HB321 SD1

PART I

SECTION 1. Chapter 46, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"§46- County surcharge on transient accommodations tax. (a) Each county may establish a surcharge on transient accommodations tax at the rate enumerated in section 237D- . A county electing to establish a surcharge pursuant to this section shall do so by ordinance; provided that:

(1) No ordinance shall be adopted until the county has conducted a public hearing on the proposed ordinance;

(2) The ordinance shall be adopted prior to July 1, 2022; and

(3) No county surcharge on transient accommodations tax that may be authorized under this subsection shall be levied after December 31, 2026.

Notice of the public hearing required under paragraph (1) shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation within the county at least twice within a period of thirty days immediately preceding the date of the hearing.

(b) A county electing to exercise the authority granted under this section shall notify the director of taxation within ten days after the county has adopted a surcharge on transient accommodations tax ordinance and, beginning no earlier than January 1, 2023, the director of taxation shall levy, assess, collect, and otherwise administer the county surcharge on transient accommodations tax."

SECTION 2. Chapter 237D, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"§237D- County surcharge on transient accommodations tax; administration. (a) The county surcharge on transient accommodations tax, upon the adoption of county ordinances and in accordance with the requirements of section 46- , shall be levied, assessed, and collected as provided in this section on all gross rental, gross rental proceeds, and fair market rental value taxable under this chapter. No county shall set the surcharge on transient accommodations tax at a rate greater than twenty-five per cent of all gross rental, gross rental proceeds, and fair market rental value taxable under this chapter. All provisions of this chapter shall apply to the county surcharge on transient accommodations tax. With respect to the surcharge, the director of taxation shall have all the rights and powers provided under this chapter.

(b) Each county surcharge on transient accommodations tax that may be adopted pursuant to section 46- shall be levied beginning on January 1, 2023; provided that no surcharge on transient accommodations tax may be levied after December 31, 2026.

(c) The county surcharge on transient accommodations tax, if adopted, shall be imposed on the gross rental, gross rental proceeds, and fair market rental value of all written contracts that require the passing on of the taxes imposed under this chapter; provided that if the gross rental, gross rental proceeds, and fair market rental value are received as payments beginning in the taxable year in which the taxes become effective, on contracts entered into before January 1, 2022, and the written contracts do not provide for the passing on of increased rates of taxes, the county surcharge on transient accommodations tax shall not be imposed on the gross rental, gross rental proceeds, and fair market rental value covered under the written contracts. The county surcharge on transient accommodations tax shall be imposed on the gross rental, gross rental proceeds, and fair market rental value from all contracts entered into on or after January 1, 2022, regardless of whether the contract allows for the passing on of any tax or any tax increases.

(d) No county surcharge on transient accommodations tax shall be established on any form of accommodation exempt from the taxes imposed by this chapter pursuant to section 237D-3.

(e) The director of taxation shall revise the transient accommodations tax forms to provide for the clear and separate designation of the imposition and payment of the county surcharge on transient accommodations tax.

(f) The county surcharge on transient accommodations tax shall be assigned to the taxation district in which the transient accommodations or resort time share vacation unit is located. The taxpayer shall file a schedule with the taxpayer's periodic and annual transient accommodations tax returns summarizing the amount of taxes assigned to each taxation district.

(g) The penalties provided by section 231-39 for failure to file a tax return shall be imposed on the amount of surcharge due on the return being filed for the failure to file the schedule required to accompany the return. In addition, there shall be added to the tax an amount equal to ten per cent of the amount of the surcharge and tax due on the return being filed for the failure to file the schedule or the failure to correctly report the assignment of the transient accommodations tax by taxation district on the schedule required under subsection (f)."

SECTION 3. Chapter 248, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"§248- County surcharge on transient accommodations tax; disposition of proceeds. (a) If adopted by county ordinance, all county surcharges on transient accommodations tax collected by the director of taxation shall be paid into the state treasury quarterly, within ten working days after collection, and shall be placed by the director of finance in special accounts. Out of the revenues generated by county surcharges on transient accommodations tax paid into each respective state treasury special account, the director of finance shall deduct one per cent of the gross proceeds of a respective county's surcharge on transient accommodations tax to reimburse the State for the costs of assessment, collection, and disposition of the county surcharge on transient accommodations tax incurred by the State. Amounts retained shall be general fund realizations of the State.

(b) The amounts deducted for costs of assessment, collection, and disposition of county surcharges on transient accommodations tax shall be withheld from payment to the counties by the State out of the county surcharges on transient accommodations tax collected for the current calendar year.

(c) For the purposes of this section, the costs of assessment, collection, and disposition of the county surcharges on transient accommodations tax shall include any and all costs, direct or indirect, that are deemed necessary and proper to effectively administer this section and section 237D- .

(d) After the deduction and withholding of the costs under subsections (a) and (b), the director of finance shall pay the remaining balance on a quarterly basis to the director of finance of each county that has adopted a county surcharge on transient accommodations tax under section 46- . The quarterly payments shall be made after the county surcharges on transient accommodations tax have been paid into the state treasury special accounts or after the disposition of any tax appeal, as the case may be. All county surcharges on transient accommodations tax collected shall be distributed by the director of finance to the county in which the county surcharge on transient accommodations tax is generated and shall be a general fund realization of the county."

PART II

SECTION 4. Section 87A-42, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§87A-42 Other post-employment benefits trust. (a) Notwithstanding sections 87A-31 and 87A-31.5, the board, upon terms and conditions set by the board, shall establish and administer a separate trust fund for the purpose of receiving employer contributions that will prefund other post-employment health and other benefit plan costs for retirees and their beneficiaries. The separate trust fund shall meet the requirements of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board regarding other post-employment benefits trusts. The board shall establish and maintain a separate account for each public employer within the separate trust fund to accept and account for each public employer's contributions. Employer contributions to the separate trust fund shall be irrevocable, all assets of the fund shall be dedicated exclusively to providing health and other benefits to retirees and their beneficiaries, and assets of the fund shall not be subject to appropriation for any other purpose and shall not be subject to claims by creditors of the employers or the board or plan administrator. The board's powers under section 87A-24 shall also apply to the fund established pursuant to this section.

(b) Public employer contributions shall be paid into the fund in each fiscal year, and commencing with the 2018-2019 fiscal year, the amount of the annual public employer contribution shall be equal to the amount of the annual required contribution, as determined by an actuary retained by the board.

(c) In any fiscal year subsequent to the 2017-2018 fiscal year in which the state public employer's contributions into the fund are less than the amount of the annual required contribution, the amount that represents the excess of the annual required contribution over the state public employer's contributions shall be deposited into the appropriate account of the separate trust fund from a portion of all general excise tax revenues collected by the department of taxation under section 237-31.

If any general excise tax revenues are deposited into the separate trust fund in any fiscal year as a result of this subsection, the director of finance shall notify the legislature and governor whether the general fund expenditure ceiling for that fiscal year would have been exceeded if those revenues had been legislatively appropriated instead of deposited without appropriation into the trust fund. The notification shall be submitted within thirty days following the end of the applicable fiscal year.

[(d) In any fiscal year subsequent to the 2017-2018 fiscal year in which a county public employer's contributions into the fund are less than the amount of the annual required contribution, the amount that represents the excess of the annual required contribution over the county public employer's contributions shall be deposited into the fund from a portion of all transient accommodations tax revenues collected by the department of taxation under section 237D-6.5(b)(4). The director of finance shall deduct the amount necessary to meet the county public employer's annual required contribution from the revenues derived under section 237D-6.5(b)(4) and transfer the amount to the board for deposit into the appropriate account of the separate trust fund.

~~(e)~~] (d) In any fiscal year subsequent to fiscal year 2017-2018 in which a public employer's contributions into the fund are less than the amount of the annual required contribution and the public employer is not entitled to transient accommodations tax revenues sufficient to satisfy the total amount of the annual required contribution, the public employer's contributions shall be deposited into the fund from portions of any other revenues collected on behalf of the public employer or held by the State. The director of finance shall deduct the amount necessary to meet the public employer's annual required contribution from any revenues collected on behalf of the public employer held by the State and transfer the amount to the board for deposit into the appropriate account of the separate trust fund.

[~~(f)~~] (e) For the purposes of this section, "annual required contribution" means a public employer's required contribution to the trust fund established in this section that is sufficient to cover:

(1) The normal cost, which is the cost of other post-employment benefits attributable to the current year of service; and

(2) An amortization payment, which is a catch-up payment for past service costs to fund the unfunded actuarial accrued liability over the next thirty years."

SECTION 5. Section 171-19, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:

"(a) There is created in the department a special fund to be designated as the "special land and development fund". Subject to the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act of 1920, as amended, and section 5(f) of the Admission Act of 1959, all proceeds of sale of public lands, including interest on deferred payments; all moneys collected under section 171-58 for mineral and water rights; all rents from leases, licenses, and permits derived from public lands; all moneys collected from lessees of public lands within industrial parks; all fees, fines, and other administrative charges collected under this chapter and chapter 183C; a portion of the highway fuel tax collected under chapter 243; all moneys collected by the department for the commercial use of public trails and trail accesses under the jurisdiction of the department; transient accommodations tax revenues collected pursuant to section [~~237D-6.5(b)(5);~~] 237D-6.5(b); and private contributions for the management, maintenance, and development of trails and accesses shall be set apart in the fund and shall be used only as authorized by the legislature for the following purposes:

(1) To reimburse the general fund of the State for advances made that are required to be reimbursed from the proceeds derived from sales, leases, licenses, or permits of public lands;

(2) For the planning, development, management, operations, or maintenance of all lands and improvements under the control and management of the board pursuant to title 12, including but not limited to permanent or temporary staff positions who may be appointed without regard to chapter 76; provided that transient accommodations tax revenues allocated to the fund shall be expended as provided in section [~~237D‑6.5(b)(5);~~] 237D-6.5(b);

(3) To repurchase any land, including improvements, in the exercise by the board of any right of repurchase specifically reserved in any patent, deed, lease, or other documents or as provided by law;

(4) For the payment of all appraisal fees; provided that all fees reimbursed to the board shall be deposited in the fund;

(5) For the payment of publication notices as required under this chapter; provided that all or a portion of the expenditures may be charged to the purchaser or lessee of public lands or any interest therein under rules adopted by the board;

(6) For the management, maintenance, and development of trails and trail accesses under the jurisdiction of the department;

(7) For the payment to private land developers who have contracted with the board for development of public lands under section 171-60;

(8) For the payment of debt service on revenue bonds issued by the department, and the establishment of debt service and other reserves deemed necessary by the board;

(9) To reimburse the general fund for debt service on general obligation bonds issued to finance departmental projects, where the bonds are designated to be reimbursed from the special land and development fund;

(10) For the protection, planning, management, and regulation of water resources under chapter 174C; and

(11) For other purposes of this chapter."

SECTION 6. Section 237D-6.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§237D-6.5 Remittances[~~; distribution to counties~~]. (a) All remittances of taxes imposed under this chapter shall be made by cash, bank drafts, cashier's check, money order, or certificate of deposit to the office of the taxation district to which the return was transmitted.

(b) Except for the revenues collected pursuant to section 237D-2(e), revenues collected under this chapter shall be distributed in the following priority, with the excess revenues to be deposited into the general fund:

(1) $1,500,000 shall be allocated to the Turtle Bay conservation easement special fund beginning July 1, 2015, for the reimbursement to the state general fund of debt service on reimbursable general obligation bonds, including ongoing expenses related to the issuance of the bonds, the proceeds of which were used to acquire the conservation easement and other real property interests in Turtle Bay, Oahu, for the protection, preservation, and enhancement of natural resources important to the State, until the bonds are fully amortized;

(2) $16,500,000 shall be allocated to the convention center enterprise special fund established under section 201B-8;

(3) $79,000,000 shall be allocated to the tourism special fund established under section 201B-11; provided that:

(A) Beginning on July 1, 2012, and ending on June 30, 2015, $2,000,000 shall be expended from the tourism special fund for development and implementation of initiatives to take advantage of expanded visa programs and increased travel opportunities for international visitors to Hawaii;

(B) Of the $79,000,000 allocated:

(i) $1,000,000 shall be allocated for the operation of a Hawaiian center and the museum of Hawaiian music and dance; and

(ii) 0.5 per cent of the $79,000,000 shall be transferred to a sub-account in the tourism special fund to provide funding for a safety and security budget, in accordance with the Hawaii tourism strategic plan 2005-2015; and

(C) Of the revenues remaining in the tourism special fund after revenues have been deposited as provided in this paragraph and except for any sum authorized by the legislature for expenditure from revenues subject to this paragraph, beginning July 1, 2007, funds shall be deposited into the tourism emergency special fund, established in section 201B-10, in a manner sufficient to maintain a fund balance of $5,000,000 in the tourism emergency special fund;

[~~(4)~~ $103,000,000 shall be allocated as follows: Kauai county shall receive 14.5 per cent, Hawaii county shall receive 18.6 per cent, city and county of Honolulu shall receive 44.1 per cent, and Maui county shall receive 22.8 per cent; provided that commencing with fiscal year 2018-2019, a sum that represents the difference between a county public employer's annual required contribution for the separate trust fund established under section 87A-42 and the amount of the county public employer's contributions into that trust fund shall be retained by the state director of finance and deposited to the credit of the county public employer's annual required contribution into that trust fund in each fiscal year, as provided in section 87A-42, if the respective county fails to remit the total amount of the county's required annual contributions, as required under section 87A-43;] and

[~~(5)~~] (4) $3,000,000 shall be allocated to the special land and development fund established under section 171-19; provided that the allocation shall be expended in accordance with the Hawaii tourism authority strategic plan for:

(A) The protection, preservation, maintenance, and enhancement of natural resources, including beaches, important to the visitor industry;

(B) Planning, construction, and repair of facilities; and

All transient accommodations taxes shall be paid into the state treasury each month within ten days after collection and shall be kept by the state director of finance in special accounts for distribution as provided in this subsection.

As used in this subsection, "fiscal year" means the twelve‑month period beginning on July 1 of a calendar year and ending on June 30 of the following calendar year.

[(c) On or before January or July 1 of each year or after the disposition of any tax appeal with respect to an assessment for periods after June 30, 1990, the state director of finance shall compute and pay the amount due as provided in subsection (b) to the director of finance of each county to become a general realization of the county expendable as such, except as otherwise provided by law.]"

PART III

SECTION 7. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 8. This Act shall take effect upon its approval; provided that:

(1) If none of the counties of the State adopt an ordinance to levy a county surcharge on transient accommodations tax by July 1, 2022, this Act shall be repealed;

(2) If any county does not adopt an ordinance to levy a county surcharge on transient accommodations tax by July 1, 2022, it shall be prohibited from adopting such an ordinance pursuant to this Act, unless otherwise authorized by the legislature through a separate legislative act; and

(3) If an ordinance to levy a county surcharge on transient accommodations tax is adopted by July 1, 2022:

(A) The ordinance shall be repealed on December 31, 2026; and

(B) This Act shall be repealed on December 31, 2026.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	321
THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2021		H.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII		S.D. 1