April 28, 2026

The Honorable Richard T. Bissen, Jr.
Mayor, County of Maui
200 South High Street
Wailuku, HI 96793

The Honorable Yuki Lei K. Sugimura
Vice-Chair and Budget, Finance, and Economic Development Committee Chair
Maui County Council
200 South High Street
Wailuku, HI 96793

VIA EMAIL AND PUBLIC RELEASE

RE: PUBLIC DEMAND FOR (1) IMMEDIATE COUNTY FUEL TAX HOLIDAY THROUGH DECEMBER 31, 2026; (2) INDEPENDENT FORENSIC AUDIT OF MAUI COUNTY OPERATIONS, CARRYOVER ACCOUNTS, AND SPENDING GROWTH; AND (3) RETURN OF EXCESS REVENUE TO MAUI TAXPAYERS

Dear Mayor Bissen and Vice-Chair Sugimura:

Maui families are in crisis.

Gas at the Kahului pump averaged $5.67 per gallon the week of April 24, 2026, while the U.S. national average sat at $4.03. Pump prices on Molokaʻi have reached as high as $7.09 per gallon. Brent crude has risen approximately 50% since the U.S.-Israel war on Iran began on February 28, 2026, and the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s April 2026 Short-Term Energy Outlook projects no return to pre-conflict price levels through 2026. Meanwhile, the 2024 Aloha United Way ALICE in Hawaiʻi Report finds that 53% of Maui County households fall below the ALICE threshold — the highest share in Hawaii, and the only Hawaii county where that share rose from 2022 to 2024.

The County of Maui has the resources to provide immediate relief. It is choosing not to.

I am writing today to demand three specific actions from your administration and from the Council, and to inform you that this letter is being released publicly to the residents of Maui County simultaneously with its delivery to your offices. The voters of this county deserve to know what their leaders are being asked to do, and how their leaders respond.

I. Immediate County Fuel Tax Holiday Through December 31, 2026

The County of Maui levies the highest county fuel tax in the State of Hawaii at 24 cents per gallon, set at that rate effective July 1, 2020, pursuant to Resolution 20-82. The 0.5% county General Excise Tax surcharge, enacted by Bill 49 (2023) (Ordinance 5551), signed by Mayor Bissen on July 19, 2023, and effective January 1, 2024, adds approximately 2.8 cents per gallon at current prices. Together, Maui drivers pay roughly 27 cents per gallon directly to county government on every fillup — more than residents of any other Hawaii county pay to their local government.

I demand that the Maui County Council enact an immediate county fuel tax holiday — effective at the earliest legally permissible date following the public hearing required under Hawaiʻi Revised Statutes §243-5, with relief continuing through December 31, 2026. This holiday shall suspend collection of the full 24-cent county fuel tax for the duration of the relief period.

THE LEGAL AUTHORITY IS UNAMBIGUOUS. Hawaiʻi Revised Statutes §243-5 provides that the amount of the county fuel tax shall be determined by resolution and may be one or more cents, a fraction of a cent, or zero, after the required public hearing and public notice.

The statute could not be clearer. The county fuel tax rate is set by resolution, not by ordinance. The rate may be zero. The procedural prerequisites are a public hearing and public notice published in the county at least twice within the 30 days preceding the hearing. No mayoral signature is required, because Charter §§4-1 and 4-3 confine mayoral approval to ordinances, not resolutions. Resolution 20-82 — the very resolution that established the current 24-cent rate in 2020 — was itself adopted by Council resolution. The same legislative instrument that created the highest county fuel tax in Hawaii can suspend it.

The Council has the authority to act. The procedural path is straightforward. The only question is the speed with which the public hearing is scheduled and the resolution is adopted.

THE COST. The County of Maui’s FY2026 adopted budget projects $15.5 million in fuel tax revenue. An eight-month suspension represents approximately $10.3 million in foregone fuel tax revenue.

THE FUNDING. The County of Maui currently holds approximately $174 million in carryover savings, discussed in open Budget, Finance and Economic Development Committee deliberations from April 1 through April 22, 2026. The proposed eight-month relief represents 5.9% of those carryover savings — roughly six cents on every dollar the County is sitting on.

The Highway Fund’s other revenue streams — vehicle weight tax, franchise taxes, and public transit fares — combined with available carryover and supplemental funding, can offset the temporary suspension without reducing road maintenance, traffic systems, or Maui Bus operations. Vehicle weight tax revenue alone has expanded substantially since the FY2022 Budget Ordinance raised the passenger weight tax from 1.25 cents per pound to 3.5 cents per pound — nearly tripling the rate. Federal and state infrastructure grants further supplement Highway Fund operations.

The legal authority is established. The funding is available. The need is urgent. The procedural mechanism is set forth in state statute. The only question is whether you will move forward with the public hearing and the resolution promptly, or whether you will delay relief through the worst eight months of the year for Maui families.

II. Independent Forensic Audit of Maui County Operations, Carryover Accounts, and Spending Growth

The Maui County Charter authorizes the Office of the County Auditor to conduct performance or financial audits of the funds, programs, or activities of any agency or function of the county. The Charter’s Declaration of Policy establishes that this office exists to promote economy, efficiency, and improved service in county government.

The public record of the Office of the County Auditor’s published output shows that since 2023 the Office has delivered exactly one substantive operational performance audit. Beyond charter-mandated financial and fiscal impact analyses of charter amendments and a single countywide fraud risk assessment, the Office has not delivered the operational scrutiny its charter mandate requires during the most fiscally consequential period in modern Maui County history.

Between FY2023 and FY2026, the County’s adopted budget grew from approximately $1.07 billion to $1.56 billion — a 46% increase, or roughly $489 million. Carryover savings reached $174 million. Sewer fees rose 9% effective July 1, 2025. Water rates for higher-volume residential users and hotels rose by up to 25% in FY2026. The county vehicle weight tax was nearly tripled in 2021. The county GET surcharge was implemented effective January 1, 2024. And throughout this entire period, the internal Office of the County Auditor has delivered exactly one substantive operational audit.

I therefore demand that the Maui County Council commission an independent forensic audit of Maui County operations, carryover accounts, and spending growth, conducted by a qualified third-party auditing firm with no current or prior contracting relationship with the County of Maui.

The independent audit shall:

1. Examine the buildup of the $174 million in current carryover savings, identifying the specific revenue sources, fee increases, and expenditure decisions that produced this balance;
2. Identify waste, redundancy, unspent appropriations, overestimated revenue collections, and misallocated departmental budgets within the FY2023, FY2024, FY2025, and FY2026 budgets;
3. Evaluate whether the County’s pattern of fee, tax, and rate increases was supported by demonstrated operational need;
4. Recommend operational efficiencies that reduce County spending without reducing personnel compensation, public safety capacity, or essential services;
5. Be completed within 180 days of commissioning;
6. Be filed as a public record with the County Clerk;
7. Be presented to residents in open public hearing within 30 days of completion; and
8. Be funded from existing County carryover savings at an estimated cost not to exceed $750,000.

III. Return of Excess Revenue to Maui Taxpayers

To the extent the independent forensic audit identifies revenue collected in excess of operational need — whether through over-assessment of property taxes, over-collection of fuel and excise taxes, over-budgeting of departmental appropriations, or accumulation of carryover savings beyond prudent fiscal targets — I demand that the Council and Administration implement a resident relief mechanism that returns excess revenue to Maui County taxpayers through legally permissible channels.

Those channels may include:

1. Direct relief credits applied to FY2027 property tax assessments;
2. Suspension or reduction of FY2027 sewer, water, refuse, and registration fee increases;
3. Targeted relief grants to ALICE-threshold households and Lāhainā-displaced residents; and
4. One-time direct refund disbursements to registered Maui County residents, where legally permissible.

The specific mix of relief mechanisms shall be determined in consultation with the County Corporation Counsel to maximize legal viability and minimize administrative burden. The principle, however, is non-negotiable: revenue collected beyond legitimate operational need belongs to the residents who paid it, not to the carryover account of a county government already sitting on $174 million.

Mayor Bissen, Vice-Chair Sugimura — these three demands are not radical. They are not partisan. They are not novel. They reflect three basic principles of municipal governance that Maui County has the resources, the authority, and the obligation to honor:

1. When residents are in crisis, government provides relief;
2. When government grows, the public verifies it is growing for the right reasons; and
3. When government collects more than it needs, it returns the excess.

The voters of Maui County have noticed. They will continue to notice.

I am asking for a written response to all three demands within ten calendar days of the date of this letter — by close of business on Thursday, May 8, 2026. Your response, or your silence, will be made public.

Maui families cannot wait for November. Relief, accountability, and the return of excess revenue must begin now.

Respectfully but firmly,

P. Denise La Costa
Candidate for Mayor of Maui County

cc: Chair Alice L. Lee, Maui County Council; All Members, Maui County Council; Lance T. Taguchi, CPA, County Auditor; Maui News; Maui Now; Maui Alert; Civil Beat; Hawaii News Now; Honolulu Star-Advertiser; KITV; KHON2; KGMB

Paid for by Mayor La Costa 2026 Committee • PO Box 12424, Lahaina HI 96761