HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0236.017 2024-2026 ox odiagroup-
Mayp 5, 2025 co
Councilmember Ashley L. Kierkiewicz I
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County of Hawai'i
Hawaii County Building mac,
25 Aupuni Street475
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Hilo, Hawai'i 96720
Re: Bill 47
Dear Chair Kierkiewicz,Vice Chair Galimba, and members of the Policy Committee on Planning,
Land Use,and Economic 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 47. 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.
Division 3, Platform Requirements
Bill 47 would allow county officials to review the transient vacation rental (TVR) registration
number,tax map key(TMK) number, and transient accommodations tax(TAT) ID number, so
county staff can compare listing information to the county's data for registered TVRs. Expedia
Group shares similar reporting with Kauai County,and this reporting and collaboration has
helped Kaua'i to drive a high rate of compliance with its short-term rental laws.
We favor establishing clear guidelines to foster collaboration between Expedia Group and
Hawaii County.The legislation outlines a process for Expedia Group to share information which
will support county enforcement of county laws and regulations.We also appreciate that the
legislation would set a consistent standard across the industry by passing a law applying to all
hosting platforms.
Platform Reporting
We recommend you amend Section 6-52 by replacing the text in subsection (a)(4)with
"Uniform Resource Locator(URL) or internet address".As currently drafted,this subsection
imposes open-ended reporting requirements that are subject to change at any time, creating
uncertainty for platforms and raising significant compliance concerns.We urge Hawaii County
to clearly define the specific data points platforms must submit on a monthly basis. Including
URLs would provide the county with essential information to verify property registrations while
offering platforms clarity and consistency in their reporting obligations.
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111 1:Expedia Gi-oup Way West I Seattle,WA,98119 I USA I T+1 206 481 72001 F+1 L�J0' I
expediagroup.com I + I 11
Ref. To: /
Ref. Date .. - 6 2025
Division 3 Effective Date
We respectfully request that the Division 3 effective date be pushed out until after the effective
date for the rest of the legislation. For TVR owners to obtain a TVR registration number,the
county must first set up a registration system and allow time for owners to apply for and
receive the registration numbers. In our experience, once an application is available, it typically
takes three to six months for operators to apply to register and move through the registration
process.
Uniformly Formatted Registration Numbers
We understand the County is planning to issue uniformly formatted registration numbers, i.e.,
provide a number with the same number of digits/characters,to all transient vacation rentals,
regardless of whether the TVR is registered and operating under the provisions of this bill or the
provisions of previous legislation, like Bill 108.We applaud this idea.Without a uniformly
formatted number, platforms will not have a clear indication if a rental is exempt from
registering under Bill 47 or if a would-be rental needs to register and has not done so. It will
also be impossible for platforms to comply with the reporting under section 6-52 since not all
rentals would have a "registration number issued under division 1 associated with the TVR".
Thank you for the opportunity to provide comments. We look forward to working with Hawai'i
County Council as it contemplates Bill 47. 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
1111 Expedia Group Way West I Seattle,WA,98119 I USA I T+1 206 481 72001 F+1 206 481 7240
expediagroup.com