Bill Text: HI HB1584 | 2017 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Relating To Important Agricultural Lands.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 14-0)
Status: (Enrolled - Dead) 2017-04-28 - Conference Committee Meeting will reconvene on Friday, 04-28-17 at 5:03PM in Conference Room 224. [HB1584 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2017-HB1584-Amended.html
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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.B. NO. |
1584 |
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TWENTY-NINTH LEGISLATURE, 2017 |
H.D. 2 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
S.D. 1 |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
RELATING TO IMPORTANT AGRICULTURAL LANDS.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. Article XI, section 3 of the Hawaii State Constitution establishes the State's duty to "conserve and protect agricultural lands, promote diversified agriculture, increase agricultural self-sufficiency and assure the availability of agriculturally suitable lands" and provides protections for lands identified as important agricultural lands. In service of this duty, the legislature enacted Act 183, Session Laws of Hawaii 2005, which was codified in part III of chapter 205, Hawaii Revised Statutes.
Act 183 directed each county to work with government and community stakeholders to identify and map potential important agricultural lands within its jurisdiction and make recommendations to the land use commission for the designation of these lands as important agricultural lands. Once designated, agricultural operations on important agricultural lands are eligible for a variety of state and county assistance and incentive programs including grants and other funding assistance, tax incentives, favorable infrastructure and permit requirements, and farm and business education assistance. The legislature finds that, to date, most counties have not completed their identification and mapping duties under Act 183.
The purpose of this Act is to:
(1) Implement Act 183 in accordance with the State's constitutional duty to protect important agricultural lands, by providing a monetary incentive to the counties for the identification and mapping of important agricultural lands; and
(2) Amend the important agricultural land qualified agricultural cost tax credit by:
(A) Extending the credit by ten years to allow landowners and farmers to claim the tax credit in the event that their agricultural lands are identified and designated as important agricultural lands by the land use commission pursuant to this Act; and
(B) Establishing the credit amount for each year after the third year in which the credit is claimed, and limiting the cumulative credit per taxpayer to $1,000,000.
SECTION 2. Section 205-48, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"[[]§205-48[]] Receipt
of maps of eligible important agricultural lands; land use commission.
(a) [The land use commission shall receive the] Each county shall
submit its recommendations and maps developed
pursuant to section 205-47 delineating
those lands eligible to be designated important agricultural lands [no
sooner than the effective date of the legislative enactment of protection and
incentive measures for important agricultural lands and agricultural viability,
as provided in section 9 of Act 183, Session Laws of Hawaii 2005.] to the land use commission by June 30, 2019.
(b) The department of agriculture and the office of planning shall review the county report and recommendations submitted and provide comments to the land use commission within forty-five days of the receipt of the report and maps by the land use commission. The land use commission may also consult with the department of agriculture and the office of planning as needed.
(c) [State] Where a county has submitted
its recommendations and maps developed pursuant to section 205-47, state
agency review shall be based on an evaluation of the degree that the:
(1) County recommendations result in an identified resource base that meets the definition of important agricultural land and the objectives and policies for important agricultural lands in sections 205‑42 and 205‑43; and
(2) County has met the minimum standards and criteria for the identification and mapping process in sections 205‑44 and 205‑47.
(d) If a county fails to submit its recommendations and maps by June 30, 2019, the commission shall use the standards and criteria in section 205-44 to identify and develop maps of important agricultural lands in that county and, after receiving the recommendations of the department of agriculture and the office of planning, proceed to identify and designate important agricultural lands, subject to sections 205-45 and 205-49."
SECTION 3. Section 205-49, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended as follows:
1. By amending subsection (a) to read:
"(a) After receipt of the maps of
eligible important agricultural lands from the counties [and the
recommendations of the department of agriculture and the office of planning,]
or if a county fails to submit its recommendations and maps by June 30,
2019, and the commission has identified and developed maps of important
agricultural lands in that county, the commission shall then proceed to
identify and designate important agricultural lands, subject to section 205-45[.],
after receiving the recommendations of the department of agriculture and the
office of planning. The decision shall consider [the] applicable
county maps of eligible important agricultural lands; declaratory orders issued
by the commission designating important agricultural lands during the three
year period following the enactment of legislation establishing incentives and
protections contemplated under section 205-46, [as provided in section 9 of
Act 183, Session Laws of Hawaii 2005;] landowner position statements and
representations[;], and any other relevant information.
In designating important agricultural lands in
the State, [pursuant to the recommendations of individual counties,] the
commission shall consider the extent to which:
(1) The proposed lands meet the standards and criteria under section 205-44;
(2) The proposed designation is necessary to meet the objectives and policies for important agricultural lands in sections 205-42 and 205-43; and
(3) The commission has designated lands as important agricultural lands, pursuant to section 205-45; provided that if the majority of landowners' landholdings is already designated as important agricultural lands, excluding lands held in the conservation district, pursuant to section 205-45 or any other provision of this part, the commission shall not designate any additional lands of that landowner as important agricultural lands except by a petition pursuant to section 205-45.
Any decision regarding the designation of lands as important agricultural lands and the adoption of maps of those lands pursuant to this section shall be based upon written findings of fact and conclusions of law, presented in at least one public hearing conducted in the county where the land is located in accordance with chapter 91, that the subject lands meet the standards and criteria set forth in section 205-44 and shall be approved by two-thirds of the membership to which the commission is entitled."
2. By amending subsection (d) to read:
"(d) The land use commission may designate lands as important agricultural lands and adopt maps for a designation pursuant to:
(1) A farmer or landowner petition for declaratory ruling under section 205‑45 at any time; or
(2) The county process for identifying and
recommending lands for important agricultural lands under section 205-47 [no
sooner than three years, after the enactment of legislation establishing
incentives and protections contemplated under section 205-46, as provided in
section 9 of Act 183, Session Laws of Hawaii 2005.] or the commission's
process for identifying and mapping important agricultural lands if a county
fails to submit its recommendations and maps by June 30, 2019."
SECTION 4. Section 235-110.93, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended as follows:
1. By amending subsection (a) to read:
"(a) There shall be allowed to each
taxpayer an important agricultural land qualified agricultural cost tax credit
that may be claimed in taxable years beginning after the taxable year during
which the tax credit under section 235-110.46 is repealed, exhausted, or
expired. The credit shall be deductible from the taxpayer's net income tax
liability, if any, imposed by this chapter for the taxable year in which the
credit is properly claimed. The cumulative amount of the tax credit [amount]
for all years claimed shall be $1,000,000 per taxpayer and shall be
determined as follows:
(1) In the first year in which the credit is claimed, the lesser of the following:
(A) Twenty-five per cent of the qualified agricultural costs incurred by the taxpayer after July 1, 2008; or
(B) $625,000;
(2) In the second year in which the credit is claimed, the lesser of the following:
(A) Fifteen per cent of qualified agricultural costs incurred by the taxpayer after July 1, 2008; or
(B) $250,000; and
(3) In the third year in which the credit is claimed, and each year thereafter, the lesser of the following:
(A) Ten per cent of the qualified agricultural costs incurred by the taxpayer after July 1, 2008; or
(B) $125,000.
The taxpayer may incur qualified agricultural costs during a taxable year in anticipation of claiming the credit in future taxable years during which the credit is available. The taxpayer may claim the credit in any taxable year after the taxable year during which the taxpayer incurred the qualified agricultural costs upon which the credit is claimed; provided that, for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017, the taxpayer may only claim the credit in the taxable year in which the taxpayer incurred the qualified agricultural costs. The taxpayer also may claim the credit in consecutive or inconsecutive taxable years until exhausted."
2. By amending subsection (l) to read:
"(l) The department of agriculture shall
cease certifying credits pursuant to this section after the [fourth] fourteenth
taxable year following the taxable year during which the credits are first
claimed; provided that a taxpayer with accumulated, but unclaimed, certified
credits may continue claiming the credits in subsequent taxable years until
exhausted."
SECTION 5. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $ or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2017-2018 and the same sum or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2018-2019 for grants-in-aid to the counties for the identification and mapping of important agricultural lands pursuant to chapter 205, Hawaii Revised Statutes, including for expenses that a county has incurred for the purposes of identifying and mapping important agricultural lands before the effective date of this Act for which the State has not previously reimbursed the county, to be allocated as follows:
(1) $ to the county of Hawaii;
(2) $ to the city and county of Honolulu;
(3) $ to the county of Kauai; and
(4) $ to the county of Maui.
The sums appropriated shall be expended by the department of business, economic development, and tourism and disbursed to each county upon submittal of that county's recommendations and maps of important agricultural lands to the land use commission pursuant to section 205-48(a), Hawaii Revised Statutes, as amended by section 2 of this Act; provided that if any county fails to submit its recommendations and maps to the land use commission by June 30, 2019, the department of business, economic development, and tourism shall disburse that county's allocated funds to the land use commission, which shall expend those funds to identify and develop a map of important agricultural lands in that county pursuant to section 205-48(d), Hawaii Revised Statutes, as established by section 2 of this Act, by June 30, 2021.
SECTION 6. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.
SECTION 7. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2050; provided that the appropriations made in section 5 of this Act shall not lapse at the end of the fiscal biennium for which the appropriations are made; provided further that all moneys from the appropriations unencumbered as of June 30, 2020, shall lapse as of that date.
Report Title:
Important Agricultural Lands; Counties; Land Use Commission; Appropriations; Tax Credit
Description:
Requires the counties to make recommendations for important agricultural lands by 6/30/2019 or forfeit that right to the Land Use Commission. Extends the period to claim important agricultural land qualified agricultural cost tax credits by 10 years and limits cumulative tax credit to $1,000,000 per tax payer. Appropriates unspecified funds for identification and mapping of important agricultural lands. Effective 7/1/50. (SD1)
The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.
