HART secures more tax revenue for Honolulu transit-rail project

The Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation (HART) will receive more than $63.7 million in general excise and use tax (GET) surcharge revenue this quarter for the city's 20-mile elevated light-rail project, agency officials announced this week.

The amount collected for the project from July through September marks the highest quarterly total received by HART to date, authority officials said in a press release.

"We now have a total of $1.14 billion in surcharge revenue collected for rail," said HART Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director Daniel Grabauskas. "Strong GET surcharge revenue coupled with the $1.55 billion in federal funding that we secured last year is keeping us on the right track to deliver the project on budget."

The half-cent GET surcharge for Oahu, which by law can only be used for Honolulu's rail system, was introduced in January 2007 and is set to expire at 2022's end. The surcharge is estimated to fund nearly 70 percent of the project's total cost, with the remaining balance to be covered by federal funds, HART officials said.