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ROH §27-1.5

What kinds of improvements a special district can pay for

Read the official text at honolulu.gov ↗

This section lists the types of projects a special improvement district can finance, like roads, parks, utilities, and public safety buildings. The improvements can be inside or outside the district and must last at least five years. It also explains special rules for utility lines.

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The ordinance, as written (Honolulu County) — Types of special improvements

A copy, taken August 22, 2026. The version published by Honolulu is the one that governs, and it may have changed since. Check it before relying on anything here.

A district may be established to finance the acquisition, planning, design, construction, installation, improvement, or rehabilitation of any real property or structure with a useful life estimated by the council to be five years or longer. Special improvements may be physically located within or outside a district and may benefit land within or outside the district. Special improvements which may be financed by a district include but are not limited to the following: (1) Streets, roads, highways, bikeways, pedestrian malls, sidewalks, or alleyways, including grading, paving, or otherwise improving the foregoing; (2) Public parking facilities; (3) Lighting systems, including traffic signals, for any public right-of-way; (4) Local park, recreation, child care, parkway, and open-space facilities; (5) Libraries, museums, and other cultural facilities; (6) The undergrounding of natural gas pipeline facilities, telephone lines, facilities for the transmission or distribution of electrical energy, cable television lines, and other utility facilities. The city may enter into an agreement with a public utility to use those facilities to provide a particular service and for the conveyance of those facilities to the public utility. If the facilities are conveyed to the public utility, the agreement may provide for a refund by the public utility to the district or improvement area thereof for the cost of the facilities. Any reimbursement made to the district shall be used to reduce the special tax levied within the district or improvement area or construct or acquire additional special improvements within the district or improvement area, as specified in the ordinance of formation. For the purpose of this subdivision only, a cable television company shall be deemed a “public utility”; (7) Water systems; (8) Police, criminal justice (including jails), fire suppression (including fire stations), and paramedic facilities; (9) Wastewater, storm drainage, sewage removal or treatment, solid waste disposal, and recycling or resource recovery systems or facilities; (10) Transit or transportation systems; (11) Telecommunications systems; and (12) Any other facilities which the city is authorized by law to contribute revenue to or construct, own, maintain, or operate.
Read the official text at honolulu.gov ↗as published Jan 1, 2026our copy taken Aug 22, 2026

Published by the City and County of Honolulu through American Legal Publishing.

LawTrove is not legal advice. The summary above is a computer-generated restatement — the authoritative text is the official version linked above.