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Parks Funding Reform

At a glance

  • What: a package of bills to let park revenues and a share of Transient Accommodations Tax (TAT) stay with parks instead of lapsing into the General Fund. Bill 33 (relating to funds) sets up dedicated funds for Parks and Recreation and for botanical gardens and urban forestry. Bills 44 and 49 reallocate existing TAT revenue among the Parks Maintenance and Recreation Services, Botanical Gardens and Urban Forestry, and Honolulu Zoo funds. Bill 32 lets the department adjust certain park fees by administrative rule.
  • Where it stands: Bill 33, CD2 passed third reading September 9, 2026 (9-0). Bill 32, CD2, FD1 passed third reading the same day (8-0, Weyer absent). Bill 44 passed second reading August 12 (8-0); its October 20 Budget Committee item was cancelled. Bill 49 passed first reading July 8 and is not mentioned afterward in the records read.
  • Next: Bill 44 and Bill 49 remain pending; Council oversight of the funds is to be revisited in budget deliberations.

What the department said (August 12, 2026)

  • Thielen, Director of Parks and Recreation, said base funding cannot keep up with maintenance of aging parks and growth areas; the money supplements rather than replaces existing funding.
  • The Central Oʻahu Regional Park and Waipio Soccer Peninsula special funds would become accounts inside the parks maintenance special fund, with portions of TAT revenue.
  • TAT money currently lapses to the General Fund each year, which has cost the department funding when contracts did not finish in time. The department is considering an entry fee for tourists at Hoʻomaluhia Botanical Garden and is setting up a new master contract for building interior work.

Council positions

  • Tupola sponsored the package and said Council oversight stays through line items in the budget and annual reporting. Kiaʻāina supported it and asked the departments to name projects per fund, as with the Climate Resiliency Fund, and to spread TAT-funded projects across Council districts.
  • Nishimoto noted reservations on Bill 44. Waters said he would vote with reservations and asked whether the Council keeps authority to appropriate from the funds, using the Honolulu Zoo Revolving Fund and a proposed panda project as an example; he suggested resolving that in the Budget Committee.
  • Bill 32, FD1 (adopted by a posted amendment, 8-0) removed camping fees from the Director's authority so the Council must approve camping fee changes. Tupola said it gives flexibility on parking fees and possible Hoʻomaluhia fees without a new ordinance each time. Kiaʻāina said Hoʻomaluhia draws about 750,000 visitors.
  • Public: Iwasa opposed Bills 33 and 44; Armstrong supported Bill 32; Billionaire supported the package at first and second reading.

Sources

Log

2026-10-20 - Budget

Bill 44 (2026), the Budget Committee's agenda item 4, was announced cancelled and not considered.

2026-09-09 - Regular Council

Bill 33, CD2 passed third reading 9-0 (Okimoto moved, Nishimoto seconded; public comment from Stephanie Hilton, Hulihee and Nakamura). Bill 32, CD2 was amended to the posted FD1 8-0 and passed third reading 8-0.

2026-08-12 - Regular Council

Bill 44 passed second reading 8-0 (committee report 193(26); Nishimoto aye with reservations) after the department's presentation.

2026-07-08 - Regular Council

Bills 44 and 49 passed first reading 8-0; Kiaʻāina said Bill 44 does not create new funding. Bills 32 (CD1, 7-0) and 33 (CD1, 8-0) passed second reading; Tupola said they let certain fees go into an existing parks maintenance fund and reduce funding lapses.