STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2828

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2237

S.D. 2

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2018

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 2237, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PUBLIC SCHOOLS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to assist the Department of Education in optimizing the use of public school lands.

Specifically, this measure:

(1) Requires the City and County of Honolulu to transfer to the Department of Education the fee simple title of various parcels used by public schools;

(2) Authorizes the Department of Education to acquire, hold, and convey real property for public educational purposes; and

(3) Requires the Department of Education to obtain legislative approval prior to conveying real property.

Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from the Chamber of Commerce Hawaii.

Your Committee finds that the Department of Education seeks to redevelop underutilized school properties. However, the City and County of Honolulu holds the fee simple title of many school properties, thus impeding redevelopment. Your Committee believes that transferring the title of various school properties to the Department of Education will remove a significant barrier to renovating public schools and ultimately improve Hawaii's public educational system.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Deleting the entry for Ewa Elementary School because the Tax Map Key (TMK) number for TMK 1-9-1-17-37 does not appear to exist within the records of the City and County of Honolulu, Department of Budget and Fiscal Services, Real Property Assessment Division (Assessment Division) records;

(2) Noting that only a portion of TMK 1-6-1-1-10, corresponding to Waialua Elementary School, shall be transferred because the Assessment Division records indicate that both the City and County of Honolulu and the State are the fee owners;

(3) Deleting the TMK 1-3-024-004, corresponding to Dole Intermediate School, because the Assessment Division records indicate that the State is the fee owner of that parcel;

(4) Changing the TMK corresponding to Noelani Elementary School in the measure from TMK 2-9-023-023 to TMK 1-2-9-23-29 to reflect the Assessment Division records for the TMK corresponding to the address of Noelani Elementary School;

(5) Making the format of the TMK numbers throughout the measure consistent by adding the county number and removing the leading zeros, where necessary;

(6) Changing the effective date to January 1, 2050, to facilitate further discussion on the measure; and

(7) Making technical nonsubstantive amendments for purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

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. 2237, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2237, S.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Ways and Means,

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DONOVAN M. DELA CRUZ, Chair