Support TAT bill
The state House of Representatives has proposed a bill that will increase funds provided to Hawaii Island from the Transient Accommodations Tax, called the hotel room tax, totaling more than $12 million.
This bill is a win-win for Hawaii Island residents because it will provide much-needed money for tourism-related expenses such as park maintenance, police and fire protection and infrastructure repairs — public services and recreational areas that are used extensively by tourists but also are enjoyed by residents.
The TAT is paid for by hotel guests to the state and allocated to several groups, including the counties, to pay for visitor-released expenses. Remember, these taxes are almost entirely paid for by tourists staying in our hotels. This shifts the cost to visitors with minimal impact on visitor spending.
During the 2017 special legislative session, lawmakers voted to raise the TAT by 1 percent to immediately address the shortfall of Oahu’s rail project. This is just $1 on a $300 room.
County officials and residents testified at the hearing that they desperately needed a larger share of the TAT and were not happy the taxes were being use for rail on Oahu. Representatives from all the neighbor islands then worked together to address this concern while continuing to address many issues that still require attention.
That is why we have amended Senate Bill 648 to increase the amount of the TAT revenue for the neighbor islands, including:
• Increasing Hawaii Island’s TAT revenues from $19.1 million to $31.2 million.
• Increasing Kauai’s TAT revenues from $14.9 million to $24.3 million.
• Increasing Maui’s TAT revenues from $23.4 million to $38.3 million.
The TAT amount for the City and County of Honolulu is unchanged for a total of $45.4 million per year.
I hope you all will agree with me that this is a great opportunity for the neighbor island counties and support our efforts to get this bill passed.
This is a short-term fix as we as a state must closely examine our tax policy to rebalance and refocus the amount of each tax and examine what those taxes are paying for. Only by doing this will we be able to create a more equitable tax policy that addresses the high cost of living in Hawaii.
Rep. Mark M. Nakashima
District 1
LWV and gambling
The League of Women Voters wants to make everyone who resides on Hawaii Island aware of the benefits of open government and transparency.
Why then does this group not want the same voting members of the community to have any say with respect to legal gambling? They think that adults cannot decide for themselves about such gambling.
I thought the league was open to letting the voters decide for themselves, without the “benefit” of undue influence. But perhaps I am wrong. I hear about all the negative aspects of this free and democratic LWV.
Please, let me decide about how to throw my money away, and keep promoting open government. After all, isn’t that your purpose?
Michael L. Last
Na‘alehu
Rep. Nakashima:
Raising the hotel tax increases the prices of the rooms for the visitors.
I’m sure you feel that this is not a problem, since it is applied uniformly.
However, I feel you are missing a big part of the picture. AirBnB’s.
Currently the majority of these AirBnBs are running below the radar. As it stands now, they are hurting the legal hotel industry here in Hawaii.
If you increase the hotel tax, without addressing unregulated tourist housing, you will shut down many legitimate small hotels.
AirBnB’s need to have the same regulations (in all regards) as are placed on small hotels.
The only fair playing field is a level playing field.
Mark also introduced, supports, HB 584– No GET Tax for Pepe’ekeos’ Hu Honua.
Instead the GET Hu Honua WILL NOT be paying is paid by hard working people who
have a hard time in any case.
Who cares about the tax collections. They are already spent.
Tax and spend. Tax and spend.
Sounds a lot like republicans in DC