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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0817.002 2008-2010 P1 urxima L Public Nears° Murashige, Laura U From: Tina Yamaki [tyamaki @hawaiihotels.org] Sent: Friday, May 14, 2010 2:09 PM �:� To: counciltestimony @co.hawaii.hi.us Cc: mtowill @hawaiihotels.org y. , Subject: Real Property Tax Rates - Testimony from Murray Towill ..c Importance: High Attachments: HI County RPT May 17.doc v ,.�,. r HI County RPT May 17.doc (184 ... Aloha! Attached is the testimony from Murray Towill for your upcoming hearing on Real Property Tax Rates. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact the HHLA office at (808) 923 -0407. A Hui Hou Kakou! Tina Yamaki Executive Assistant /Queen The Hawaii Hotel & Lodging Association 2270 Kalakaua Ave. Suite 1506 Honolulu, HI 96815 Phone: (808) 923 -0407 Fax: (808) 924 -3843 Email: tyamaki @hawaiihotels.org Web: www.hawaiihotels.org Coma, tic. U (1. )L Red. Too tsf. , 0,-, :.: 17 2 1 � OF 1N00 49 0y 4 4ITY •ti HAWAII HOTEL & LODGING 33rd Anniversary A S S O C I A T I O N Are You Walking ? ?? 2270 Kalakaua Ave., Suite 1506 May 21, 2011 Honolulu, HI 96815 (Always the 3 Saturday in May) Phone: (808) 923 -0407 www.charitywalkhawaii.org Fax: (808) 924 -3843 E -Mail: hhla @hawaiihotels.org Website: www.hawaiihotels.org TESTIMONY OF MURRAY TOWILL PRESIDENT HAWAII HOTEL & LODGING ASSOCIATION May 17, 2010 RE: Real Property Tax Rates Aloha Chairman Yoshimoto and members of the Hawaii County Council. I am Murray Towill, President of the Hawai'i Hotel & Lodging Association. I appreciate this opportunity to testify regarding the proposed real property tax rates. The Hawai'i Hotel & Lodging Association is a statewide association of hotels, condominiums, timeshare companies, management firms, suppliers, and other related firms and individuals. Our membership includes over 150 hotels representing over 48,000 rooms. Our hotel members range from the 2,680 rooms of the Hilton Hawaiian Village to the 4 rooms of the Bougainvillea Bed & Breakfast on the Big Island. We certainly understand the tough economic challenges facing Hawaii County government. Our members have been facing similar and perhaps more difficult challenges as we have seen revenue fall and many external expenses increase. We would like to thank the Mayor for his efforts to keep the tax increases down. However, we oppose the proposed tax rate increase in the hotel /resort class. We understand the assessed value of property in the hotel /resort class is down, but this seems to be a result of two basic shifts. First, over 200 parcels were removed from the hotel /resort class and located in more appropriate classes. Second, assessments were apparently reduced on a number of vacant parcels. The net effect of these two actions is a substantial drop in assessed value and the resulting tax revenue from the hotel /resort class. Unfortunately, the assessed valuations of operating hotel & lodging properties have not seen a drop in assessed value for the new tax year. With only a couple of exceptions, our member properties have informed us that their assessments remain unchanged. As a result, they are looking at a 9.4% increase in real property taxes. Hotel & lodging properties have been hard hit by reduced revenue and increasing costs. On the revenue front in Hawaii County, revenue per available room has dropped over 30% since 2007. Regarding expenses, properties are already facing increases in energy costs, health care costs, and another Transient Accommodations Tax increase. The proposed large increase in real property taxes would be another burden hindering the success of these properties, the visitor industry and Hawaii County's economy. We urge you NOT to increase taxes on the hotels and lodging properties. We also question why hotels are being considered to be taxed at a higher rate than commercial and industrial properties. It seems more appropriate for the County to keep all the businesses at the same rate. Given the weakness in the economy, it also seems counter productive to be raising taxes in any of these business classes. Again, mahalo for this opportunity to testify.