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From: don keohartCcbearthIink.net <br /> To: LPCtestimonv <br /> Subject: FW: STVRs <br /> Date: Tuesday,April 16,2024 4:43:25 PM <br /> From: donkephart@earthlink.net<donkephart@earthlink.net> <br /> Sent: Tuesday, April 16, 2024 4:13 PM <br /> To: 'LPC' <testimony@ hawaiicou nty.gov> <br /> Subject: STVRs <br /> April 16, 2024 <br /> Once again we want to protest against proposed legislation to impose even <br /> more expenses and hoops to jump through for hosts of STVRs in Hawaii <br /> County. We are already paying almost 20% off the top of our earned income <br /> for state and county TAT and GET taxes. Additional fees make us feel as if we <br /> are being gouged just because we have been successful. We have been renting <br /> out a five-bedroom house for 34 years as a STVR. We live on the property and <br /> manage it ourselves. In all of that time, we have never had one complaint. We <br /> enforce noise regulations, pay our taxes, and provide ample off-street parking. <br /> Our vacation rental is clean and well maintained. We keep our rates low so <br /> that we can provide an affordable venue for multi-generational families to <br /> enjoy our island and one another's company. We also provide a venue for <br /> medical students, science teams, church groups, construction workers, <br /> meditation groups, yoga groups, athletes and their families, health workers, <br /> etc. Our clientele is not attracted to hotels or to condos in resort areas. They <br /> simply will find somewhere more hospitable to spend their money. <br /> We feel as if it is unfair to cut our income off or to charge us even more for the <br /> service we are providing. We built the house as owner-builders with the idea <br /> of it helping us (two retired public schoolteachers) make ends meet in a state <br /> that has an excessively high standard of living. We have tried to follow the <br /> rules and color inside the lines while watching the county ignore those who <br /> haven't been so meticulous. Your emphasis should be on more equitable and <br /> rigorous tax collection and more accountability on those owners of STVRs who <br /> are not playing by the rules. Those of us who are trying to do the right thing <br />