HONOLULU -- Gov. Linda Lingle still hasn't decided whether counties should be allowed to raise taxes to build transit projects. She has until next month to decide. She told Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann Wednesday that she will need all the time she can get.

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To build a rail-transit system, Honolulu's mayor and City Council are already moving to raise the excise tax from 4 percent to 4.5 percent. However, in a meeting with the mayor Wednesday, Lingle was not willing to say for sure that she'll sign the bill allowing the tax increase.

"The point I made to the mayor, to his direct question, is that I will take the entire time until July 12 to make a final decision," Lingle said.

The governor wants assurance that technical changes in the legislation will be made next year.

Hannemann said he is optimistic that the changes are not a deal breaker.

"I don't think it involves us going back to the drawing board and doing this all over again. No one wants to see that happen," he said.

Many members of the governor's own party want her to block the tax increase. She said that's not a factor in her decision-making.

"I haven't really gotten that much pressure," she said.

New estimates indicate that the state treasury is collecting more taxes than expected. So the governor hinted that she'd like some kind of promise from the Legislature that they'll be willing to cut other taxes next year to make the rail excise tax increase more acceptable.

"And if we're able to get that achieved at the same time this option takes effect, people might take a broader view of it," Lingle said.

The governor is up for re-election next year. Her support for rail and the tax increase could hurt her among Republicans, KITV 4 News reported. It is a rift that a tax decrease could help heal.