Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2005

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 1745 entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to provide tax relief to the victims of the Manoa flood of 2004.

Your Committee finds that the heavy rain and flood of October 2004 had devastating consequences for residents of Manoa Valley. Approximately one hundred forty homes and several automobiles sustained damage caused by the torrential downpour that overflowed the banks of Manoa Stream. Fortunately, the flooding did not cause any serious injuries or deaths, but the property damage it left in its wake is still being felt by many Manoa families.

This bill provides a modicum of relief to the victims of the Manoa flood in the form of a one-time non-refundable tax credit not to exceed $2,000. The tax credit applies to losses of real or personal property caused by the heavy rain and flood.

Your Committee has amended the bill by specifying that the tax credit applies to chapter 235, Hawaii Revised Statutes, relating to personal income tax, and may be used only for the non-reimbursable expenses incurred by flood victims. Your Committee has also amended the bill by making a technical amendment that has no substantive effect.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1745, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1745, S.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.