STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3335

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 2611

H.D. 2

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2024

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Water and Land, to which was referred H.B. No. 2611, H.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ADMINISTRATIVE FEES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to support efficient, equitable, and reliable services for conveyance transactions and records in the State by:

(1) Statutorily establishing a transaction fee for each recording in the Bureau of Conveyances and Land Court for certain services rendered by the Bureau of Conveyances;

(2) Authorizing the Board of Land and Natural Resources to adopt, amend, or repeal administrative fees under chapters 501 and 502, Hawaii Revised Statutes, separate from the administrative rulemaking process;

(3) Amending the authorized use of moneys in the Bureau of Conveyance Special Fund; and

(4) Repealing language that required fees for the use of microfilms of documents recorded in the Bureau of Conveyances to be established by the Department of Land and Natural Resources by rules.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Land and Natural Resources.

Your Committee received comments on this measure from NAIOP Hawaii.

Your Committee finds that Act 120, Session Laws of Hawaii 2009, created a $5 transaction fee that was applied to all regular system recordings, allowing the Bureau of Conveyances to improve the automation and integrity of its recording process. Your Committee further finds that there is a fee discrepancy between the regular system and Land Court system, although the Office of the Assistant Registrar of the Land Court provides similar recordation services to the Bureau of Conveyances. This measure statutorily establishes equitable fee assessments in both recording systems to fund further improvements to the efficiency, reliability, and automation of these systems.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Deleting language that would have authorized the Board of Land and Natural Resources to adopt, amend, or repeal administrative fees pursuant to chapters 501 and 502, Hawaii Revised Statutes, and established requirements for such;

(2) Making conforming amendments;

(3) Amending section 1 to reflect its amended purpose; and

(4) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Water and Land that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2611, H.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2611, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Water and Land,

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LORRAINE R. INOUYE, Chair