Hawaii County Council’s committee on governmental operations and external affairs has approved a resolution allowing Mayor Kimo Alameda to join an agreement with the state to implement a new statewide tax on cruise ship fares.

The resolution, which also involves the counties of Kauai, Maui and Honolulu, authorizes the mayor to enter an intergovernmental agreement to carry out Act 96, signed into law by Gov. Josh Green in May.

The law subjects gross rental proceeds from cruise ship fares to the state’s transient accommodations tax.

The tax will be prorated based on the number of days a cruise ship docks at ports across Hawaii during its voyage. Because ships often visit multiple counties — sometimes several ports in a single day — officials developed a method to fairly divide the tax rev

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