HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0675.474 2022-2024From: KrisdnaAnderaon -
Sent: Friday, August 30, 2024 10:54AM
To: Council Testimony
Subject: Bills 121-122: OPPOSED!
I would like to submit my testimony in STRONG OPPOSITION to both Bills 121 and 122. �- -
O-PP05E BILL
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121. 1 am a 32-year resident of Hawaii County. I bought my South Kona home In,'2004.
| have hosted an attached vacation rental studio in my home for many years. Asa single mother fighting
to crawt out of forectosure in 2010, and supporting my twins through my divorce and their cottege years, I
cannot even begin to tett you how hetpful. this additional. income was! It LITERALLY attowed me to keep
my home and tife aftoat after I entered into a mortgage modification in late 2011. Without this airbnb
income that hetped tift me out of forectosure, I might wel.l. have been one of the many housetess families
camping out behind LonihauCenter, and |annnot joking.
Since then, this income, including my salary as a substitute teacher and a freetance writer, has allowed
me to maintain and repair my home (to name a few things: two dishwashers, three washers, a water
pump,a water heater, three fridges and four stoves, a new catchment tank, plumbing leaks, roof leaks,
sewer pipe cracko.\Amany homeowner knows, the list iuendless! The additional income has allowed
me to pay my Helco and Internet bilts. It has helped me travel to the mainland to assist with the needs of
nny98-yoarold mother. And much more!
This bill HURTS LOCAL FAMILIES. FULL STOP.
The authors of Bill 121 declare they are simply asking users to "register." This is false.
There's a mountain of bureaucratic paperworkwe woutcl need to complete, and we are still at the mercy
of approval of the planning department and our neighbors within 300 feet. I estimate the initial
"regiatrution"procenavviKcoetrneutieaat$1OOOifnotnnore,betvvoenthefeee'NUCe,pbonodravvn,and
300-foot tetters. Why are hosted rentals subject to this over -reach and over-regutation? We live here! On
How does this process count eosimplyregistering? Registering should bedefined uapaying asmall fee
and being done. Such amwhen you register yourvghicia.So|cmUthimuTAXandaiargeone,becouaethat
is what it is.
| obaodv PAY tots of taxes for the privikega of renting anAidznb unit INSIDE my home. |nohudingmore than
doubte the homeowner property tax exemption rate, and the 17.96% total TAT and GET as well as income
tax. Why is another tax needed? Especiatly since I am located in District 6, which has next to NO county
services (vveter,trash, parks) avaiiab[etotaxpayers.
If this bill passes, I must completely quit for good. Enough. It's not sustainable or profitable because
there are too many expenses and taxes. The fines are scary. (And I must ask why are so many illegal
unhosted rentaLs still proliferating in my neighborhood? You can't enforce compliance on these violators
yet you want to impose more regulation on those of us a [ready operating legally?)Why dD8Kthe fees and
paperwork processing have tobeaoonerous, complicated and expensive?
Ifyou haven't already noticed, tourism, the atato'olargest industry, isdown DRASTICALLY statewide.
Those ofUSwith STVRs have already noticed this trend. I believe it is a combination of visitors being
scared off hvthe Maui fires, the price gouging nfall the taxes they pay, the high cost offood, the fading of
the post -pandemic pent up demand, the viral'anti-colonizer' movement, and the'war'on vacation
rentals taking place on all islands. It's making the headlines on the mainland and potential visitors are
taking their business to more welcoming locations. I would! But we have all seen what happens when
tourism stops. Our local economy/jobs/business grinds to a halt. I have seen it happen at least three
times: post S/11; during the recession of 2008-09, and during the pandemic. I don't have to remind
everyone how catastrophic those events were for tourism and our local families.
| don't support your bill, but ifyou are going tomove forward, | believe you should grandfather inthe
previously operating hosted rentals who have already been hosting successf utly and legally all these
years without regulation. Especially those of us who live in their own homes f ull time and rent part of it to
visitors. Why should we be taxed at the same rate as an unhosted rental at Puako, Kotea or Mauna Lani
Point? (This is another issue for another day --change the tax code to allow the homeowner exemption to
apply for a short term rental as tong as the homeowner lives there full time and the rental is attached to
their home. On that note, I don't get amnesty under your bill because my taxes have already been rotted
back! Unfair and possibly not legal!) So yeah, I hate everything about this bitL It does nothing for the
constituents! It makes me feet like the county council hates their own constituents. How does this help
anyone?
Hawaii is a very difficult place to make a living, especially in the rural areas. This is 2024 when people can
and should be able to earn a living by workingfrom home! Especially for single moms and senior citizens.
We do not have much choice of employment unless we commute, adding to traffic congestion. Hosting a
short term rental has been working for many of our island residents and doesn't bother anyone. We are
here tosupervise our quiet, sightseeing guests and sharing inthe atote'alargest industry! VVepay our
required state and county taxes. VVedonot need regulation!
PLEASE vote NO on advancing this vote forward. Also we need the Economic Impact Study you have
promised us. Please at least put this bill on hold until the study is completed and the analysis has been
done.
Our island B&Bs, tong a gracious tradition in Hawaii, SHOULD NOT be converted to
TARs. This wilt result in the loss of the endearing/romantic category of inns and B&Bs and does not make
sense. They are not in the same category as TARs. They are not single family homes! Once so
designated, B&Bs witt, then be subject to the whims of future councils, who can just decide all TARs are
pau. And with the legislation 2919 passed this year in the state and signed by the governor, itcould very
well happen. Does this mean new B&Bs can just open and serve food without needing to pass the
important safety and ADA requirements they have now? Leave the B&Bs alone!
Thank you for taking my testimony,
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