HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-03-25 Letter to Donovan M. Dela Cruz and Gilbert S.C. Keith-Agaran HB 1394, HD1 Relating to the County Surcharge on State Tax (2)Harry Kim
Mayor
County of Hawaii
Office of the Mayor
Wil Okabe
Managing Director
Barbara J. Kossow
Deputy Managing Director
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March 25, 2019
Senator Donovan M. Dela Cruz, Chair
Senator Gilbert S.C. Keith-Agaran, Vice Chair
Committee on Ways and Means
Dear Chair Dela Cruz, Vice Chair Keith-Agaran, and Committee Members:
RE: HB 1394, HD1 Relating to the County Surcharge on State Tax
Thank you for this opportunity to testify in favor of HB 1394, HD1. 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, HD1 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.
I know that an earlier concern was that the counties were not demonstrating much enthusiasm for a
GET surcharge. I am pleased to be able to report to you that Hawaii County now has completed action to
impose the full ' % GET surcharge that this Legislature had previously authorized.
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, HD1 your favorable vote, with an effective date "upon approval."
Respectfully Submitted,
r-!
Harry Kiril
MAYOR
County of -Hawaii is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer.