STAND. COM. REP. NO.  178

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2017

RE:   H.B. No. 830

      H.D. 1

Honorable Joseph M. Souki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2017

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Tourism, to which was referred H.B. No. 830 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO LOCAL GOVERNMENT,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to amend the distribution of revenues collected from the Transient Accommodations Tax (TAT) by deleting the 44.1 percent allocation to the City and County of Honolulu.

The Office of the Mayor of the County of Maui, Office of the Mayor of the County of Hawaii, Office of the Mayor of the County of Kauai, Office of the Mayor of the City and County of Honolulu, and Page Marketing, Inc., opposed this measure.  The Department of Taxation offered comments on this measure.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Reinstating the City and County of Honolulu's TAT allocation;

     (2)  Changing the total amount of TAT revenues that is allocated to the counties for fiscal year 2017-2018 and each fiscal year thereafter from $93,000,000 to an unspecified amount;

     (3)  Changing the percentage of TAT revenues that is allocated to each of the counties as follows:  Kauai County from 14.5 percent to an unspecified percentage, Hawaii County from 18.6 percent to an unspecified percentage, City and County of Honolulu from 44.1 percent to an unspecified percentage, and Maui County from 22.8 percent to an unspecified percentage;

     (4)  Changing its effective date to July 1, 2117, to promote further discussion; and

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

     Your Committee notes that the amendments were made to continue the discussion on how to address the housing and homeless crisis in relationship to the State's partnership with the counties.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Tourism that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 830, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 830, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Transportation.

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

____________________________

RICHARD H.K. ONISHI, Chair