THE SENATE

S.C.R. NO.

4

TWENTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2006

  

STATE OF HAWAII

  
   

SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

Requesting the legislative reference bureau to study the impact on the state economy caused by the concentration in ownership of commercial and industrial lands.

 

WHEREAS, in certain areas of the State, a small handful of large landowners, in some cases including the State and City and County of Honolulu, control the fee simple ownership of a high percentage of commercial and industrial leasehold properties; and

WHEREAS, this condition has caused a shortage of available commercial and industrial properties, fee simple and leasehold, for wholesale and retail businesses, particularly small businesses and family-owned businesses; and

WHEREAS, this high concentration of ownership has also caused problems in renegotiating lease rents on leasehold properties due to the shortage of comparable fee simple transactions to use to establish fair market values; and

WHEREAS, this problem, particularly for small businesses on leasehold properties, continued for many years and attempts by the Legislature to rectify it have been viewed by the Attorney General as an unconstitutional impairment of existing contracts; and

WHEREAS, it is illegal that other cities and regions in the west coast states of California, Oregon, and Washington may suffer this same problem; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2006, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Legislative Reference Bureau is requested to study the impact on the state economy caused by the concentration in ownership of commercial and industrial lands; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that each of the counties is requested to submit the following information for the respective county to the Legislative Reference Bureau, no later than August 31, 2006:

(1) The total number of acres in the county that is zoned for commercial use and for industrial use;

(2) The total number of acres in the county that is zoned for commercial use or industrial use and that is developed and used for those purposes;

(3) A list, with acreage owned, of the ten largest landowners, including the federal, state, and county governments, of commercial and industrial zoned land, developed and undeveloped, in the county;

(4) The total number of acres of commercial and industrial zoned land that is leased to lessees operating businesses on the zoned land, as opposed to landowners operating businesses on their own land;

(5) The types of businesses being operated on commercial and industrial zoned land that is leased, whether to single user or developed and sublet to multiple sublessees in a commercial shopping center;

(6) The total assessed value of all commercial and industrial zoned land in the county;

(7) The total assessed value of all improvements on the commercial and industrial zoned lands in the county; and

(8) The total assessed value of all commercial and industrial zoned land and improvements in the county that is leased to lessees operating businesses on the leased land; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Taxation is requested to submit the following information to the Legislative Reference Bureau, no later than August 31, 2006:

(1) The total general excise taxes imposed upon and collected from lease rent payments for commercial and industrial zoned land in the State;

(2) The extent to which the taxpayers of general excise taxes imposed and collected on lease rent payments for the commercial and industrial zoned lands are state residents, and the extent to which they are foreign persons, such as multi-state fast food outlets or commercial chain stores;

(3) The percentage of income tax returns filed by commercial and industrial taxpayers that include deductions for lease rent payments and for mortgage payments to financial institutions for improvements made to leasehold properties; and

(4) Whether other states that have similar concentration of land ownership can furnish information or data that is similar to that being requested of the department; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism is requested to submit to the Legislative Reference Bureau, no later than August 31, 2006, information relating to the number of local small businesses, as opposed to foreign large business entities, that have commenced doing business in the State in the last five years; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislative Reference Bureau is requested to seek the assistance of the National Conference of State Legislatures in making a comparative review of various cities and regions in the states of California, Oregon, and Washington to determine the following:

(1) Whether any other cities or regions in California, Oregon, and Washington have similar situations in which a few large landowners control large concentrations of commercial and industrial lands;

(2) Whether, if other cities or regions suffer this same situation, it has resulted in the same types of problems described in this concurrent resolution that businesses face in this State;

(3) Whether there were factors or causes other than the concentration of landownership that may have resulted in the same problems that commercial and industrial businesses face in this State;

(4) What, if any, successful solution, including legislation, has been tried to alleviate or eliminate this problem in those other cities or regions, and its result; and

(5) Whether those same solutions may be applicable in this State; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislative Reference Bureau is requested to submit a report of its findings, conclusions, and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2007; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Taxation, the Director of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism, the Acting Director of the Legislative Reference Bureau, the Executive Director of the National Conference of State Legislatures, and the Mayor and the Chairperson of the Council of each county.

 

 
 

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title:

Commercial and Industrial Lands; Landownership Concentration