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HomeMy WebLinkAboutJulie Eliason and Robert Bojorquez Tsuneda, Kaci From:Julie Eliason <julie.eliason@gmail.com> Sent:Wednesday, November 4, 2026 7:58 PM To:Council Testimony Subject:Written testimony for Bill 147, Draft 3 Julie Eliason and Robert Bojorquez 59-123 Ka Nani Drive Kamuela, Hawaii 96743 November 4, 2026 Hawaii County Council, West Hawaii Civic Center 74-5044 Ane Keohokalone Highway, Building A, Kailua-Kona, Hawaii Re: Comments Regarding Bill 147 Draft 3 for Meeting on November 6, 2026 Dear County Council: We are sorry that we are unable to testify in person on November 6. 2026. However, we hope that you will consider these comments regarding the passage of Bill 147. We live at Kohala Ranch, which is zoned Agriculture. We have operated a Hosted Transient Vacation Rental (TVR) since 2017. We live at our residence full time and rent out a portion of our primary residence. The income generated from our rental is critical for assisting us to pay for our mortgage and monthly expenses. We have not submitted an application to register our TVR because we do not know if we will continue renting or not. The increased expenses to operate our TVR such as registration fees, fees to apply for a Special Permit, a huge increase in our property taxes, increase in GET and TAT taxes, increased cost of hiring service providers, and increased costs to purchase supplies, as well as the decrease in tourism to Hawaii have made it much more difficult to make a profit on our rental. In 2025 we only made a net profit of $1000 which is a substantial reduction from what we have made in previous years. We question if it is worthwhile to go through the expense and application process to rent out a portion of our home. Therefore, we are contemplating discontinuing our rental, which would create a financial hardship for us. We provided comments at the last County Council meeting on October 20, 2026 regarding Bill 147 and requested clarification on which Special Permit is required for a hosted TVR on Agricultural zoned land. We were disappointed that our question was not addressed in Draft 3 of the bill. We should have a clear process described so we know what is involved before registering. The County Council put the cart before the horse in requiring registration first and then describing the process later. To date, the process is still not clearly described. Therefore, we would like to know which of the two Special Permits for which we would be required to apply. One application for a Special Permit is located at this address on the County Planning Department 1 website: https://records.hawaiicounty.gov/WebLink/DocView.aspx?id=55600&dbid=1&repo=PublicDocumen ts. This permit requires a $500 application fee. Another Special Permit to operate a Bed and Breakfast establishment is located at the following location on the County website:. https://records.hawaiicounty.gov/WebLink/DocView.aspx?id=159719&dbid=1&repo=PublicDocume nts. There is no application fee described for this application but we are sure there is a required fee. Although the term “Bed and Breakfast” seems to no longer apply to our rental, we are unsure if our hosted TVR is still considered a Bed and Breakfast for the purpose of the Special Permit application. Which permit are we required to apply for? We ask that you clarify this issue in Bill 149 before we go through the process and expense of registering our rental so that we can make an informed decision about whether or not we will continue operating our Hosted TVR. The bill should state which permit is required, where the application can be found on the County Planning Department website, and the fees, and the notification requirements to go through the application process. Also, will fees be refunded if the County denies the permit? We also have concerns about the increase in property taxes that we experienced. Our property taxes increased 150 percent from 2018 to 2019 due to the tax adjustment for us operating a business. By 2025 our property taxes have increased to 275% from the 2018 amount. Our taxes increase every year because there is now no limit on what we can be charged. We were very disappointed that the County Council did not pass Bill 173 which would have provided a Bed and Breakfast tax classification that is lower than the business tax classification we are currently in, and to provide tax amnesty for Bed and Breakfast homes. Since we only rent out a portion of our home, we do not believe that we should be penalized by losing the homeowner’s exemption for the entire property. We would also like the County to implement the same 3% cap on the annual tax increase that other homeowners receive. We request that you reconsider this issue because currently there is an unfair tax burden on local homeowners just trying to make ends meet by renting out a portion of their home. We hope that the County considers these recommendations, and provides clarification regarding the new regulations. Thank you for your consideration. Sincerely, Julie Eliason and Bob Bojorquez 2