Neighbor Island hotel tax mulled for Honolulu rail

HILO — A bill requiring the neighbor islands to help bail out Honolulu’s over-budget rail project is roundly opposed by Hawaii County officials, the chambers of commerce, the hotel industry, many Big Island residents and all four of the island’s state senators.

Yet all but one of the county’s seven members in the state House are likely to vote for the bill, a special session compromise between the House and Senate after negotiations broke down in the tumultuous last days of the regular legislative session that saw the ouster of the House speaker and the appointment of a new Senate Ways and Means Committee chairwoman.

Senate Bill 4 levies a statewide 1 percent increase on the transient accommodations tax dedicated to Honolulu rail while setting the share of the TAT to be divided by the counties at $103 million permanently. It also gives counties the option of raising their general excise tax by one-half percent to be used for roads.

All Big Island House members in the regular session voted for a floor amendment that included the 1 percent TAT hike, according to legislative records.

Read more: http://www.westhawaiitoday.com/news/local-news/neighbor-island-hotel-tax-mulled-honolulu-rail