STAND. COM. REP. 197

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2003

RE: H.B. No. 1554

 

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2003

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Tourism and Culture, 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:

(1) Allow each county with a population of 200,000 or more to establish a general excise and use tax (GETU) surcharge of an unspecified percentage;

(2) Repeal the limitations on the GET surcharge, including:

(A) The sunset date;

(B) How the GETU surcharges are to be used by the counties; and

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

and

(3) Revise the allocation of transient accommodations tax 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 Hawaii Tourism Authority supported this bill. The Hawaii

Association of REALTORS opposed this measure. The Department of Taxation and Tax Foundation of Hawaii offered comments.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Tourism and Culture that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1554 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Finance.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Tourism and Culture,

 

____________________________

JERRY L. CHANG, Chair