STAND. COM. REP. NO.  591

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2009

 

RE:   H.B. No. 269

      H.D. 1

 

 

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Fifth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2009

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred H.B. No. 269 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO REAL PROPERTY,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose of this bill is to enable the counties to promptly track property ownership, encumbrances, restrictions, uses, and sales prices of real property to more accurately determine real property tax assessments.  Specifically, this bill requires the registrar of the Bureau of Conveyances to provide, within ten days after the end of each week and free of charge, the administrator of the Real Property Assessment Division of the City and County of Honolulu an image and index of all instruments and documents that have been recorded in the registrar's office that week relating to land in all the counties.  This bill also requires the real property assessment administrator of the City and County of Honolulu to provide copies of the images, without charge, to the real property assessment administrators of the other counties.

 

     The Real Property Tax Division of the County of Maui, Real Property Tax Division of the County of Hawaii, Department of Finance of the County of Kauai, and Real Property Assessment Division of the City and County of Honolulu testified in support of this bill.  The Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) opposed this measure.

 

     Your Committee notes that the real property assessment offices of each county are currently engaged in discussions with DLNR to resolve issues related to the direct and timely transfer of the information identified in this bill.

 

     Your Committee has amended this bill by:

 

     (1)  Changing its effective date to January 1, 2046, to encourage further discussion; and

 

     (2)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for clarity, consistency, and style.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 269, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 269, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary,

 

 

 

 

____________________________

JON RIKI KARAMATSU, Chair