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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-04-24 Bill 121 Harry Pritikin OP From: trustharry(aaloha.net To: W PCtesti mons Subject: KILL BILL 121 Date: Wednesday,April 24,2024 11:27:50 AM Attachments: imaae001.ipa Importance: High Aloha Chairman Lin, The Ohana Aina Association is asking that people write to you suggesting that you ask the County Council to do an economic impact study on bill 121. It doesn't take a million dollar study to know what will happen if this bill passes. Here is a letter I wrote to Heather Kimball several months ago: I read the article in Civil Beat News about your attempt to further curb vacation rentals on the Big Island. This argument: ""There's so much outside investment and speculation in the county. Property is picked up and land-bagged by outside investors and used for transient accommodations instead of being made available to local residents," Kimball said." This argument is not valid because the current bill 108 cut off the availability of new STVR permits back in 2019. Since then, no more STVR permits have been allowed to be granted. You should know this. Did the article mis-quote you? Because the "'outside investor" argument has been dead since 2019 and you said your bill was for hosted vacation rentals anyway. That means the "'host" lives on the property. So why bring up the old "'outside investor" argument? Also, hosted vacation rentals are not owned by "'outside" investors; they are owned by Big Island residents who use the income to offset the high cost of living in Hawaii. When you have to pay a million dollars for a house that would cost $350K on the mainland, the vacation rental income helps to offset your high mortgage payment. It is really a good idea to force homeowner's to sell at a loss and leave Hawaii because they can't make their house payments anymore? (postscript: If hundreds of people are forced to sell, the result will be a glut on the market which will reduce home prices. Likewise, demand will go down when people find out they won't be able to vacation rent a room in their home; further reducing home prices.) Does reducing land value really help the local people? I don't think any local person wants to see the value of their property go down. Nor does the County; because that will reduce the income from property taxes. You said your bill is not intended to put anyone out of business, but why have the bill at all if that is not your intention? What is the intension if not to put people out of business? If vacation rentals don't go out of business how will more rental housing be made available for local families?? If people aren't forced to sell and move to the mainland, how will more housing be made available for local families?? Of course the Hawaii Tourism Authority supports the bill; they are in the pocket of the big hotel chains. But on the Big Island, hotel occupancy has been 75% to 100%, so vacation rentals aren't harming the hotel industry on the Big Island. In fact, private vacation rentals bring in millions of dollars of tourist's money that benefits everyone, the home owner, businesses and their employees. Many of these tourists only come to the Big Island because they can afford the cost of private vacation rentals, but not the exorbitant hotel room costs. Bill 108 was also supposed to lower rents for local people and make more housing available to purchase. This did not materialize. Rents and home prices have actually sky rocketed. Trying to further hamstring homeowners with your ill-advised bill will actually do more harm than good. It's called "un-intended consequences". Respectfully, Harry M. Pritikin homeowner and resident of the big Island for 44 years. Mahalo, Harry Harry M. Pritikin (PB) Hawaii Real Estate Professor, LLC Big Island Real Estate UPdates 74-5090 Old Palani Road, Kailua-Kona, HI 96740 Website: www.konarealestateaaent.com 24 HOUR CELL: 808-989-3491 EMAIL: trustharry(&aloha.net When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will truly know peace. If it's a shark you want, I may not be your guy. I fight for my clients, but I don't bend the rules. I consider myself to be a dolphin; I protect my clients from sharks.