Ige says he will veto TAT bill

Gov. David Ige will veto a bill that would allow counties to impose their own taxes on hotel rooms.

Ige released his intent to veto list today, including 28 bills of the 268 that passed the Legislature this year.

Included on the list is House Bill 862, a controversial measure that would allow counties to establish their own Transient Accommodations Tax at a rate of up to 3%, while cutting resources and responsibilities from the Hawaii Tourism Authority.

Ige chose to veto the bill in part because the county TAT could have major impacts on the state’s economic recovery, and because it would reduce HTA’s working budget to only 11% of what had been requested in the state budget.

“I am very concerned that the funding and functional changes in this bill will severely damage HTA’s shift to destination management,” Ige said in a statement. “We need to find ways to mitigate the impact of visitors on our islands, and this bill would make it impossible for the HTA to strike a more sustainable balance in our communities.”

Mayor Mitch Roth, who opposed the bill, was pleased by today’s news.

“As we begin to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, we cannot afford to put further strain on our hospitality industry, one of the largest employers in the state, by allowing them to continually foot the bill,” Roth said in a statement. “We need to remember that visitors are not the only ones who use our hotels and facilities, and therefore it would not be only the visitors to suffer from the increased tax. We must do a better job of thinking outside the box to address our many budgetary issues. Otherwise, we will just keep kicking the can down the road.”

See Tuesday’s edition of the Tribune-Herald for more.