Bill Text: HI HB935 | 2013 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Watershed Protection; Invasive Species Control; Conveyance Tax
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-02-14 - Report adopted. referred to the committee(s) on FIN as amended in HD 2 with Representative(s) Cheape, Fukumoto, Hanohano, Johanson, Morikawa, Ward voting aye with reservations; Representative(s) Fale, McDermott voting no (2) and Representative(s) Har, Tokioka excused (2). [HB935 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2013-HB935-Amended.html
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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.B. NO. |
935 |
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TWENTY-SEVENTH LEGISLATURE, 2013 |
H.D. 1 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
RELATING TO THE CONVEYANCE TAX.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. The legislature finds that immediate action is needed to secure Hawaii's water supply. Hotter, drier conditions and damaged watershed forests are escalating the costs of and conflicts over water.
Protecting forest watersheds is a very cost effective and efficient way to absorb rainwater and replenish ground water. Watersheds also reduce impacts from climate change by absorbing greenhouse gases. Additionally, forests ensure sustainability of irreplaceable cultural values and natural resources.
Half of Hawaii's forests have already been lost. Introduced animals, such as feral pigs, sheep, deer, and goats, trample and devour vegetation, leaving bare ground or openings for invasive plants that consume more water and increase runoff. Controlling these and other threats requires a large-scale effort to protect these irreplaceable natural assets.
Governor Neil Abercrombie's "A New Day in Hawaii" plan calls for stewardship of the natural resources that our way of life and economy depend on. Priority actions of the plan include managing invasive species, protecting forests, and restoring capabilities of the department of land and natural resources by finding additional sources of funding. The Abercrombie administration's New Day Status Report also tasks the department of land and natural resources to ensure mauka watersheds are fully functioning so fresh water resources can be utilized and enjoyed by the people of Hawaii in perpetuity. To implement these central goals of the Abercrombie administration, the department of land and natural resources released "The Rain Follows the Forest – A Plan to Protect Hawaii's Source of Water."
"The Rain Follows the Forest – A Plan to Protect Hawaii's Source of Water" identifies priority watersheds and outlines on-the-ground actions and projects required to protect and sustain Hawaii's critical water sources. The forests and their ability to capture water depend on the protection provided by the actions listed in this plan. Currently, only ten per cent (approximately 90,000 acres) of the priority watershed areas are protected. This level of management has taken forty years to achieve. The department of land and natural resources' goal is to double the amount of protected watershed areas in just ten years. This will require approximately $11,000,000 per year, and create over one hundred fifty local jobs.
The legislature also finds that the nexus is clear to use a portion of the conveyance tax for watershed protection. The development, sale, and improvement of real estate in Hawaii puts additional pressure on watersheds, Hawaii's water resources, and watershed recharge areas. Protecting watersheds benefits Hawaii's economy, environment, and quality of life. While watershed protection is one of many authorized beneficiaries of the natural area reserve fund, additional funding is needed to restore Hawaii's watershed health and function and control invasive species. This additional funding will support the goals of the Abercrombie administration and the department of land and natural resources' watershed plan, ensuring that watershed protection funding is commensurate with the magnitude of effort needed to ensure Hawaii's water supply for the future.
The purpose of this Act is to amend the amount of conveyance tax and portions of the tax's revenues directed toward watershed protection and invasive species control.
SECTION 2. Section 247-2, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"§247-2 Basis and rate of tax. The tax imposed by section 247-1 shall be based on the actual and full consideration (whether cash or otherwise, including any promise, act, forbearance, property interest, value, gain, advantage, benefit, or profit), paid or to be paid for all transfers or conveyance of realty or any interest therein, that shall include any liens or encumbrances thereon at the time of sale, lease, sublease, assignment, transfer, or conveyance, and shall be at the following rates:
(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2):
(A) Ten cents per $100 for properties with a value of less than $600,000;
(B) Twenty cents per $100 for properties with a value of at least $600,000, but less than $1,000,000;
(C) Thirty cents per $100 for properties with a value of at least $1,000,000, but less than $2,000,000;
(D) [Fifty]
cents per
$100 for properties with a value of at least $2,000,000, but less than
$4,000,000;
(E) [Seventy
cents]
per $100 for properties with a value of at least $4,000,000, but less than
$6,000,000;
(F) [Ninety
cents]
per $100 for properties with a value of at least $6,000,000, but less than
$10,000,000; and
(G) [One
dollar]
per $100 for properties with a value of $10,000,000 or greater; and
(2) For the sale of a condominium or single family residence for which the purchaser is ineligible for a county homeowner's exemption on property tax:
(A) Fifteen cents per $100 for properties with a value of less than $600,000;
(B) Twenty-five cents per $100 for properties with a value of at least $600,000, but less than $1,000,000;
(C) Forty cents per $100 for properties with a value of at least $1,000,000, but less than $2,000,000;
(D) [Sixty]
cents per
$100 for properties with a value of at least $2,000,000, but less than
$4,000,000;
(E) [Eighty-five]
cents per
$100 for properties with a value of at least $4,000,000, but less than
$6,000,000;
(F) [One
dollar and ten]
cents per $100 for properties with a value of at least $6,000,000, but less
than $10,000,000; and
(G) [One
dollar and twenty-five cents]
per $100 for properties with a value of $10,000,000 or greater,
of such actual and full consideration; provided that in the case of a lease or sublease, this chapter shall apply only to a lease or sublease whose full unexpired term is for a period of five years or more, and in those cases, including (where appropriate) those cases where the lease has been extended or amended, the tax in this chapter shall be based on the cash value of the lease rentals discounted to present day value and capitalized at the rate of six per cent, plus the actual and full consideration paid or to be paid for any and all improvements, if any, that shall include on-site as well as off-site improvements, applicable to the leased premises; and provided further that the tax imposed for each transaction shall be not less than $1."
SECTION 3. Section 247-7, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"§247-7 Disposition of taxes. All taxes collected under this chapter shall be paid into the state treasury to the credit of the general fund of the State, to be used and expended for the purposes for which the general fund was created and exists by law; provided that of the taxes collected each fiscal year:
(1) Ten per cent shall be paid into the land conservation fund established pursuant to section 173A-5;
(2) [Twenty-five
per cent from July 1, 2009, until June 30, 2012, and thirty]
per cent [in each fiscal year thereafter] shall be paid into the rental
housing trust fund established by section 201H-202; and
(3) [Twenty
per cent from July 1, 2009, until June 30, 2012, and twenty-five]
per cent [in each fiscal year thereafter] shall be paid into the natural
area reserve fund established by section 195-9; provided that the funds paid
into the natural area reserve fund shall be annually disbursed by the
department of land and natural resources [in] for the following [priority:]
purposes:
(A) To natural area partnership and forest stewardship programs after joint consultation with the forest stewardship committee and the natural area reserves system commission;
(B) Projects
undertaken in accordance with watershed management plans pursuant to section
171-58 or watershed management plans negotiated with private landowners, and management
of the natural area reserves system pursuant to section 195-3; [and]
(C) The
youth conservation corps established under chapter 193[.];
(D) Projects undertaken in accordance with departmental watershed management plans to protect and restore Hawaii's source of water; and
(E) Projects for invasive species control including those developed under chapter 194."
SECTION 4. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.
SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2013, and shall be repealed on June 30, 2016; provided that sections 247-2 and 247-7, Hawaii Revised Statutes, shall be reenacted in the form in which they read on June 29, 2013.
Report Title:
Watershed Protection; Invasive Species Control; Conveyance Tax
Description:
Amends the conveyance tax on certain real estate transactions and allocates a portion of conveyance tax proceeds to the Natural Area Reserve Fund for watershed protection and invasive species control. Effective July 1, 2013. Repealed June 30, 2016. (HB935 HD1)
The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.
