County of Kaua'i Department of Finance

What this agency issues

Permits required, with issuing agency, fee, renewal term and the date each record was last verified against its source
Permit	Issuing agency	Fee	Renews	Last checked
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Feeonly if it applies to you	County of Kaua'i Department of Finance	Under Kaua'i County Code §11A-2.2: each new commercial development, $100.00 per parking stall in the minimum number the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance requires to serve it; each new industrial building, $0.25 per square foot of gross building area; each new hotel, motel, multi-family time share unit and multi-family transient vacation rental unit, $1,000.00 per unit.	one-time, per development	2026-09-19
General Business License — Kaua'i County Code Position (Kauai County)only if it applies to you	County of Kaua'i Department of Finance	No fee	not applicable — under Kaua'i County Code §23-4.1 the County's licenses are only those Hawaii Revised Statutes Chapter 445 requires	2026-09-19
Auto Repair Licensing — State License Applies (Kauai County)only if it applies to you	County of Kaua'i Department of Finance	No fee	not applicable	2026-09-19
Veterinary Facility Licensing — State License Applies (Kauai County)only if it applies to you	County of Kaua'i Department of Finance	No fee	not applicable	2026-09-19
Fitness Studio Licensing — Kaua'i County Code Position (Kauai County)only if it applies to you	County of Kaua'i Department of Finance	No fee	not applicable	2026-09-19
Salon, Barber and Cosmetology Licensing — State License Applies (Kauai County)only if it applies to you	County of Kaua'i Department of Finance	No fee	not applicable	2026-09-19

Fees shown as a range or formula are set that way by the issuing agency — we do not average them into a single number.

About each permit

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Fee

A development fee under Kaua'i County Code Chapter 11A. For a commercial development — the category a restaurant, store, salon, gym, clinic or repair shop falls into — §11A-2.2(f) assesses 'one hundred dollars ($100.00) per the minimum number of parking stalls serving that development as required by the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance,' so the amount scales with the parking the use must provide. A new industrial building pays $0.25 per square foot of gross building area, and each new hotel, motel, multi-family time share unit and multi-family transient vacation rental unit pays $1,000. The fee also reaches an existing building enlarged to add gross building area, or demolished and replaced, for the added area only. Under §11A-1.4 the amount 'shall be determined at the time of the issuance of the building permit,' and the assessments 'shall be collected by the Director of Finance.' This is separate from the zoning and building permit fees recorded separately for Kaua'i County. Confirm the required stall count with the Planning Department at (808) 241-4050.

General Business License — Kaua'i County Code Position (Kauai County)

Kaua'i County Code §23-4.1 limits the County's business licensing to what Chapter 445 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes requires: 'The Director of Finance shall issue County licenses to businesses as required by Chapter 445, Hawai'i Revised Statutes, except as otherwise provided' by the Code. §23-4.2, 'Elimination of Business Licenses,' then lists businesses that 'are not required to obtain an annual County license or to pay an annual County license fee' — among them 'the manufacture of food products' and 'the keeping of a lodging or tenement house, hotel, boarding house or restaurant.' Under those two sections the County charges no fee for a general license to trade: the business-license list in the County's fiscal year 2024-25 Revenues — Fees, Rates, Assessments and Taxes schedule (Appendix A) — peddling merchandise, secondhand dealers, firearm sales, wrecking salvage, used-parts sales, scrap dealers, pepper spray and pawnbrokers — is made up of trade-specific licenses. A Kaua'i business's universal registration is the state General Excise Tax license, recorded at the state layer, and the County's own Guide to Starting a Business routes other licensing to State of Hawaii agencies. One County license does reach the industries covered here: a restaurant, coffee shop or retail store that sells alcohol needs a license from the County's Liquor Control Commission, recorded separately for Kaua'i County. A business's other county obligations are the zoning, building and fire products recorded separately for Kaua'i County. For a specific trade, ask the Department of Finance at (808) 241-4200.

Auto Repair Licensing — State License Applies (Kauai County)

Kaua'i County Code §23-4.1 limits the County's business licenses to those Chapter 445 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes requires, and the business-license list in the County's fiscal year 2024-25 Revenues — Fees, Rates, Assessments and Taxes schedule (Appendix A) names no auto repair license, so the County charges no fee for general auto repair. Three County licenses on that list do touch vehicles, and a shop should check whether it falls into one: Wrecking Salvage ($10 a year), Purchase/Sell Used Parts ($10 a year) and Scrap Dealer ($10 a year, Kaua'i County Code Chapter 23, Article 2). Those cover vehicle wrecking, used-parts dealing and scrap metal, not repair work, and the Department of Finance's Rule 5 on the same subject is captioned 'Pertaining to Used Motor Vehicle Parts and Accessories.' A shop that wants to perform Hawaii's motor-vehicle safety inspections works under a separate official inspection station permit, whose suspension and revocation the Department of Finance's Rule 9 governs; confirm the current issuing office and requirements with the Department of Finance at (808) 241-4200. Hawaii's state Motor Vehicle Repair Dealer license, recorded at the state layer, is the trade credential. A shop's Kaua'i County obligations are the Zoning Permit, Commercial Building Permit, Electrical Permit, Certificate of Occupancy and, if it runs a paint booth, the $50-a-year Fire Permit for Application of Flammable Finishes, all recorded separately for Kaua'i County.

Veterinary Facility Licensing — State License Applies (Kauai County)

Kaua'i County Code §23-4.1 limits the County's business licenses to those Chapter 445 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes requires, and the business-license list in the County's fiscal year 2024-25 Revenues — Fees, Rates, Assessments and Taxes schedule (Appendix A) — peddling merchandise, secondhand dealers, firearm sales, wrecking salvage, used-parts sales, scrap dealers, pepper spray and pawnbrokers — names no veterinary or animal hospital license, so the County charges no fee for one. The Code's zoning chapter treats an animal hospital as a land use, 'an establishment for the care and treatment of small animals, including household pets.' The Department of Finance's Index of Rules and Regulations lists one animal rule, Rule 14, 'Licensing of Guide, Signals or Hearing, and Service Dogs,' which is animal licensing rather than a facility credential. The credential is the State of Hawaii one, from the DCCA Board of Veterinary Examiners, recorded at the state layer. A veterinary practice's Kaua'i County obligations are the Zoning Permit, Commercial Building Permit, Certificate of Occupancy and any Use Permit its district requires, all recorded separately for Kaua'i County.

Fitness Studio Licensing — Kaua'i County Code Position (Kauai County)

Kaua'i County Code §23-4.1 limits the County's business licenses to those Chapter 445 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes requires; the business-license list in the County's fiscal year 2024-25 Revenues — Fees, Rates, Assessments and Taxes schedule (Appendix A) — peddling merchandise, secondhand dealers, firearm sales, wrecking salvage, used-parts sales, scrap dealers, pepper spray and pawnbrokers — names no gym, fitness or health club license, and the Department of Finance's Index of Rules and Regulations lists none, so the County charges no fee for one. A fitness studio's Kaua'i County obligations are the Zoning Permit, Commercial Building Permit, 15% Building Plan Review Fee and Certificate of Occupancy, plus — if its occupant load reaches three hundred or more — the $50-a-year Fire Permit for Places of Assembly, all recorded separately for Kaua'i County.

Salon, Barber and Cosmetology Licensing — State License Applies (Kauai County)

Kaua'i County Code §23-4.1 limits the County's business licenses to those Chapter 445 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes requires, and the business-license list in the County's fiscal year 2024-25 Revenues — Fees, Rates, Assessments and Taxes schedule (Appendix A) — peddling merchandise, secondhand dealers, firearm sales, wrecking salvage, used-parts sales, scrap dealers, pepper spray and pawnbrokers — names no barber, beautician or cosmetology license, so the County charges no fee for one. The trade credential is the State of Hawaii one: the County's Guide to Starting a Business routes professional and vocational licensing to the 'Hawaii DCCA, Professional and Vocational Licensing Division,' recorded at the state layer. A salon's Kaua'i County obligations are the Zoning Permit, Commercial Building Permit, 15% Building Plan Review Fee, Certificate of Occupancy and any Sign Permit, all recorded separately for Kaua'i County.

Contact

Jurisdiction: Kauai County
Phone: (808) 241-4200
Website: www.kauai.gov/Government/Departments-Agencies/Finance

Contact details are taken from the agency’s own site or its published fee schedule. Where we have not verified a phone number we leave it blank rather than guess.

Sources

Every fee and term above was read from one of these government pages on the date shown.

Business Resources / Guide to Starting a Business — the County's own guide, whose licensing step routes applicants to State of Hawaii agencies (DCCA Professional and Vocational Licensing, Department of Health, Department of Human Services)County of Kaua'i, Office of Economic Development · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-27
County of Kaua'i Revenues — Fees, Rates, Assessments and Taxes, Appendix A, fiscal year July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025, within the Mayor's budget transmittal C 2024-75 (March 15, 2024), printing "Certificate of Occupancy Issuance Fee … $0"County of Kaua'i, Office of the Mayor · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-27
Index of Rules and Regulations, Department of Finance — the numbered list of the rules the Department has adoptedCounty of Kaua'i, Department of Finance · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-27
Kaua'i County Code 1987, as amended — ecode360's own print view of the complete codified Code, with amendments through Ordinance No. 1193County of Kaua'i, via General Code (ecode360) · primary source · retrieved 2026-10-08