— ADVERTISEMENT —
Starbulletin.com






State tax, city fee
increases take effect

Homeowners get a 30-day
break on new conveyance tax
rates, raised just last week


Some state taxes and city fees go up starting today.

They include the state conveyance tax, city sewer and sewer hookup fees, and the charge for production companies to film in city parks.

The conveyance tax doubles to 20 cents per $100 for transactions of $600,000 or more and triples to 30 cents for transactions of $1 million or more. The tax remains at the same rate on transactions of less than $600,000.

For sales of condominiums and single-family homes to non-owner occupants, the tax increases to 15 cents, 25 cents and 35 cents per $100, respectively.

However, the state is offering a 30-day grace period in which the old rate can still apply to unrecorded transfers that occurred before today if they are filed by the end of the month. That is because of the short time between Gov. Linda Lingle's approval of the increases last week and today's effective date, and because new tax forms reflecting the change were not available, said Bureau of Conveyances Administrator Carl Watanabe.

The new form became available online at the state Department of Taxation's Web site yesterday afternoon, and the bureau's Web site provides a link to it, Watanabe said.

"It was a mad scramble but we got it together," he said.

Portions of the increase are dedicated to securing preservation land and for state affordable-housing projects.

The city sewer fee goes up 25 percent. For the average single-family home, that means the monthly sewer bill increases to $41.31 from $33.05. The sewer fee will then increase 10 percent annually for the next five years and continue to increase by a lower rate for the next four years.

The fee to hook up to the city's sewer system increases to $4,780 from $4,641 and will continue to increase in the next five years.

The sewer fee increases are earmarked to pay for badly needed repairs to the sewer system.

Companies will have to pay at least double the $10 fee for filming in city parks. Large productions will have to pay 30 times more.

Also taking effect today are a new fee schedule and process for telecommunications companies to lease space on city property for their cellular antennas.

BACK TO TOP
|

Other state laws going
into effect today will:

» Require any person convicted of a felony offense, even if the plea is deferred or they are found not guilty by reason of insanity, to provide DNA samples. Until now, only those convicted of murder or sexual offenses were required to provide DNA samples.

» Allow the Department of Education to set school lunch prices to allow for recovery of half the cost of preparing the lunches. The price would be based on the average cost of preparing the school lunch during the three preceding years. Currently the department can set the prices to recover only one-third of the cost, and the price is now $1.

» Create a temporary task force to develop recommendations for licensing and accreditation of private preschools.

» Require owners of commercial vessels moored in state small-boat harbors to pay a moorage fee based on a percentage of gross revenues derived from use of the vessel.

» Appropriate funds for programs to assist female offenders in transitioning from prison back into the community.

» Appropriate $300,000 to the counties to control or eradicate the coqui frog.

» Appropriate $175,000 to support the state Foundation on Culture and the Arts' grants program.

» Appropriate funds to fix soil problems that are causing graves and headstones to sink at the Hawaii State Veterans Cemetery.

» Establish a commission to recognize and honor the late U.S. Sen. Hiram Fong.

Source: Associated Press

State of Hawaii
www.hawaii.gov
City & County of Honolulu
www.honolulu.gov


| | |
E-mail to City Desk

BACK TO TOP



© Honolulu Star-Bulletin -- https://archives.starbulletin.com

— ADVERTISEMENT —
— ADVERTISEMENTS —

— ADVERTISEMENTS —