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FC-170 Page 2 June 18, 2024 <br />Committee Member Heather Kimball asked Mr. Jo to confirm they would know how many would enter <br />this program before setting the tax rates in 2025. Mr. Jo confirmed. Ms. Kimball shared some of her <br />thoughts on the matter. Ms. Kimball asked Ms. Sako to speak about the potential revenue impacts. Ms. <br />Sako said that, as Mr. Jo stated before, it is hard to know the exact numbers because they don't know <br />who will sign up. <br />Committee Member Susan L. K. Lee Loy shared some history on when the Apartment Tax Class was <br />increased and how they justified that need. Ms. Lee Loy spoke to her concerns on this matter and sees <br />no correlation to assisting in lower rent. Ms. Lee Loy commented about the number of vacant homes <br />and properties and asked Ms. Miura how to get those numbers. Ms. Miura shared the various efforts to <br />obtain those numbers, which included the review of utility bills and how these efforts did not provide <br />accurate numbers. Ms. Miura further stated that figuring out which homes are vacant most of the year is <br />tough. <br />Committee Member Ashley L. Kierkiewicz shared her concerns and recommended that this measure <br />stay in Committees for further discussion. <br />Committee Member Holeka Goro Inaba shared concerns and stated he was not is support. <br />Committee Member Rebecca Villegas commended the makers of this bill on their creativity and courage <br />to put this together. <br />Bill 104 was amended with the contents of Communication No. 600.1, which was introduced by <br />Ms. Kagiwada and was approved with nine "ayes." <br />Committee Chair Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder asked Mr. Jo what he sees this bill incentivizes. Mr. Jo <br />stated that he believes this provides a way to incentivize people to enter the rental market and create <br />housing, and added that in discussing the market value, that tax incentive will hit a $2 million home just <br />as it would a $500,000 home or a $200,000 home in Puna. Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder encouraged the <br />makers to look at the language and get specific with whom this bill is intended to help. Mr. Kaneali`i- <br />Kleinfelder asked the County Clerk, Jon Henricks, for information on forming a special meeting for this <br />measure. Mr. Henricks considered all options and recommended postponing to the Call of the Chair as <br />the best option. <br />Multiple Committee Members spoke in support of postponing Bill 104, as amended to Draft 2, to the <br />Call of the Chair. <br />Finance Committee Meeting of December 19, 2023 <br />Ms. Kagiwada provided an update on this measure. Ms. Galimba shared concerns and comments heard <br />from community about how they would like to see different tax rates for properties of other uses and <br />further stated they will work on ways to address it. <br />Ms. Miura was present in the Kona Council Chambers, while Mr. Jo attended from the Hilo Council <br />Chambers. Ms. Miura mentioned that Deputy Corporation Counsel Keyra Wong, who could not attend <br />this Committee, wanted to acknowledge some language issues. Ms. Miura said while editing this bill to <br />remove the physicians and nurses, the word "cumulative" was Left in, and she just wanted to clarify with <br />the bill makers that they wanted to change that word to say, "consecutive." Mr. Jo presented a <br />PowerPoint. The slides were created to address some of the concerns from the previous meeting. <br />FC Report No. 170 <br />