Honolulu residents who buy new fuel-efficient hybrid vehicles would get a one-year "tax holiday" from paying the vehicle weight tax under a proposal by Councilman Charles Djou.

Djou, vice chairman of the City Council's Transportation Committee, introduced a bill this week to offer an incentive for new-car buyers.

"With soaring gas prices, it is now even more important to improve energy efficiency in our community wherever we can," he said.

Budget Committee chairwoman Ann Kobayashi supported the measure. Djou has been critical of the council's doubling of the vehicle weight tax in the past two years. With the average weight of a hybrid passenger vehicle coming in at about 3,000 pounds and the present tax rate of $30 per 1,000 pounds, that puts the average value of the incentive at $90 a vehicle.

Djou said the tax break would cost less than $250,000 a year in lost tax revenue.