’m here since we consider it’s a final resort,” Caldwell told a row of House and Senate lawmakers during a three-plus-hour lecture during a Capitol. “I wouldn’t be here otherwise.”

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Article source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/27/caldwell-rail-tax_n_6555866.html?utm_hp_ref=hawaii&ir=Hawaii