HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	64
TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2015
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

requesting the legislative reference bureau to conduct a study to examine the feasibility of abolishing county SEWER SERVICE fees and instead incorporating those charges into real property assessments that may be deducted from federal income taxes.

 

 

 

     WHEREAS, county sewer service fees are very substantial in Hawaii; and

 

     WHEREAS, sewer fees are especially significant in the City and County of Honolulu, which is required by a federal consent decree to complete wastewater system improvements costing billions of dollars; and

 

     WHEREAS, the City and County of Honolulu has repeatedly raised sewer fees to finance wastewater system improvements required by the consent decree and other projects; and

 

     WHEREAS, the monthly base sewer fee for a single family or duplex dwelling in Honolulu rose in July 2014 from $65.76 to $68.39; and

 

     WHEREAS, the sewer usage charge for a single family or duplex dwelling in Honolulu also rose in July 2014 from $3.93 per 1,000 gallons of water used to $4.08 per 1,000 gallons; and

 

     WHEREAS, residential ratepayers cannot currently deduct sewer fees from their federal income tax liabilities; and

 

     WHEREAS, abolishing county sewer fees and instead incorporating those charges into county real property tax assessments could provide opportunities that do not currently exist for those costs to be eligible for federal income tax deductions; and

 

     WHEREAS, more information is needed to evaluate the feasibility of abolishing county sewer fees to make those expenses deductible from federal income taxes; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-eighth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2015, the Senate concurring, that the Legislative Reference Bureau is requested to conduct a study to examine the feasibility of abolishing county sewer service fees in Hawaii and instead incorporating those charges into real property assessments that may be deducted from federal income taxes; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislative Reference Bureau is requested to submit a report of its findings and recommendations, if any, to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2016; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the mayors of each county and the Director of the Legislative Reference Bureau.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title: 

LRB, Study Feasibility of Abolishing Sewer Service Fees