Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 23, Number 12, 1 Kekemapa 2006 — Ceded lands inventory should be OHA's top fiscal priority [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Ceded lands inventory should be OHA's top fiscal priority

Editor's note: Outgoing O'ahu Trustee and OHA Asset and Resource Management Committee Chair Dante Carpenter submitted these final thoughts on the agency's ceded-lands revenue stream. In the OHA Board's new term. whieh begins Dec. 6. the O'ahu seat will be oeeupieā by newly elected Trustee Walter Heen. The most important monetary agenda item for OHA to address is the issue of the ceded land inventory. HRS Chapter 10 Section 10-13.5 reads: "Twenty percent of all revenue derived from the puhlie land trust shall be expended by the office for the betterment of the conditions of native Hawaiians." To date, OHA has never received a true account-

ing of the 20 percent factor. The Newlands Joint Resolution signed by President McKinley on July 7, 1898 provided for the annexation of the Republic of Hawai'i to the United States. The representatives of the Republic of Hawai'i who had forced Queen Liliu 'okalani to abdicate her throne ceded approximately 1.8 million acres of crown, government, and public lands to the United States. The Organic Act passed by Congress on Apiil 30, 1900 established the Territory of Hawai'i and gave administrative control over the use of the 1.8 million acres to the territory. The statehood Admission Act passed on Aug. 21, 1959 names the State of Hawai'i as the successor in title to the lands administratively controlled by the Territory of Hawai'i. Section 5(b) transfers title to approximately 1.4 million acres of land from the United States to the State of Hawai'i (200,000 acres is Hawaiian Homes Commission Land, and 400,000

acres was retained by the federal government.) The original Hawai'i State Constitution provided no guidance for the implementation of Section 5(f) of the Admission Act, whieh lists frve purposes for the public trust lands: 1. Support public schools and institutions; 2. Better conditions of Native Hawaiians; 3. Develop farm and home ownership; 4. Make public improvements; 5. Provision of lands for public use. The 1978 amendments to the state constitution provided the following: Section 4, setting aside the 1.2 million acres (less the acreage held by DHHL) as a public trust for Native Hawaiians and the general public; Section 5, establishing OHA; and Section 6, mandating that the OHA Board of Trustees shall administer the "pro rata" share of the proceeds and ineome from the ceded lands for the bet-

terment of native Hawaiians. In 1979, as a state senator, I supported the legislation to establish OHA under Chapter 10 of the Hawai'i Revised Statutes. The following year, the Legislature defrned the revenue due to OHA to be a " pro rata" share of 20 percent of ceded land revenues, per Section 10-13.5. What's so hard about applying a 20 percent factor? Partly because several agencies of the state government are allocated responsibility for ceded lands without uniform accountability. But, more so, THERE HAS NEVER BEEN AN ACCURATE INVENTORY OF CEDED LANDS. Although there is a Tax Map Key system that identifres parcels of property in Hawai'i, it does not differentiate between ceded and non-ceded land. The current methods used for categorizing ceded and non-ceded property may result in the loss of a large portion of revenue due OHA. Therefore, either on its own or in

conjunction with the Department of Land and Natural Resources, the custodian of all state lands, OHA needs to correct this injustice for all Hawaiians. We should receive our proper 20 percent of ceded land revenue from the state government. From its inception, more than one billion dollars in uncollected ceded land revenue is due OHA from the State of Hawai'i due to the inaccuracy of the ceded land allocation accountability in state departments and laek of an accurate inventory. Finally, while an accurate inventory is important to determine the correct amounts of revenue due to OHA, the issue of whether the values and methods of assessment by different state agencies are reasonable, accurate and fair should be investigated as well. As I leave OHA for the third time, I want to extend a sincere mahalo and best wishes to my eolleagues on the Board of Trustees and to the frne staff of the Offrce of Hawaiian Affairs. Q

KŪKĀKŪKĀ • DISCUSSIDN FDRUM

By Dante Carpenter