HCR140

WHEREAS, low density development patterns across the United States consistently cost more in infrastructure maintenance costs and general service expenditures than they provide in tax revenue; and

WHEREAS, this deficit continues to get worse, and new developments continue to be planned without accounting for future maintenance, infrastructure costs, and service costs; and

WHEREAS, the State faces additional pressures of an aging population and shrinking workforce, resulting in an increasing share of the budget going toward employee pension and retiree health care benefits; and

WHEREAS, Hawaii will be heavily impacted by rising sea levels, with the Hawaii Sea Level Rise Vulnerability and Adaptation Report estimating that there will be a 3.2 feet of sea level rise, which will lead to the loss of $19,000,000,000 in land and structures, thirty-eight miles of major road flooded, six thousand five hundred flooded structures, nineteen thousand eight hundred displaced people, and an incalculable cost to fortify, rebuild, or relocate critical infrastructure; and

WHEREAS, the Government Accountability Office forecasts that partially due to an aging population and the need to replace degrading infrastructure, state and local governments will operate negative balances until 2060 without major policy change; and

WHEREAS, between 2012 and 2018, the cost of state government increased forty-one percent, despite the number of employees remaining relatively flat, with similar trends throughout each of the counties; and

WHEREAS, fiscal sustainability is achieved when a city can cover its cost obligations and provide high service quality for its residents without major tax increases or degradation of city facilities over a long-term period; and

WHEREAS, maintaining fiscally sustainable development is possible and keeping developments sustainable will help Hawaii to build infrastructure, invest in vibrant public spaces, and house the State's growing population; and

WHEREAS, to maintain fiscal sustainability, it is critical to evaluate new development proposals not only against adopted development regulations and construction standards but also in relation to the fiscal productivity of the product; and

WHEREAS, fiscal productivity is defined as the amount of private wealth created on any specific land area of the city translating in part to tax revenues to the city; and

WHEREAS, proposed developments should be judged, in part, based on their long-term fiscal cost or benefit to the city; and

WHEREAS, state and county land use planning will be assisted by developing a fiscal analysis methodology to evaluate existing and proposed developments by their expected tax contributions and their ongoing costs for services and infrastructure; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirty-second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2024, the Senate concurring, that the Office of Planning and Sustainable Development is urged to develop a fiscal analysis methodology that compares infrastructure and service costs of a particular development with the financial contributions of that development to determine whether a specific project or particular zoning classification will contribute to the long-term fiscal sustainability of the State and respective county or result in a financial burden on taxpayers; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that when developing the fiscal analysis methodology, the Office of Planning and Sustainable Development is urged to:

(1) Develop a visual mapping analysis of current development patterns showing estimated value per acre to help compare the fiscal productivity of various development patterns throughout Hawaii; and

(2) Consider a methodology that estimates ongoing maintenance costs and the future replacement costs of the infrastructure serving a development and the annual general service, including public safety and general administrative services, costs for the development; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Office of Planning and Sustainable Development is requested to submit a report of its fiscal analysis methodology and visual mapping analysis, including findings, recommendations, and any proposed legislation, to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the Regular Session of 2025; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of the Office of Planning and Sustainable Development, Director of the City and County of Honolulu Department of Planning and Permitting, Planning Director of the County of Hawaii Planning Department, Planning Director of the County of Kauai Planning Department, and Director of the County of Maui Planning Department.

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:

Office of Planning and Sustainable Development; Fiscally Sustainably Development; Fiscal Analysis Methodology

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	140
THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2024
STATE OF HAWAII