HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0675.293 2022-2024expodia group -
July 5, 2024
)
Councilmember Ashley L. Kierkiewicz
1
County of Hawaii
�n
Hawai'i County Building
�—..
25 Aupuni Street
r. a
Hilo, Hawal'i 96720
..
=X
Re: Bill 121
Dear Chair Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Vice Chair Dr. Holeka Goro Inaba, and members of the Policy Committee
on Planning, Land Use, and Development:
On behalf of Expedia Group, a family of brands that includes Expedia.com, Hotels.com, and short-
term rental leader Vrbo, I am writing to share comments on Bill 121 and our strong support of
Amendment #3 and Amendment #6. Expedia Group welcomes balanced regulation and management of
short-term rentals and has worked with municipalities around the world to craft, enact, and enforce laws
to regulate vacation rentals.
Hosting Platforms
Hawai'i counties' power to regulate platforms under state and federal law is uncertain. Regardless,
Expedia Group has developed a strong model that has worked well in other counties, and we can bring
the tools we have developed to Hawai'i County. We entered voluntary agreements, Memorandums of
Understanding (MOUs), with Kauai County, Maul County, and the City and County of Honolulu to support
compliance with county laws and regulations, share information, and foster collaboration between
Expedia Group and county governments. The best way to ensure industry uninformity is to pass a law that
imports the provisions of existing county -platform MOUs.
As introduced, the hosting platform reporting requirements in Section 25-4-17.2(a) include information
that could conflict with federal laws. Requiring a report of names of the persons responsible for each
listing, the length of stay for each listing, and the fee charged for each stay could run afoul of the federal
Stored Communications Act. Requiring the physical address and tax map key (TMK) number (Section 25-
4-17(a)(2)) is redundant since both allow the County to identify the location of the property.
We strongly support Amendment #3 which addresses these concerns. This would allow County officials
to review information and to compare listings against the County's information for registered properties.
Similar reporting has allowed other counties like Kaua'i to successfully enforce its short-term rental laws
and lar el eliminate illegal. rentals.
0
1 1 1 1 Expedia Group Way West 1 Seattle, WA, 98119 1 USA I T +1 206 481 72001 f +1 206
expediogroup.com
Ref. To:
Ref. Date LULL
Amend the Definition of "Transient"
We support Amendment #6 to maintain the current definition of transient as thirty consecutive days
or less. The Hawaii County Planning Department as well as hosting platforms already have systems and
operations in place to utilize the 30 days or less definition and changing the definition of "transient" to be
a longer period of time creates a significant administrative burden. For example, properties legally renting
month -to -month leases would be newly required to register as transient accommodation rentals (TAR) to
continue this practice. Moreover, any properties that are unable to register as TARS after legally renting
for periods of 30 days or more may issue legal challenges to the legislation that could forestall
implementation.
We also recommend changing the exemptions in the definition of "transient" in Chapter 25-1-5 to match
the exemptions for transient accommodations tax in the Hawai'i Revised Statutes in Chapter 237D-3,
which rely on the characteristics of a structure rather than a person, e.g., exempting a student dormitory
rather than lodging occupied by a student. Under the current draft, any full-time students, military
personnel, or temporary health-care employees would not be subject to transient accommodations
regulations, even if the stay was personal and recreational. These exemptions offer limited benefit as
there is no way for most booking services and hosting platforms to confirm the identity of a traveler to
show that they qualify for exemptions and could create incentives for scofflaws to cater to individuals
inaccurately claiming to qualify for exemptions.
Thank you for the opportunity to provide comments. We appreciate all of Hawai'i County's thoughtful
work to craft balanced legislation. Changes like requiring an affidavit to affirm a transient accommodation
meets health, safety, and code requirements instead of requiring cumbersome or potentially unavailable
documentation shows the sponsors' commitment to crafting sensible, practical legislation. We look
forward to working with Hawaii County Council as it contemplates Bill 121. Please do not hesitate to
contact me if there is any additional information we can provide.
Mahalo,
Mackenzie Chase
Regional Manager, Hawai'i
Expedia Group
0
1 1 1 1 Expedio Group Way West I Seal tle, WA, 98119 1 USA 1 T +1 206 481 72001 F +1 206 481 7240
expediagroup.com