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Home My WebLink About2019-02-22 Letter to Donovan M. Dela Cruz and Gilbert S.C. Keith-Agaran SB 1428 Relating to the County Surcharge on State TaxHarry Kim Mayor County of Hawai`i 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 (808) 323-4444 • Fax (808) 323-4440 February 21, 2019 Senator Donovan M. Dela Cruz, Chair Senator Gilbert S.C. Keith-Agaran, Vice Chair Committee on Ways and Means Dear Chairs, Vice Chairs, and Committee Members: RE: SB 1428 Relating to the County Surcharge on State Tax Thank you for this opportunity to testify in favor of SB 1428. But first, I would like to thank you for your support for the Hawaii County disaster recovery bills, SB 1302 and HB 1180. 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 SB 1428, a top priority for me this Session is to get some flexibility in how GET surcharge funds can be spent. SB 1428 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. 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 SB 1428 your favorable vote. Re pectfully Submitted, lam-= Harry MAYOR County of Hawai`i is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer.