STAND. COM. REP. NO.  519

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2011

RE:   H.B. No. 915

      H.D. 1

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Sixth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2011

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Water, Land, & Ocean Resources, to which was referred H.B. No. 915 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CONVEYANCE TAX,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to enable the counties to promptly track ownership, encumbrances, restrictions, uses, and sales prices of real property for the purpose of determining real property tax assessments by requiring the Director of Taxation to provide the administrator of each county's real property assessment division with an image of all certificates of conveyances filed with the Bureau of Conveyances.

     The Department of Budget and Fiscal Services of the City and County of Honolulu, the Kauai County Department of Finance, and the Maui County Department of Finance testified in support of this measure.  The Department of Taxation supported the intent of this bill.

     Your Committee has amended this bill by changing its effective date to July 1, 2011.

     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 H.B. No. 915, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 915, 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,

____________________________

JERRY L. CHANG, Chair