We’ve been following the Green Fee since it passed last year, and hotel guests have been paying it since January (TAT went from 10.25% to 11%). Here’s where things stand.
Round one is funded, with edits. The advisory council recommended 75 projects worth $126.4 million. The Legislature passed about 90 projects worth $129 million, but only about 60% came from the council’s list. Lawmakers cut $7.6 million for community-led stewardship and added $350,000 for an HTA sports and events study. Funny how tourism marketing couldn’t get its own funding bill but found its way into the Green Fee. The council chair later said about half the projects lawmakers added aren’t aligned with the program’s intent. Who could have seen that coming?
The beaches got some love and some cuts. Ala Moana just got $7.4 million for new sand, a project permitted but unfunded since 2021. Statewide beach restoration was cut from $15 million to $8 million, and Kāʻanapali from $4 million to $1 million. That’s a strange place to trim when beaches are so important for visitors and locals alike. As of last week, 62 projects worth about $93.6 million had been approved for release.
Round two is underway. After more than $2 billion in requests last time for roughly $100 million a year, the council says it will favor shovel-ready projects. That happens to be the exact argument senators used to swap out the council’s picks last session.
Back in May, we called the Legislature’s rewrite a sleight of hand and worried the Green Fee could follow the original TAT from dedicated fund to general spending. Round one didn’t prove us wrong. If the council’s list gets rewritten again, “dedicated” starts looking optional. Hotels collect this money every night, so it’s worth watching where it lands.
Want to dive deeper? Aloha State Daily on round two | Star-Advertiser on the round one overhaul | Aloha State Daily on Ala Moana sand
