HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-02-21 Letter to Sylvia Luke and Ty J.K. Cullen HB 1394 Relating to the County Surcharge on State TaxHarry Kim
Mayor
County of Hawaii
Office of the Mayor
Wil Okabe
Managing Director
Barbara J. Kossow
Deputy Managing Director
25 Aupuni Street, Suite 2603 • Hilo, Hawaii 96720 • (808) 961-8211 • Fax (808) 961-6553
KONA: 74-5044 Ane Keohokalole Hwy., Bldg C • Kailua-Kona, Hawaii 96740
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February 21, 2019
Representative Sylvia Luke, Chair
Committee on Finance
Representative Ty J.K. Cullen, Vice Chair
Committee on Finance
Dear Chair Luke, Vice Chair Cullen, and Committee Members:
RE: HB 1394 Relating to the County Surcharge on State Tax
Thank you for this opportunity to testify in favor of HB 1394. But first, I would like to thank you for your
support for the Hawaii County disaster recovery bills, HB 1180 and SB 1302. You know how important those
bills will be for our entire community, and we are grateful and want to publicly acknowledge all those who
pulled together to get us this far.
With respect to HB 1394, a top priority for me this Session is to get some flexibility in how GET
surcharge funds can be spent. HB 1394 does this in a way that would be straightforward, but without being
open-ended. It would be very important for Hawaii County, but would benefit the other neighbor islands as
well, as reflected by the fact that (I believe) it was introduced by legislators from all three counties that have a
population under the required 500,000.
This Committee was willing to give us flexibility last year, but the language that was used created
concerns. This time around, the authors worked to make sure the language would be acceptable to all parties,
and we believe they have accomplished that.
Please be assured that it is not our intent to downgrade transportation, which is the present beneficiary
of GET funding. Rather, each County has expressed different unmet needs for which a funding source has yet
to be identified; for example, "public safety" for Hawaii County, or "infrastructure" for Kauai. Higher
contributions to ERS and other post -employment benefits have had significant impacts on our ability to fund
operations throughout the county. For Hawaii Island, dealing with multiple natural disasters, the cost of
providing public safety during these events has taken its toll and depleted our funds.
Please give HB 1394 your favorable vote.
Res ectfully Submitted,
• OV -1/-11__ iL"---
Harry Kim
MAYOR
County of Hawai`i is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer.