STAND. COM. REP. NO. 281-04
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2004
RE: H.B. No. 2061
H.D. 1
Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say
Speaker, House of Representatives
Twenty-Second State Legislature
Regular Session of 2004
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committee on Tourism and Culture, to which was referred H.B. No. 2061 entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO TRANSIENT ACCOMMODATIONS TAX,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The purpose of this bill is to:
(1) Repeal the Transient Accommodations Tax (TAT) Trust Fund into which TAT revenues are paid;
(2) Remove the $31,000,000 limit on deposits into the Convention Center Enterprise Special Fund (CCESF);
(3) Restore the percentage of TAT revenues deposited into the Tourism Special Fund (TSF) to 37.9 percent;
(4) Remove the $62,292,000 threshold at which TAT funds are diverted from the TSF into the State Parks Special Fund (SPSF) and the Special Land and Development Fund (SLDF) for the Statewide Trail and Access Program (Program); and
(5) Require $1,000,000 from the TSF to be deposited into the SPSF and the SLDF for the Program.
The Hawaii Tourism Authority, Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii, Waikiki Improvement Association, Hawaii Hotel & Lodging Association, and Hawaii Business Roundtable submitted testimony in support of this measure. The Department of Budget and Finance, Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism, and Department of Taxation opposed this measure. The Tax Foundation of Hawaii offered comments.
Your Committee notes that the percentage amounts in this bill were based on the Council on Revenues (Council) projected TAT revenue amount of $175,000,000, and the Council's updated projection is $183,000,000. Therefore, your Committee respectfully requests your Committee on Finance to review and adjust accordingly the percentage amounts of the revenues collected under this chapter that will be deposited into the TSF and the General Fund.
Your Committee has amended this bill by:
(1) Changing the percentage of TAT revenues deposited into the TSF to 36.7 percent;
(2) Providing that 1.2 percent of TAT revenues be deposited into the General Fund; and
(3) Making technical, substantive amendments for clarity and consistency and to conform to drafting style.
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. 2061, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2061, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Tourism and Culture,
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____________________________ JERRY L. CHANG, Chair |
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