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April 14,2022
Matt Kanealii-Kleinfelder,Chair t
Heather Kimball,Vice-Chair —tom
Committee on Finance
Hawaii County Council
Hawaii County Building
25 Aupuni Street, Hilo, HI 96720 ;
RE:Support for Bill 156, Draft 1 -
Dear Chair Kanealii-Kleinfelder,Vice-Chair Kimball and Members of the Hawaii County Council,
Thank you for the opportunity to support Bill 156, Draft 1. The Kohala Coast Resort Association is in full support of the proposed
rate cap of 151 for the:apartment, hotel and resort,commercial,industrial,agricultural or native forests,and conservation tax
classes. We also truly appreciate the proposed 3%cap for the affordable rental tax rate, and hope it will encourage second
homeowners to help grow our island's affordable workforce housing inventory.
Mahalo to Councilmember Sue Lee Loy for introducing this legislation.We would also like to thank the staff and administrators
of the Real Property Tax Office and Hawaii County Department of Finance,for listening to our concerns,and explaining the
appeals process.
As you know,our hotel and resort members undertook significant deficits in 2020,as we invested in medical benefits and food
programs for our furloughed employees while the visitor industry was completely shut down. Last year was also a challenge,
with the surge of the delta variant,and state leaders encouraging visitors not to travel to Hawaii during what is typically our busy
summer season.We hope that 2022 will continue to be a year of rebuilding,and the measured increases proposed in this bill will
help our members further stabilize,after a tumultuous two years.
Thank you also for understanding that we are seeing significant increases in the day-to-day costs of doing business in nearly
every arena:salary increases,increases in the cost of family medical benefits,food costs for both our guests and our employee
meals,energy and gasoline costs,construction materials costs and delays,supply chain disruptions,and the new Hawaii County
TAT,which was just implemented in January 2022.
KCRA members employ 5,000 people,supporting 20,000 Hawaii Island residents at their hotels,timeshares,restaurants,retail
outlets,golf courses and spas.Additionally,in 2022, KCRA members will pay an estimated$60 million in state and county TAT,
and$40 million in state and county GET. Further, KCRA members,and the residents within our resorts,paid$73 million in
property taxes to Hawaii County last year,one fourth of total property tax collections.
We encourage you to support Bill 156,Draft 1.
Sincerely,
„
I
Stephanie Donoho
Administrative Director,Kohala Coast Resort Association
PO Box 6991,Karruela,HI 96743*(808)747-5762*kohalacoastresortassn@Rmail.com*ww .kohalacoastresorts.com
Comm. No.,
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