STAND. COM. REP. 856

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2003

RE: H.B. No. 1554

H.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2003

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Finance, to which was referred H.B. No. 1554 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO COUNTY TAXES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to provide the counties with additional financial flexibility and support by:

(1) Repealing the limitations on the general excise and use tax (GETU) surcharge, including:

(A) The sunset date;

(B) Disposition of GETU surchages collected; and

(C) The requirement that the combined state general excise tax and county GETU surcharge amount to 4.5 percent;

(2) Authorizing each county with a population of 200,000 or more to establish a GETU surcharge of an unspecified percentage; and

(3) Changing the allocation of transient accommodations tax (TAT) revenues to the Tourism Special Fund (TSF) and counties as follows:

(A) 37.6 percent of revenues collected to the TSF;

(B) 41.8 percent of revenues collected to the counties in the following manner:

(i) Kauai County to receive 29.2 percent;

(ii) Hawaii County to receive 33.3 percent;

(iii) Maui County to receive 37.5 percent; and

(iv) City and County of Honolulu to receive none.

The City and County of Honolulu, County of Hawaii, County of Kauai, Hawaii County Council, five members of the County Council of the County of Maui, and one member of the County Council of the County of Kauai supported this bill. The Hawaii Association of REALTORS opposed this bill. The Hawaii Tourism Authority, Department of Taxation, and Tax Foundation of Hawaii offered comments.

Your Committee has amended this bill by:

(1) Removing the changes to the TAT revenue allocation contained in this bill as referred to your Committee;

(2) Establishing the following changes to the TAT revenue allocation if the GETU surcharge is imposed by a county with a population of over 200,000 as provided for in this bill:

(A) 36.6 percent of the revenues collected to the TSF; and

(B) 40.8 percent of the revenues collected to the counties in the following manner:

(i) Kauai County to receive 29.2 percent;

(ii) Hawaii County to receive 33.3 percent;

(iii) Maui County to receive 37.5 percent; and

(iv) City and County of Honolulu to receive none;

and

(3) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for purposes of style and clarity.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Finance that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1554, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1554, H.D. 1.

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

 

____________________________

DWIGHT Y. TAKAMINE, Chair