A call went out yesterday for hundreds of volunteers to help put an initiative on the November election ballot that could change the way tax increases are enacted in Honolulu.

"When you look at the list of (tax) increases enacted in the past two years, it is staggering," said Paul Smith, co-chair of Let Honolulu Vote — a grassroots organization made up of citizens concerned with rising taxes and fees.

The group hopes to collect enough signatures for a petition to put their initiative on the general election ballot. Smith said the initiative would put power back in the hands of the voters.

Ron Kubota, a Mililani resident, said he would get involved and possibly collect signatures for the petition.

Kubota said he believes if the ballot initiative passes, it could help with rising property taxes by allowing voters to challenge the increase.

"People would have more say to what is happening," said Ku-bota, 63. "Right now we cannot hold the elected mayor and council members accountable."

In January, Let Honolulu Vote announced it was collecting signatures to repeal the excise tax increase, which was passed to help pay for a mass transit system on O'ahu. But yesterday, organization leaders said they are seeking to petition for a "less complicated" measure that would allow voters to have a say in tax decisions.

The ballot initiative would amend the city charter to allow voters to challenge tax increases. Currently, the city charter does not allow fiscal issues, such as taxes, to come before voters.

"It's totally inconsistent with the founding principles of our country," said Robert Kessler, co-chair of Let Honolulu Vote, about the current charter rules.

The organization is calling for 500 volunteers to help collect 70,000 signatures for their petition.

The grassroots effort comes after several fee increases over the past two years, including motor vehicle registration fees and sewer fees, as well as rising property tax values that have resulted in soaring tax bills.

Bill Brennan, spokesman for Mayor Mufi Hannemann, said the mayor's office is not familiar with the petition. He did say that the mayor and the City Council have approved fee increases, such as the general excise tax surcharge, to help pay for city services.

If the group were to collect enough signatures to put their initiative before the voters, they also would need at least $100,000 to campaign for the initiative to pass, Kessler said.

Kessler said he believes the group can collect enough signatures — 40,000 — by the group's July 15 deadline.

"People are furious," he said.

The group decided to collect 30,000 more signatures than required by the city to assure they have enough in the event of any possible disputes, Kessler said.

Previous attempts by the group to amend the city charter through the Honolulu Charter Commission failed. In January, the commission unanimously rejected a proposal to allow voters to choose to cap assessed property values.

The group's last hope for tax relief may lie in its ability to gather enough volunteers to collect the necessary amount of signatures.

On April 15, the group hopes to start aggressively gathering signatures. They also hope to have collected at least 20,000 signatures by that date. So far, the group has collected a couple of thousand signatures.

Reach Loren Moreno at lmoreno@honoluluadvertiser.com.