HILO — Mayor Harry Kim headed to Honolulu Tuesday, ready to meet, greet, request and repeat.
HILO — Mayor Harry Kim headed to Honolulu Tuesday, ready to meet, greet, request and repeat.
Kim isn’t exactly arriving hat in hand, but he does have a few requests for state leaders as they start their legislative session today. Kim’s top priorities include help with invasive species, tackling homelessness and getting a larger county share of the transient accommodations tax.
“These are the things that we really have to address together,” Kim said.
Kim might have to accept two out of three.
While Gov. David Ige is stressing homelessness and invasive species control in his budget, state leaders are again pushing counties to use county sources of revenue instead of seeking a greater share of the transient accommodations tax, also known as the hotel tax. Ige’s budget counts on $278.7 million of the tax for the state in its calculations.
Ige put $3.5 million into the budget to help stop the dreaded rapid ohia death fungus, as part of a $30 million sustainability initiative.
“As we know, this disease threatens the most important watershed trees in our state,” Ige said during his budget presentation last month.
Kim’s Managing Director Wil Okabe said controlling little fire ants and coqui frogs is also important to the Big Island, because of the impact to agricultural exports. And it’s not just the Big Island that’s at risk from these invasives, he said. The critters can hitchhike on plants and produce leaving the island for intrastate and foreign destinations.
“This has a big impact on the economy and the environment,” Okabe said.
Ige also wants an additional $20.9 million for homeless and affordable housing projects. That’s important to the Big Island, which has the highest per capita homeless rate in the state.
The transient accommodations tax is a 9.25 percent tax levied on accommodations of less than 180 days rented to people who have a permanent home elsewhere. The counties each get a share to help pay for the impacts tourists and part-time visitors have on local infrastructure.
As the second-largest revenue source for Hawaii County behind property taxes, TAT currently accounts for $19.2 million annually. Hawaii County estimates it pays more than $31 million annually for visitor impacts.
The Legislature cut the counties’ share of the hotel tax during the lean years, and has yet to return it to its previous level once the economy rebounded. Counties don’t want to raise the tax; they just want a larger share of it.
First on Kim’s agenda was a meeting Tuesday with the Big Island legislative delegation, whose members last week outlined their own session priorities. Then it’s off to meet with state decision-makers and legislative leaders.
After attending opening day ceremonies today, Kim will return to Honolulu Monday to make a presentation, along with the three other county mayors, before the House and Senate money committees.
Unlike his predecessor, Kim — who said he takes the city bus from the airport to the Capitol to save money — said he’s not a big fan of the necessary lobbying trips to Honolulu. But he recognizes their importance.
“It’s always good to get back home,” he said.