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
Year 1916


| 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
I to Charles ]. Mccarthy, treasurer Of
the territory, by Acknowledgement /.
II. Stai1bGck, wherein the city and
county attorneys department. by w
. T. Garden. second deputy attorney,
. cCncurs without any remarks
Copies Of the opinion have been
transmitted by the municipal law de-
| pertinent to Treasurer ConkIing and
the supervisors committee ON finance
and public expenditure. ~
Statute Not Retroactive. ....
StaiHhack negns by stating that the
act Of Congress, providing for the pay
ment of public utility fees to- the coan-
ties instead of to the territories went
into effect June is. 1916, and that the
statute does not purEort to be retro
active. He quotes authority for the
doctrine that one of the commoneSt
rules of statutory construction is that
an act cannot he so ccnstrued'-mak-.
ing it retr0actiye-"un unless the lam
guage Of the act shall render that con-
struction Indispensable. .."~.:.:
Referring to the language of the act,
where it 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 it's
franchise now requires it to pay tn the
territory OF Hawaii" the attorney
general says nothing can be due to,
the various counties until February 1,
1917, without making the act retro
spectiye." Commenting that the law
was not in effect at the expiration of
the calendar year 1915, hence that
nothing could then be due the coun-
ties, he elinches it with a Missouri de-
cision that the word shall as used
in a 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
percentage OF the receipts of the va
rious companies after June Is, 1916
that to &C beyond this date would
MAKE tac act retrospective, Nj. STAIN
back says: - j.. ...
However, Tam OF the opinion that
the tax due FEBRUARY /, 1911, is
fraHcniSe4tax fe1R the wear ~f91f. to be
measured by 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 Iefinite Opinion. ......:s
Preceding his definite opinion that
the first payment will be due the coun-
ties under this act February l, 1917,
and it viii be percentage of the gross
receipts for the calendar year ending
December 81, 1885, the attorney
general points out what he deems
would have beel a better method OF
conveying public utility money to the
counties by the legislature, in the fol-
lowing words =..., .......~<. ~
Il may add that an additional rea-
son for this liberal construction is
that the 1915 territorial legislature
passed certain 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 an act appro- |
priatins to the use of the counties the
various amounts collected by the ter
ritcry from public utilities instead of
amending the charter of each utility |
and thus requiring congressional APP
proyal, / 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 repealed whenever desir~ |
able ~. -. g.. |