STAND. COM. REP. NO. 162

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2005

RE: H.B. No. 1309

H.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2005

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Transportation, to which was referred H.B. No. 1309 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO TAXATION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to alleviate traffic congestion by authorizing the counties to levy a county surcharge on State tax to fund public transit systems.

The Congressional Representative of the First Congressional District, Mayor of the City and County of Honolulu, Chair of the City Council Committee on Planning and Transportation, Councilmember of District VIII of the City and County of Honolulu, Leeward Oahu Transportation Management Association, WESLIN Consulting Services, the Committee for Balanced Transportation, and numerous concerned individuals testified in support of this measure. The Department of Transportation supported the intent of the measure. The Department of Taxation opposed the bill in part. The Hawaii Automobile Dealers Association, Hawaii Association of Realtors, Superstar Hawaii Transit Service, and Life of the Land opposed this bill. The Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii, Mililani/Waipio/Melemanu Neighborhood Board No. 25, and Tax Foundation of Hawaii commented on this measure.

Populations continue to grow statewide, especially on the central plains and the Leeward coast of Oahu. In the past eight years almost 32,000 residential units have been approved for building in the Ewa area with over 32,000 additional units being proposed over the next decade. Central Oahu has experienced an increase of 13,000 new residential units with 11,000 more units being proposed. This increase in housing is expected to add an estimated 138,000 residents to these areas in this decade.

As a result of this growth, a substantial increase in the number of vehicles using our roadways is inevitable. This will result in greater traffic congestion over the next decade. With increased traffic congestion comes an expected increase in lost revenues, lost productivity, and lost time spent with families over what is currently being experienced.

However, traffic congestion is no longer a single county issue and is quickly becoming an issue of statewide concern. Hawaii County, Maui County, and Kauai County are all experiencing traffic congestion, the likes of which have never before been seen on these islands. These counties also need to have the ability to address their traffic needs and concerns.

Your Committee finds that most modern metropolitan areas around the world have a mass transit system to help alleviate traffic congestion and that a mode of convenient and reliable transportation besides the private automobile needs to be offered as an alternative to help resolve traffic problems throughout the state, especially on Oahu.

Your Committee further notes that the issue of mass transit is not new to Hawaii. In 1992, lack of a dedicated source of funding forced Hawaii to return $620 million in federal funds that would have begun the process of establishing a rapid transit system for Oahu.

Federal legislation currently pending in Congress requires expeditious action on this measure. Your Committee understands that federal funding will not become available until such time that passage of a local funding initiative occurs and that without this federal funding, the building of a mass transit system will be impossible. Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by changing the effective date to upon approval.

Further, your Committee is concerned that this measure, as currently written, gives the counties the ability to add a surcharge on state taxes for an unspecified amount of time. Accordingly, your Committee has also amended this measure by inserting a repeal date of June 30, 2015.

Finally, technical, nonsubstantive amendments were made for purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Transportation that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1309, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1309, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.

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

 

____________________________

JOSEPH M. SOUKI, Chair