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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0449.013 2020-2022 if I 's i November 1, 2021 Matt Kanealii-Kleinfelder, Chair Heather Kimball,Vice Chair Committee on Finance Hawai'i County Council 25 Aupuni Street y Hilo, HI 96720 RE: Comments on Bill 81-Hawaii County Transient Accommodations Tax Dear Chair Kanealii-Kleinfelder,Vice Chair Kimball and Members of the Hawaii County Council, Thank you for introducing Bill 81,which amends Chapter 2 of the Hawaii County Code, by adding a new article to implement a Hawaii County Transient Accommodations Tax,and the fruitful discussion on this bill during the first Finance Committee hearing. While the Kohala Coast Resort Association was adamantly against the way this legislation came about in the Hawaii State Legislature,we have always been strong supporters of Hawaii County's efforts to receive its fair share of lodging taxes collected by the state.We understand the impacts that visitors have on services provided by the county, know that the visitor industry directly supports position across critical sectors of our state and local government, and also understand the vital role our industry plays in our state's overall economy. We would appreciate your consideration of the following as you deliberate the best way to proceed with a Hawaii County Transient Accommodations Tax. It is essential that Hawaii County know exactly how many visitor accommodation rooms are located on Hawaii Island across all sectors-hotels,timeshares,condos,bed and breakfasts,and especially STVRs. • STVRs should include all those within allowable zoning;those hosted in residents' homes which currently fall outside of the scope of Bill 108 j Ordinance 2018-114 and therefore Hawaii County has no record of them; those that have received non-conforming use certificates from the Hawaii County Planning Department to operate outside of areas where they are legally zoned; and those that are operating illegally. o Hawaii Tourism Authority and the Department of Business Economic Development and Tourism only include properties who self-report in their annual visitor plant inventories.According to the 2020 Visitor Plant Inventory Hawaii County has a total 11,123 rooms.We believe these numbers severely under count what actually exists, based on the experience within our resorts alone. ■ Kohala Coast Resort Association members total 3,940 hotel and timeshare rooms. • Estimates are that full and part-time residents within our resorts,operating legal SHRs,total more than 3,500 rooms. • Data aggregator AlltheRooms.com shows that there are more than 4,600 active STVRs units rented on Hawaii Island during the last year. Many of those units are comprised of entire houses containing multiple bedrooms. Estimates therefore suggest there may be more than 10,000 SNR rooms alone, available on Hawaii Island. Taxes must be collected equitably from all units.With state and county taxes and allowable administrative fees, visitors will pay nearly 181 on their accommodations,one of the highest tax rates in the nation. LtqComore. INIQ `t ' Ref. To: P1 rFV1 Ref. Date NOV - 3 20 • In 2022, KCRA members estimate they will have a combined total of$460 million in room revenues.On that room revenue alone,they will pay$47.15 million to the State of Hawaii in TAT(10.25%),$18.4 million to the State of Hawaii in GET(4.0%),$13.8 million to Hawaii County in TAT under this proposed Bill 81 (3%)and$2.3 million to Hawaii County in supplemental GET(.5%). • Based on the AlltheRooms.com data,those estimated 10,000 STVR rooms across Hawaii Island, rented just 50%of the time,for an average rate of$225 night,would generate more than$410.6 million in room revenues,and would therefore be required to pay$12.3 million to Hawaii County in TAT and more than$2 million in supplemental GET. The start date for this new TAT must take into consideration the fact that future bookings are constantly occurring. We would appreciate as much advance notice as possible,so that the taxes can be appropriately assessed. • We appreciate that Bill 81 as written, recognizes the contractual obligations with online travel aggregators and wholesalers(Expedia, Priceline,etc.).Thank you for acknowledging that they may have already collected payment for future bookings from visitors, and they cannot,and will not,go back to the visitor to collect additional fees that were not defined at the time of booking. • Many international travel agencies and governments also have rules and regulations that preclude the collection of fees that were not explicitly disclosed at the time of booking.As this important sector of our economy returns,we will need to do everything we can to encourage its growth. The taxes collected from this Hawaii County TAT should in no way legitimize STVRs that are operating illegally.The county should actively pursue and enforce current rules and shutdown those illegal operations. We recommend there be transparency on how these funds will be spent.We understand that past TAT funds provided by the state have gone into the general fund.This makes it difficult to see the myriad of ways the visitor industry supports Hawaii County operations. We suggest: • Establishing a special fund to support key departments, infrastructure and services that are utilized by visitors as well as residents(lifeguards,county park maintenance,wastewater, roads) • Utilizing a portion of these new TAT funds to address initiatives within the DMAP for Hawaii County • Utilizing a portion of these funds to address larger scale infrastructure needs important to Hawaii County's workforce including expanded mass transit and affordable workforce housing Thank you for your consideration of our request. In addition to the hotel,timeshare and residential units mentioned above, KCRA also represents shopping, entertainment,golf,spa, and restaurants along the Kohala Coast. KCRA members employ more than 5,000 Hawaii Island residents,supporting 20,000 community members. In addition to the TAT and GET mentioned above, KCRA members, and the businesses and residents within the resorts, pay$73 million in property taxes to Hawaii County,one fourth of the total. In addition, between 2018 and 2021, KCRA members invested more than$450 million in infrastructure and upgrades,which supports Hawaii Island's construction industry. Sincerely, i Stephanie Donoho Administrative Director, Kohala Coast Resort Association PO Box 6991,Karnuela,iii 96743*(808)74745762*k0ha'acoastresortassB@ail.co w .kohalacoastresorts,coBn