Over the years, efforts were made to migrate other types of programs, such as environmental and natural resource protection, air quality programs, global warming, clean water and pollution run-off, solid and hazardous waste, drinking water, and underground storage tanks into this fund. All motherhood and apple pie issues. Now comes the rub.

Lawmakers now want to increase the fee from a nickel to 25 cents and are telling themselves that it is a minimal increase, but when one thinks about what that represents in a percentage increase, that's 500%.

How can lawmakers justify such an increase especially when it is imposed at the front end of the transaction chain? And you wonder why your tank of gas costs so much or the electric bill is now out of sight?

As a result, lawmakers are moving their targets away from the suicidal act of raising taxes to imposing and raising fees, and the overall tax burden has gotten heavier and the struggle to survive gets worse.

How much worse? According to the latest data available from the Bureau of the Census, between fiscal year 2004 and 2005 state and local revenues in Hawaii from fees, user charges and interest rose by nearly a half billion dollars.

Most of it was from user fees and charges as interest rates during that period were relatively low. And the share taken by state fees rose in the same period, going from 75.3% to 79.6%. The burden of fees and user charges rose from $1,248 per man, woman and child in Hawaii to $1,623 in the year 2005.

And if they pass any of the fees lawmakers are contemplating this year, it will get even worse. After all, raising fees and user charges is nothing more than another tax increase for taxpayers. Source

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