2020 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 [Section repealed December 31, 2030.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 prior to December 31, 2005; and

(3) No county surcharge on state tax that may be authorized under this subsection shall be levied prior to 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 prior to 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 prior to 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 on state tax prior to 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 prior to March 31, 2019; and

(3) No county surcharge on state tax that may be authorized under this subsection shall be levied prior to 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, or January 1, 2020, 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) Notice of the public hearing required under subsection (b) or (c) before adoption 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.

(e) 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 prior to 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).

(f) Each county with 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 public roadways or highways, public buses, trains, ferries, pedestrian paths or sidewalks, or bicycle paths; and

(2) Expenses in complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 with respect to paragraph (1).

(g) 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. [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]

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.