STAND. COM. REP. NO.  1263

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2009

RE:   S.B. No. 521

      S.D. 2

      H.D. 1

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Fifth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2009

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Water, Land, & Ocean Resources, to which was referred S.B. No. 521, S.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO REAL PROPERTY,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to enable more accurate real property tax assessments by requiring the Registrar of the Bureau of Conveyances (Registrar) to transmit to the Administrator of the Real Property Assessment Division of the City and County of Honolulu (Honolulu Assessment Division), without charge and on a weekly basis, an image and index of all instruments and documents relating to land in all counties that were recorded with the Registrar during the previous week.  This bill also:

     (1)  Requires the Administrator of the Honolulu Assessment Division to provide copies of the images, without charge, to the real property assessment administrators of the other counties; and

     (2)  Allows the Administrator of the Honolulu Assessment Division to impose a charge to provide images or other information to parties other than the counties.

     The Department of Land and Natural Resources opposed this bill.  The Honolulu Assessment Division submitted comments.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  In lieu of the Administrator of the Honolulu Assessment Division, requiring the image and index of documents to be transmitted to the county designated to act as the central clearinghouse in a memorandum of understanding agreed upon by the counties, provided that the central clearinghouse deliver the images and index to the other counties without charge; 

     (2)  Removing the provision allowing the Assistant Registrar to transmit the image and index after the specified deadline for transmittal;

     (3)  Allowing the image and index to be transmitted by the Assistant Registrar electronically;

     (4)  Deleting the provision allowing the Administrator of the Honolulu Assessment Division to impose a charge to provide images or other information to parties other than the counties; and

     (5)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for style, clarity, and consistency.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Water, Land, & Ocean Resources that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 521, S.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 521, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Water, Land, & Ocean Resources,

____________________________

KEN ITO, Chair