— AND CURTAIL USER FEE

Isn't it amazing how bureaucratic inertia can delay endlessly the delivery of a new service, while the mechanism for taking money from consumers operates like clockwork?

The service in question is the enhanced 911 emergency network for wireless phones, a system that would enable emergency response teams to locate cell-phone users. The state has collected more than $12 million in fees over the past two years to finance the network construction, but only Maui County has one in place.

It's a needed service. And while cell-phone customers only pay 66 cents each month into the fund, it's unconscionable that the payout should continue without giving consumers a clear idea of when the service will go live. On O'ahu, officials are only now getting an estimate of how much upgrades will cost.

Based on expenditures and estimates for Maui and the Big Island, however, the $12 million that has piled up suggests that the monthly fee at least should be reduced, if not repealed. The board overseeing the fund should petition the Legislature to do just that in the next lawmaking session.

And next time, the Legislature should demand that the counties have a better idea of the costs and logistics in hand before assessing a tax.