The Honolulu City Council rejected Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s request to increase the gas tax by $0.05 a gallon.

Council members Breene Harimoto, Carol Fukunaga and Ron Menor were the only ones to support the bill, which failed to pass first reading by a vote of 6-3.

Caldwell proposed the tax hike to help repair Oahu’s roads, which he considers some of the worst in the country.

The extra nickel would increase the city’s total gas tax from 16.5 cent per gallon to 21.5 cents gallon.

—Nick Grube