A City and County of Honolulu committee has given their approval for a bill which will allow the Honolulu Rail Project to have an additional $450 million in of credit available to them in the event that they run out of money. According to the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transporation, the Federal Transit Authority is requiring that the city has these extra funds prior to giving their support for the $5.27 billion project. The entire City Council will still have to give their approval to the bill before it is given to the Mayor for his approval.
Daniel Grabauskas, the Executive Director for the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transporation, reaffirmed that the project is well funded and should proceed to completion under budget. However, the extra $450 million would only be used if something goes wrong. Grabauskas stated, “If at some point there is some dramatic, unexpected, unforseen circumstance, they (Federal Transit Authority) would like to see the City and County of Honolulu has the commitment that they would complete the project, and what we need to demonstrate in this is that we have ready access to some funding to do that.”
Rail opponents argue that it is unclear how the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transporation would repay the $450 million if it spent. They argued that the Hawaii tax payer may simply be left holding the bag with regards to repaying the money.
Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 5-26-2012, www.staradvertiser.com
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