HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.C.R. NO.

140

THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2024

H.D. 1

STATE OF HAWAII

S.D. 1

 

 

 

 

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

URGING THE OFFICE OF PLANNING AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT TO DEVELOP A SCOPE OF WORK OR REQUESTS FOR PROPOSALS FOR BIDDERS TO PERFORM THEIR OWN ANALYSIS AND METHODOLOGY THAT DETERMINES WHETHER A DEVELOPMENT WILL CONTRIBUTE TO THE LONG-TERM FISCAL SUSTAINABILITY OF THE STATE AND RESPECTIVE COUNTY.

 

 

 


     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 scope of work or requests for proposals for bidders to perform their own analysis and methodology that determines whether a development will contribute to the long-term fiscal sustainability of the State and respective county; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that bidders are 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, and costs for the development; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Office of Planning and Sustainable Development is requested to submit a report on the development of the scope of work or requests for proposals, 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 a certified copy of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of the Office of Planning and Sustainable Development.

Report Title: 

Office of Planning and Sustainable Development; Fiscally Sustainably Development