Legislation that could extend the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation’s tax-based funding sources for years to come is being tracked by the rail agency.
That includes extension to Honolulu’s 0.5% surcharge on the state’s 4% general excise tax. For the 2026 fiscal year, the rail agency’s share of GET money make up about 28% of the more than $1.2 billion in expected funding sources to construct the nearly $10 billion Skyline. The city’s current surcharge runs through Dec. 31, 2030.
But since the Legislature’s session began Jan. 15, several transportation financing bills have materialized.
Among them, Senate Bill 220 would authorize a county that has adopted a surcharge to state tax, like Honolulu, to extend the surcharge to Dec. 31, 2056, according to Joey Manahan, HART’s director of government relations and public involvement.
“It also extends the end date of the 1% transient accommodation tax increase to the same date, Dec. 31, 2056,” he told HART’s board of directors, during a meeting Friday. “This requires the state auditor to conduct an audit and annual review of (HART) until Dec. 31, 2056,” though the agency is currently slated to run until the public opening of Skyline’s Kakaako station in 2031.
SB 220 also will “require the comptroller to certify the HART invoices for capital costs until Dec. 31, 2056,” he said.
He noted the Senate bill has been referred to committees for further review. “This is a straightforward extension bill that extends both the GET and the TAT county surcharges for Oahu,” he added.
Similarly, SB 467 would authorize each county that has established a surcharge on state tax before July 1, 2015, to extend the surcharge until Dec. 31, 2045, at the same rates, if the county does so before Jan. 1, 2028, according to Manahan.
“This is part of the Hawaii State Association of Counties’ package, (with) slightly different provisions,” he said.
He noted SB 467 also provides that no county surcharge on state tax authorized for a county that has not established a surcharge on state tax before July 1, 2015, shall be levied before Jan. 1, 2019, or after Dec. 31, 2045.
“And (it) repeals certain conditions on the use of surcharges received from (the) state for counties having a population equal to or less than 500,000 that adopt a county surcharge on state tax,” he said.
“Again, this measure is enabling legislation for all the counties to adopt or extend their surcharges, including Oahu County,” he said. “But it would have to be the county that would have to act on this as opposed to HART, if they wanted the extension, and they would have to do so by ordinance.”
Senate Bill 492, relating to the GET, also has been advanced. “It is a reintroduction of the HSAC package bill on the Senate side,” he added.
House Bill 375 is the “House version” of the HSAC bill introduced by House Speaker Nadine Nakamura, according to Manahan.
The legislative language for HB 375, SB 492 and SB 467 are “identical,” he explained.
Later, HART Board Chair Colleen Hanabusa asked whether any of these bills were scheduled for public hearings.
Manahan replied, “So far, no.”
In November, HART advanced its proposed 2026 operating and capital budgets to Mayor Rick Blangiardi and the City Council for possible review and adoption by June.
For 2026, HART’s total operating budget will rise to $174.7 million — an increase of $36.4 million, or 26.3%, over the rail agency’s current $138.3 million spending plan, budget reports state.
HART’s main funding sources include local taxes and federal funding.
As projected, HART’s federal funding source totals $125 million, or about 10% of the project’s funding budget, compared with nearly $491.3 million, or 40%, derived from local taxes, the agency’s budget reports state.
Rail construction money is largely gleaned from the state’s GET, which is projected to be over $348.58 million in 2025; state TAT, estimated at more than $90 million; as well as Oahu’s TAT at nearly $52.6 million, among other sources, the agency indicates.
A $10 million city subsidy is among other funding sources comprising the remaining amounts, according to HART.
