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From: Claudia Merrill <br /> To: WPCtestimonv <br /> Subject: Bill121 <br /> Date: Wednesday, March 27,2024 1:13:04 PM <br /> Aloha, <br /> I am writing regarding the newly proposed Bill 121 in regards to homeowner hosted short <br /> term rentals. I would very much like to see homeowners that rent a room in their home to <br /> make ends meet, exempt from the proposed ruling and to separate residents from investment <br /> property owners from off island. <br /> My husband and I are kapuna and live in a beach community neighborhood on the west side <br /> of the Big Island that has several homeowner hosted rentals. It is a quiet neighborhood and <br /> there has never been an issue with large parties, noise and parking that both Oahu and Maui <br /> seem to have problems with. We ourselves purchased our home 32 years ago and have needed <br /> to rent a room to make ends meet. <br /> We first tried long term renters in our studio that is a portion of the downstairs of our home. <br /> We ended up having to evict both a drug dealer who had guests coming and going at all times <br /> day and night, and then a single person with anger issues who yelled and slammed doors and <br /> cupboards day and/or night. After two very bad experiences we decided to try shorter term <br /> rentals, as our home is our sanctuary and should not be subject to adverse living conditions. It <br /> is important to us to have our privacy and enjoy our home. <br /> Guests that come for a short stay are off to see the island, have activities planned, and do not <br /> spend much time at our house. If we are no longer able to rent a room in our home, we will <br /> NOT rent long term again and it would be a great hardship on our finances to continue to live <br /> in our home. <br /> We love living in our neighborhood, and would love to be able to continue to do so, without <br /> the exorbitant regulations that are proposed in this bill overseeing us. We are a retired couple, <br /> ran a business in Kona for over 20 years before retiring, and we cannot live comfortably in <br /> Hawaii with the cost of living expenses on only our social security income. <br /> We are always at home to meet and greet our guests, have a maximum of 2 people, (mostly <br /> couples traveling) , have many repeat guests as they love our studio , and have a parking space <br /> specifically for our rental. The type of traveller that stays in the type of vacation rental that we <br /> offer, would not be coming to Kona if they had to stay in a hotel room that was $500. or more <br /> a night. These are budget travelers, that find lower cost lodging so they can experience <br /> activities, restaurants, renting a car and sight seeing, etc. They are not destination hotel <br /> tourists. <br /> We have always paid GE, TAT, taxes and now the county tax. We are in our 70's and do have <br /> the homeowners classification as we were told we would be grandfathered in and only non- <br /> resident STVR owners would be taxed as investment property. Now I'm hearing that if we <br /> rent at all, we will have to pay up to 11 % in property taxes, which would prohibit us from <br /> making ends meet. <br /> So my question is: who are you targeting here ? Why are tax paying long term residents <br /> being treated and classified the same as out of state property investment STVR 's? You could <br />