HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0589.019 2020-2022 i
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AHAwAn BUDGET
& POLICY CENTER
Testimony of the Hawaii Budget and Policy Center
SUPPORTING Bill III—Investor Owner tax to support houseless residents
Wednesday, February 23rd, 2022 at 9:OOAM
Aloha Chair Maile Medeiros David, Vice Chair Aaron Chung and councilmembers,
The Hawai'i Budget and Policy Center is writing in strong support of Bill 111 which would allocate
75% of the real property tax proceeds from investment homes valued over$2M to address
homelessness. We recently published a report titled, "Good Health Depends on Decent
Housing"' and one of the main conclusions is:
"Helping people experiencing homelessness with housing and other needs is not only
life-changing but saves money." a
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While it is difficult to measure all of the societal costs related to homelessness such as the low
human potential of residents who could contribute more to their community if they were -
sheltered, there are some costs of homelessness which have been measured. A few that are
highlighted in the report include:
• $42,000 in yearly hospital cost savings per patient from Queens Program. A homeless
intervention program run by Queens Health System to assist patients in finding housing
and services after discharge was shown to save $5M for 120 patients over the course of a
year due to few hospital stays, emergency room visits and ambulance transports.
i $51,000 in yearly savings for clients of Hawaii Pathways. A "Pathways to Housing"
project on Oahu which ran from 2014 to 2017 provided chronically homeless residents
with housing and supportive services. The program demonstrated savings of$4,300 per
month for people in the program as compared to similar residents not in the program.
• Rapid Rehousing helps prevent chronic homelessness. About 75% of people in the most
recent homelessness surveys were are not yet long-term homeless, but they do need
assistance to access housing. Providing early assistance can avoid the costly consequences
of long-term homelessness.
The above findings are just one way to measure the societal benefits of supporting our
unsheltered residents.A larger benefit but one that is harder to measure is to ask ourselves what
it would mean to live in a community where all of our local residents have access to safe and
dignified living arrangements.
Cornrn. No. ICI.t
1 January 2022,"Good Health Depends on Decent Housing", Hawaii Budget and Policy Center Ref. To: p1council
Ref. gate FEB 2 3 2022
Link:Good Health Depends on Decent Housing— HBPC(hibudget.org)
AHAwAri BUDGET
& POLICY CENTER
Testimony of the Hawaii Budget and Policy Center
SUPPORTING Bill III —Investor Owner tax to support houseless residents
Wednesday, February 23 d, 2022 at 9:OOAM
Bill 111 is an important step not just in using public resources more efficiently, but also in creating
a more compassionate and equitable community.
Mahalo for this opportunity to testify.
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