2023 Hawaii Revised Statutes › Title 6. County Organization and Administration › 46. General Provisions › 46-16.8 County surcharge on state tax.

§46-16.8 County surcharge on state tax.
[Section repealed December 31, 2030. L Sp 2017, c 1,
§6.]
(a) Each county may establish a surcharge on state tax at the rates enumerated in sections 237-8.6 and 238-2.6. A county electing to establish this surcharge shall do so by ordinance; provided that:
(1) No ordinance shall be adopted until the county has conducted a public hearing on the proposed ordinance;
(2) The ordinance shall be adopted before December 31, 2005; and
(3) No county surcharge on state tax that may be authorized under this subsection shall be levied before January 1, 2007, or after December 31, 2022, unless extended pursuant to subsection (b).
Notice of the public hearing required under paragraph (1) shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation within the county at least twice within a period of thirty days immediately preceding the date of the hearing.
A county electing to exercise the authority granted under this subsection shall notify the director of taxation within ten days after the county has adopted a surcharge on state tax ordinance and, beginning no earlier than January 1, 2007, the director of taxation shall levy, assess, collect, and otherwise administer the county surcharge on state tax.
(b) Each county that has established a surcharge on state tax before July 1, 2015, under authority of subsection (a) may extend the surcharge until December 31, 2030, at the same rates. A county electing to extend this surcharge shall do so by ordinance; provided that:
(1) No ordinance shall be adopted until the county has conducted a public hearing on the proposed ordinance; and
(2) The ordinance shall be adopted before January 1, 2018.
A county electing to exercise the authority granted under this subsection shall notify the director of taxation within ten days after the county has adopted an ordinance extending the surcharge on state tax. The director of taxation shall levy, assess, collect, and otherwise administer the extended surcharge on state tax.
(c) Each county that has not established a surcharge pursuant to subsection (a) on state tax before July 1, 2015, may establish the surcharge at the rates enumerated in sections 237-8.6 and 238-2.6. A county electing to establish this surcharge shall do so by ordinance; provided that:
(1) No ordinance shall be adopted until the county has conducted a public hearing on the proposed ordinance;
(2) The ordinance shall be adopted before December 31, 2023; and
(3) No county surcharge on state tax that may be authorized under this subsection shall be levied before January 1, 2019, or after December 31, 2030.
A county electing to exercise the authority granted under this subsection shall notify the director of taxation within ten days after the county has adopted a surcharge on state tax ordinance. Beginning on January 1, 2019, January 1, 2020, January 1, 2024, or January 1, 2025, as applicable pursuant to sections 237-8.6 and 238-2.6, the director of taxation shall levy, assess, collect, and otherwise administer the county surcharge on state tax.
(d) Each county that has established a surcharge on state tax before March 31, 2019, under subsection (a) or (c) may amend the surcharge ordinance to change the authorized uses of surcharge revenues, pursuant to subsection (g); provided that:
(1) No ordinance shall be amended pursuant to this section until the county has conducted a public hearing on the proposed amendment; and
(2) The ordinance shall be amended before December 31, 2023.
(e) Notice of the public hearing required under subsection (b), (c), or (d), before adoption or amendment of an ordinance establishing or extending the surcharge on state tax shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation within the county at least twice within a period of thirty days immediately preceding the date of the hearing.
(f) Each county with a population greater than five hundred thousand that adopts or extends a county surcharge on state tax ordinance pursuant to subsection (a) or (b) shall use the surcharge revenues received from the State for capital costs of a locally preferred alternative for a mass transit project; provided that revenues derived from the county surcharge on state tax shall not be used:
(1) To build or repair public roads or highways, bicycle paths, or support public transportation systems already in existence before July 12, 2005;
(2) For operating costs or maintenance costs of the mass transit project or any purpose not consistent with this subsection; or
(3) For administrative or operating, marketing, or maintenance costs, including personnel costs, of a rapid transportation authority charged with the responsibility for constructing, operating, or maintaining the mass transit project;
provided further that nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit a county from using county funds that are not derived from a surcharge on state tax for a purpose described in paragraph (2) or (3).
(g) Each county having a population equal to or less than five hundred thousand that adopts a county surcharge on state tax ordinance pursuant to this section shall use the surcharges received from the State for:
(1) Operating or capital costs of public transportation within each county for public transportation systems, including:
(A) Public roadways or highways;
(B) Public buses;
(C) Trains;
(D) Ferries;
(E) Pedestrian paths or sidewalks; or
(F) Bicycle paths;
(2) Expenses in complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 with respect to paragraph (1); and
(3) Housing infrastructure; provided that a county that uses surcharge revenues for housing infrastructure shall not pass on those housing infrastructure costs to the developer of a housing project; provided further that this paragraph shall apply only if a county amended its surcharge ordinance pursuant to subsection (d) or adopts a county surcharge on state tax ordinance after December 31, 2022;
provided that each county having a population equal to or less than five hundred thousand that adopts a county surcharge on state tax ordinance pursuant to this section after December 31, 2022, shall use the surcharge revenues received from the State only for the purposes described in paragraph (3).
(h) As used in this section:
"Capital costs" means nonrecurring costs required to construct a transit facility or system, including debt service, costs of land acquisition and development, acquiring of rights-of-way, planning, design, and construction, and including equipping and furnishing the facility or system. For a county with a population greater than five hundred thousand, capital costs also include non-recurring personal services and other overhead costs that are not intended to continue after completion of construction of the minimum operable segment of the locally preferred alternative for a mass transit project.
"Housing infrastructure" includes pedestrian paths or sidewalks on a county road near or around a public school, and water, drainage, sewer, water reuse, waste disposal, and waste treatment systems that connect to the infrastructure of the county. [L 2005, c 247, § §2, 9; am L 2015, c 240, § §3, 7; am L Sp 2017, c 1, § §2, 7; am L 2018, c 11, §1; am L 2023, c 48, §2]
Revision Note
"July 12, 2005" substituted for "the effective date of this Act".
Cross References
Rapid transportation authority; annual review, see §23-14; certification statement, see §40-81.5.
Attorney General Opinions
Act 247, Session Laws of Hawaii 2005, was not a complete delegation of the State's taxing authority. The legislature retains the power to change, by new legislation, all aspects of the county surcharge, including repealing the county surcharge in its entirety. Att. Gen. Op. 15-1.
Subsections (e) and (f) discussed in determining that the provision requiring ten per cent of the county surcharge be withheld as general fund realizations did not create a conflict within the intent of Act 247, Session Laws of Hawaii 2005. Att. Gen. Op. 15-1.