HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0675.392 2022-2024/ Paw
Di11 121
CAMIK.:�75
From:
James Marshall
'
Sent:
Friday, July 5, 2024 2:43 PM
To:
Council Testimony
Subject:
Bill 121 testimony:
Aloha,
1 �'
My name is James Marshall,
I am a full time resident in South Kona and rent out a room in my home to help pay the bills.
Under the new legislation I
will become a "owner -operator" with my hosted rental.
I wholeheartedly believe that full time residents, renting out a portion of their personal residence, should be allowed to
continue with little to no fees/permits/taxes.
I already pay the GE and TAT taxes, along with a new property tax rate that has almost tripled with losing the assessment
cap and moving to the higher rate. The GE and TAT taxes alone should suffice to "pay my share". Guests staying in my
home contribute to the LOCAL economy by:
-supporting a LOCAL family (their rent directly helps me) -support local restaurants -support local tours and businesses -
support the county through GE and TAT taxes
Hotel industry profits do not stay on island, mine do.
Furthermore, the property tax increase alone has forced me to continue renting -as the new assessment alone will cost
me a lot of money moving forward even if I decide to not rent anymore. This is crippling to me,
will not rent out a room "long term" to local folks -this is not the proper space to do so. Without a whole kitchen, or
space, I believe it is not good for long term stay. Furthermore, it's my own property, and I want to allow family to visit, or
just have my own space from time to time.
I know some of my issues are with the larger tax law (property tax for example), but please, please keep local families like
my own in mind when creating burdensome legislation which raises costs and red tape to run our small business. The
feeling I get is that my rental is "too small' for the county to care about, so my voice does not matter. It is defeating to
feel like my county government simply does not care about my situation because there are other issues at play,
Please do not pass any legislation that requires permitting or fees for local residents. It is not our responsibility to create
long term housing in our shared homes. It is burdensome already to rent and we need the extra income to avoid selling
and moving off island.
Thank you.
James Marshall
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Co► al.6�ia.
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