HomeMy WebLinkAboutOtsuka, DellPUBLIC TESTIMONY. IN OPPOSITION TO THE RUSHED PASSAGE OF
MII [.JI ., 147/1131ILL 197
TO: Hawai'i County Council
REGARDING: 111iillll 147 & Bill 197 (Transient Vacation Rental & Tax Amnesty
Framework)
POSITION: STRONGLY OPPOSED to the Rushed, Lame -Duck Process
Aloha Chair and Council Members,
My name is Dell Otsuka, and I am a resident of Keaukaha and a
beneficiary living on Hawaiian Homelands. I am submitting this
testimony to call out again, the deep double standard and legal
deception currently moving too quickly through this legislative body.
This Council must take heed of the 4-5 vote that came out of the
Policy Committee on October 6th. Bill "1 7 is advancing to this floor
with a formal unfavorable recommendation. That means that your
majority knows and recognizes that this legislation is deeply flawed
and that public outcry is justified.
The county recently published a very "pretty but deceiving" analysis.
The informational flyer titled "Il iiillll 141T Transient Vacation Rentals
talr
fz"xplained features ea ud fd11 iii ll 11 u tira t iii o iti of Il a 111 fir m trees, a sa iii 111 11 oa t, and
neat dirde taIll4in about "alliigiiniinent ... ..coiinpllliiance," and
"d ellpairtiinen°t 111 Ipractice" while masking a hostile enforcement
framework. It is visually appealing, but it is deeply deceiving. This
flyer framed Bill "17 and its sister bill, Bill 197, as a done deal, which it is
not. Looking at the facts:
-The Legal Deception of Premature Amnesty: Bill 197 offers
"forgiveness and amnesty" to resident hosted operators for violating
rules that have not yet passed. Bill "17 is still a proposal. Pushing an
amnesty framework right now is a psychological and tactical trap
designed to force local families into signing paperwork admitting to a
"violation" before the law is even enacted. What violation in what
law is that for? This is a clear attempt by a lame -duck block to force a
massive zoning agenda through before a new council takes office in
December.
-The Factual Rebuttal to Communication 1082 (Bill 1 7): Explicitly
refutes the myth that local resident hosts have been "skating
through." It must remind the council that these hosts followed the
laws the county created. They generated substantial revenue via the
11.00% State TAT and 4.712% combined GET and County Surcharge.
-The Crushing Penalty Scales: Exposes the aggressive $5,500 to
$10,000 fine stairs (IBiiullllll "17) and the threat of charging hosts twice
their nightly rate while they are trapped in a county -created
registration bottleneck.
The proposed penalty scales are completely distorted because the
county is using a `one -size -fits -all' sledgehammer. Your official data
shows that West Hawai'i controls nearly 90% of the vacation rental
inventory, commanding an average daily rate of $379 a night.
Meanwhile, East Hawai'i communities like Hilo and Puna have a
fraction of that market, with average rates in Pahoa dipping down to
just $168 a night.
When you set a baseline penalty at $5,500 for a first offense and
escalate to $10,000 per day, you are leveling a fine structure designed
for a luxury oceanfront estate in Kona against a local family in Hilo or
Puna who is renting a studio just to make ends meet. A $10,000-a-day
fine equals 60 nights of income for a local Pahoa host.
This calculation isn't just mathematically unfair; it is predatory to the
local families on the East side of this island.
-The Agriculture Land Realities: Details how the county is
aggressively trying to map and restrict "Special Permit Required"
pathways on State Land Use Ag lands and farm dwellings.
-'Rosehill v State of Hawai'i Supreme Court' decision, was meant to
.stop wealthy off -island investors from building fake
ad eg .wig ' sio ' s" on ag land and renting thein out completely
unhosted like commercial resorts. This council is using that ruling as
an excuse in Bill 747 to crush hosted agritourism, where actual local
farmers live and offer educational farm stay experiences. w
SMALL, rARMS WORLDWIDE SURVIVE THROUGH C T'
Did you know that?
60% of the Big Island is zoned for agriculture.
"What happened to "support our local farmers and food security."
They are the ones you are hurting initially. Then there are all of us
who are trying to "buy local and eat more healthy."
-The "Prima Facie" Evidentiary Trap: The text introduces a "guilty
until proven innocent standard. If automated software finds any old or
mistaken online text regarding a property, the county considers it
100% proof of an illegal rental. Is that correct? The burden of proof
shifts to the resident. Local families will be penalized first and forced
to fight a blind (flawed) machine later.
Furthermore, these few unique properties cannot possibly solve a
systemic housing shortage. Rather than developing actual long-term,
affordable housing infrastructure, this council is penalizing local
families trying to make an honest living, and since you should have a
list of those not in compliance, "illegal," then go and take care of those
before "attacking" the law-abiding families and local operators.
This council consistently grants itself multi -year passes for its own
major systemic operational deficiencies.
-Killing Local Revenue Under the Guise of Regulation: These hosted
operators are not out-of-state corporate investors; they are resident
families renting a spare room or an `ohana unit' trying to survive
inflation. They have already paid their fair share, generating millions
for this island through the 11.00% State TAT and 4.772% GET and
County Surcharge on every booking. Forcing them into commercial
property tax reclassifications won't result in a property tax windfall -it
will simply cause them to stop hosting entirely, completely wiping out
the steady TAT revenue they already provide. So inuch foryour
long.-terin housing g ment You will succeed in the loss of multiple
housing options for shorter -stay visitors like your traveling workers
(your proposed and unreasonable 780 days' trap), lower visitor count
(definitely) loss in guaranteed millions in State and County revenue
(definitely) and more distrust in our local government, most definitely.
-The County's Glaring Double Standard: As a Hawaiian Home Lands
resident, I've watched this aggressive push to map and re -zone our
island with deep distrust. The county demands immediate, overnight
compliance from small resident hosts under the threat of crushing
fines.
Yet, Papa'ikou and Kula'imano Wastewater Treatment Facilities in
District 1, have faced severe federal EPA crackdowns for chronic
pollution into our ocean for years, yet this Council and the County
voted to extend its own repair timelines out 3 and 5 years.
One can only imagine what state these wastewater facilities will be in
in three years, let alone five years, and the irreversible damage of
more pollution to the fishing sites off the coast and its residents
who rely on them.
previously "toured" these facilities when I served as a
Commissioner on the Environment Commission (EMC). In a facility
that should've had at least three, there was only one ... and that was
the norm. I did raise safety issues ... you can go and figure that one
out. Chronic staffing issues?
How many of you council members have gone and visited these sites?
If you had seen the understaffed, dangerous reality, you wouldn't have
thought twice about an extension -denying it would have been a
no-brainer. Because you voted to delay your own responsibilities while
rushing to penalize local families, I can only deduce that you still
haven't looked.
If the County can give its CRIPPLED AND DYING WASTEWATER
FACILITIES A MULTI -YEAR PASS TO COMPLY TO MULTIPLE EPA
AGREEMENTS OF CONSENT, it has absolutely NO RIGHT TO RUSH,
PUNITIVE, CONFUSING MANDATES ONTO LOCAL FAMILIES.
STOP HIDING BEHIND PRETTY GRAPHICS AND DECEPTIVE
TIMELINES.
DO NOT ALLOW THIS LAME -DUCK VOTE TO CARRY WITHOUT A
TRANSPARENT, FAIR PROCESS.
Just a note ... if you want us to know what you know, to make the only
kinds of decisions that impact and affect ALL of us, then please
provide all pertinent and relevant data to us and let us truly be a part
of this process. So that when public testimonies are given, those three
minutes might just prove to be the turning point for building trust. Is
that too much to ask?
I urge this Council to halt this rushed progression and protect ALL
210,043 of our Island's population and the 1.70 to 1.75 million visitors
annually with laws that actually benefit us, all of us.
And fix what is known to be broken first. VOTE NO ON IIRll[.Jl ., "1 7 AND
NO ON BILL 197.
Mahalo,
Dell Otsuka, Keaukaha
Former Environmental Management Commissioner