STAND. COM. REP. NO.  1294-12

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2012

RE:   S.B. No. 2256

      H.D. 1

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Sixth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2012

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Housing, to which was referred S.B. No. 2256 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CONDOMINIUMS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to fairly apportion the cost of utilities in a condominium project by authorizing a project's board of directors to install utility meters to determine utility usage by individual residential and commercial units; provided that the condominium association bears the cost of installing the utility meters.

The Division of Consumer Advocacy of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs and an individual supported this measure.  The State's Public Benefits Fee Administrator and an individual provided comments on this measure.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by deleting its contents and replacing it with the substantially similar provisions of H.B. No. 1746, H.D. 1, which differs from the measure received, by requiring all mixed-use condominium projects, including those constructed before 1978, to have separate utility meters or calculations to determine the utility usage by commercial units.
     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Housing that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2256, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2256, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Consumer Protection & Commerce.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Housing,

____________________________

RIDA T.R. CABANILLA, Chair