HILO — Hawaii County Council members will take to the roads — in a manner of speaking — when the council reallocates $804,512 in lapsed gas tax money that didn’t get spent in the allotted time. ADVERTISING HILO — Hawaii
HILO — Hawaii County Council members will take to the roads — in a manner of speaking — when the council reallocates $804,512 in lapsed gas tax money that didn’t get spent in the allotted time.
That’s significantly less than the $2 million-plus left over the past two years, when permitting delays and contractors pulled off to deal with the Puna lava emergency meant less work was done on the west side of the island, especially.
The reallocation, Bill 261, is one of four bills dealing with road funding when the council meets at the West Hawaii Civic Center at 9 a.m. Wednesday.
Of the 8.5 cents per gallon local fuel tax, 3.8 cents can be used only for engineering, road resurfacing and bridge repairs.
Most of the lapsed road resurfacing projects are in West Hawaii. They are: Alii Drive shoulder improvements, Alii Highway, Kuakini Highway widening (Hualalai to Hawaii Belt Road), Lako Street Extension, Mamalahoa Widening (North Hawaii Community Hospital to Mudlane) and Oneo Lane.
In addition, East Hawaii projects are: Kalanianaole Avenue reconstruction, Komohana Street reconstruction, Waianuenue Avenue improvements and traffic signals at Kawailani/ Pohakulani/Ainaola and Kawailani/Iwalani.
In all, the resurfacing projects account for $526,764 of the lapsed funding.
The remaining $277,748 is for Kaahikini Bridge rehabilitation in Hamakua.
The council will also appropriate $6.8 million in Bill 264 for the 2016-17 fiscal year that started in July. That money includes $2 million for engineering for road projects, $1.4 million for bridge inspection, repair and replacement and $3.4 million for local road improvements.
The county typically collects a little over $6 million annually.
North Kona Councilwoman Karen Eoff, who chairs the council Finance Committee, characterized the bills, including Bill 262 and 263, as “housekeeping measures.”
Still, she said, it’s important that the money be spent in a timely manner.
“We have so many miles of highways, and it’s important we utilize the funds for repair and maintenance to address public safety issues,” Eoff said.
The current district apportionment formula for the Local Road Improvement category of the county fuel tax program distributes funds among the tax map districts according to each district’s percent of miles of local streets. The money must be spent in the assigned district.
The county has spent the past few years trying to keep up with the revenues.
Last year, county crews, equipment and contractors were diverted from other projects to create emergency evacuation routes after the June 27, 2014, lava flow threatened Puna’s few existing ingress and egress routes. That construction money was reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
In addition, about $1.3 million in bridge inspection, repair and replacements funds wasn’t spent because the county was waiting for permits from the state Department of Land and Natural Resources or the Army Corps of Engineers, Public Works Director Warren Lee said earlier this year.
“These permits can take months,” Lee said at the time. “We still plan on using the money.”
