Bill Text: HI SCR125 | 2015 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Honolulu Rail Transit Project; Auditor; Monitor and Report
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-03-23 - Referred to TRA, WAM. [SCR125 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2015-SCR125-Introduced.html
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THE SENATE |
S.C.R. NO. |
125 |
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TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2015 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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SENATE CONCURRENT
RESOLUTION
requesting the auditor to monitor and report on the rail transit project of the city and county of honolulu.
WHEREAS, Act 247, Session Laws of Hawaii 2005, authorized each county to adopt a surcharge on state general excise and use taxes to be effective until December 31, 2022; and
WHEREAS, that Act provided that a county with a population of greater than five hundred thousand that adopts a surcharge must use the surcharge revenue for the operating or capital costs of a locally preferred alternative for a mass transit project; and
WHEREAS, the City and County of Honolulu subsequently adopted an ordinance establishing a surcharge and later created the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation (HART) to construct a rail transit project; and
WHEREAS, HART has begun construction of the project but has not been able to stay within its budget for a variety of reasons; and
WHEREAS, according to the financial plan submitted to the Legislature by HART and the City administration, the project is anticipated to have a funding shortfall of $869 million when the surcharge terminates on December 31, 2022; and
WHEREAS, consequently, to complete the project, the City administration and HART have requested that the Legislature enact legislation that extends the county surcharge authorization or makes it permanent; and
WHEREAS, in addition to seeking more revenue from the surcharge, HART is reengineering the rail design, reducing borrowing costs, and seeking public-private partnerships to control construction costs; and
WHEREAS, the Legislature, however, has serious concerns about the ability of HART and the City administration to keep the project within its budget, given their performance so far; and
WHEREAS, the Legislature therefore finds that it should monitor HART and the rail project more closely; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-eighth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2015, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Auditor is requested to monitor HART Board of Directors' meetings and review the following documents related to the rail transit project:
(1) Management and financial audits of HART and the project;
(2) HART Project Oversight Committee reports and other project management reports;
(3) Project Management Oversight Contractor reports submitted to the Federal Transit Administration; and
(4) Budgets adopted, contracts awarded, and change orders approved by HART for the project or HART operations; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, based on the review, the Auditor is requested to submit a monthly report to the Legislature identifying actual, potential, or reasonably anticipated problems or actions that may increase the cost of the rail transit project, delay the completion of the project, jeopardize the receipt of federal funds authorized for the project, or deviate from testimony or other statements to the Legislature by any HART director, officer, or employee or the Mayor of the City and County of Honolulu; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the HART Board of Directors and Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer are requested to cooperate with the Auditor; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Auditor, the Chairperson of the HART Board of Directors, the Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of HART, and the Mayor of the City and County of Honolulu.
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OFFERED BY: |
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Honolulu Rail Transit Project; Auditor; Monitor and Report
