HomeMy WebLinkAboutO'Friel, Kristin
Tsuneda, Kaci
From:Kristin O'Friel <kristin.ofriel@gmail.com>
Sent:Thursday, August 27, 2026 2:47 PM
To:Council Testimony
Subject:Written Testimony in Opposition to Bill 147
Hawaii County Council
Policy Committee on Planning, Land Use, and Economic Development
74-5044 Ane Keohokalole Highway
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii 96740
Aloha Chair, Vice Chair, and Members of the Committee,
I am writing today in opposition to moving forward with additional regulation of hosted vacation rentals
via Bill 147 before the County has had an opportunity to implement, evaluate, and learn from the
registration process required by Bill 47/Ordinance 25-50.
What is the purpose of establishing a registration process if not to develop a clearer understanding of the
landscape that Bill 147 proposes to regulate?
The registration process should be an opportunity to gather meaningful data, identify and address
problems, assess the County’s administrative capacity, and use the information to determine what
additional regulations, if any, are necessary.
Before requiring homeowners to register, the authors of Bill 47/Ordinance 25-50 should first take the
time to understand and address the practical barriers homeowner’s are confronted with when registering
their properties. The 3% property-tax cap is a great example. I strongly support the concept in Bill 173 of
creating a property-tax classification that preserves the 3% cap for homeowners who rely on hosted-
rental income. This tax classification should be established before registration is required.
The fact that we are once again seeing multiple policy issues addressed through overlapping bills
suggests that legislation is not being developed through a thoughtful, logical, and evidence-based
process. Instead, the author of this bill appears to be trying to regulate too much, too soon, placing the
burden on the community to parse the legislation and repeatedly show up to advocate for a more
measured approach. This is disheartening, as it feels like we just went through this with Bill 121.
Please take this opportunity to reevaluate. I encourage refocusing legislative efforts on developing
effective regulations for unhosted rentals. Getting that framework right would be a more constructive use
of resources, while also giving the County time to better understand and address the challenges faced by
island hosts.
Mahalo for the opportunity to provide testimony.
Kristin OFriel
Kamuela, HI
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