Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1916-08-15
NO CASH FROM
UTILITIES Until
FEBRUARY next
City Treasury Then Entitled to
Entire Sum Due for T..
f.. Year 1916

That the, city and county is net en-
titled to receive any public utilities
moneys this year but may be paid the
entire amount coming due from the
revenue of such corporations for the
present calendar year, on February /
1917. Is the gist of an opinion rendered
to Charles j. Mccarthy. treasurer ci
the territory, by Acknowledgement l.
NJ Stainback, wherein the city and
county attorneys. department, by W.
II. Garden. second deputy attorney
concufs without any remarks. ..~.~s
Copies of the opinion have been
transmitted by the municipal law de,
partment to Treasurer Conkling and
the supervisors committee on finance
and, public expenditure. = 49,: ...< ID.
Statute Not Retroactive g-....E
Staipback begins by stating that the
act OF Congress providing for the pay.
ment of public utility fees, to- the coun.
ties instead of TO the territories went
into effect June Is, 1916, and that the
statute does not purport to be retro
active, He quotes authority for the
doctrine that zone of the commonest
rules Of statutory construction is that
an act cannot he so construed
ing it retroactive unless the Ian
guage of the act shall render that con-
struction Indispensable"
Referring4t to the language of the act,
where II provides that a public utili-
ties company affected shall within
one month after the expiration OF each
calendar year pay to the treasurer of
the county in which such company OPP
crates such sum of the gross receipts
of such preceding calendar year as its
franchise now requires it to pay, to the
territory OF Hawaii, = the attorney
general says nothing can be due to
the various counties until February !,
1917, without making the act retro
spectiyens Commenting, that the law
was not in effect at the expiration, of
the calendar year 1916, hence that
nothing could then be due the conn
ties, he clinches it with a. Missouri de-
cision that the word shall as used
ina statute ordinarily applies only to
something to take place in the future.
Taking up a Hypothetical theory that
the counties might be entitled only to
a percentage OF the receipts of the va
rious companies after June 16, 1916
that to go beyond this, date would
make the act ret Ject!Fe, Mr. Stain
back says: as.,.s .a.s..355.,... !. II "a. =
Howe yer, Lam of the opinion that
the tax due Ra5rnary /, 1917. is a
franchise tax for the, year 1871, to be
measured bE the amount of business
done during 1915, and therefore there
would be nothing Retrospective in con-
STRUNG the statute so as to permit
the counties to receive the percentage
of the total gross. receipts for the cal
endar year ending December 81, 1916.
Gives Definite Opinion.
Preceding his definite opinion that
the first ypaymentsw be due the coun-
ties under this act February i. 1917,
and II will be percentage of the gross
receipts for the calendar year ending
December 81, 1916 the attorney
general points out what i, he. deems
would have beel a better method of
conveying public utility money to the
counties by the legislature, in the fol-
lowing words: 10
! Il may add that an additional rea-
son. for. this liberal construction is
that the 1915 territorial legislature
passed, eeEtains acts showing that the
legislature desired that the city ard
county of Honolulu should receive, as
soon us congress could be induced to
act, the revenues from public utilities
operating within the city, Why the
legislature did not pass IAN act ,appro-
to the use of the counties the
varicus amounts collected by the ter
ritory from public utilities instead of
the, charter of each utility
and thus requiring, congressional ap-i
prevail, am unable to say. Such an.
act would have been preferable from
every standpoint 1t could have been
made effective Immediately and could
have been repeaicd@ whenever desir-,