I Srongly Oppose! Short term rentals brings a lot of jobs and income to Maui not to mention the income from TA and TE taxes imposed on the rentals. I purchased the property many years ago knowing that I could rent it out. It is not fair to now impose restrictions on the use of the porperty. This is a typical exaple of Governmet over reach. If you wish to ban new short term rentals, although may be not a wise decision, at least people purchase property knowing what the rules are, and don't have them change arbitraily. It seems like the coucil indeed should be trying to deal with real issues like homelessness, beach errosion, water supply etc. Of course these need creativity and hard work rather than invalidating porperty owner's rights with the stroke of a pen!
If passed, this bill will not only harm Short Term Vacation Rental (STVR) property owners it will hurt everyone who lives in Maui, works in Maui, owns property in Maui, or visits Maui.
If passed, this bill will hurt the tourist industry in Maui. As STVR properties become less and less available to tourists, there will be fewer visitors to Maui. Surely, you can see that, as there are fewer and fewer places for tourists to stay, there will be fewer and fewer visitors to Maui. As the cost of visiting Maui rises (as it is sure to do when competition is eliminated) there will be fewer and fewer visitors to Maui.
As there are fewer people visiting Maui, there will be fewer people renting cars, eating food in restaurants, buying drinks in bars, renting snorkel gear, taking boat rides, buying groceries, taking cab rides, etc. This can only lead to more businesses failing in Maui. As businesses fail, people will lose their jobs. As people lose their jobs, they will either end up leaving Maui, or they will have to go on government assistance to live. This creates a "double whammy" for Hawaii: Not only do they have to deal with a loss in tax revenue, but they must also deal with an increase in government spending. Also, the people who work in the travel/tourist businesses in Maui, who will lose their jobs, are the very people you are intending to help with this bill. What good is it to provide "affordable" housing to people who can no longer afford it because they don't have a job?
As there are fewer people visiting Maui this will mean decreased TAT and GET tax revenues collected. I don't think I need to explain why this would happen. It is obvious.
Finally, if passed, this bill will cause the value of STVR property to fall as it will no longer generate the income that it does now. As those property values fall, this will cause the value of ALL property in Maui to fall as other property owners will have to lower their prices in order to compete with the falling prices of STVR properties. As the value of properties fall, this will lead to a decrease in property tax revenue for the county.
In conclusion: This bill will harm property owners, the state of Hawaii, the County of Maui, government employees, businesses, tourists, bars, restaurants, bar and restaurant workers, cab drivers, Uber/Lyft drivers, as well as hurting anyone who makes their living through the travel/tourist business in Maui. It is clear that any benefit gained from passing this bill will be far, far outweighed by the costs.
I urge you, implore you, BEG you not to do this to our beloved Maui.
Yes! Fully support this. All local residents suffer so a few wealthy non-residents can get even more wealthy. They take housing away from residents & contribute to terrible traffic congestion, all while not putting much tourist dollars in our economy. I work in this industry, the people who rent these things are cheap and low quality tourists. And the people who own these things are cheap, low quality owners. They do not participate in the community and treat their units as a business rather than a home, which changes the whole dynamic of entire communities. They do not care what happens to this island or its people as long as the cash register keeps going cha-ching. TVR's are a blight on our community and only you have the power to change that. I wholeheartedly support phasing out existing TVR's and stopping any new ones.
Strongly oppose. This is ridiculously short sided, and only serves to pass the lost revenue on to residents. The majority of the jobs on the island are only there and supported by the strong desire for people to visit. Rental units have to pay GET, TAT, and a higher property tax rate so where do you expect to get that lost revenue?! This is a horrible proposal and will only hurt Maui residents in the process.
Aloha Council Members,
Mahalo for the opportunity to submit testimony.
I strongly oppose the proposed PSLU-34 legislation.
This bill fly’s in the face of fiscal responsibility. Didn’t you just pass an increased 3% TAT tax’s that goes directly to the county? This bill seeks to destroy that very revenue stream.
Doesn’t the TVR industry create more tax revenue for affordable housing than all other property classifications in the county.
PSLU-34 is a death sentence to affordable housing on Maui.
Only the hotel industry stands to win from this proposal. I wonder if that’s were the real pressure is coming from?
Andrew Grier
I support a moratorium on new transient accommodations on Maui. I am an ER doctor and can testify that the LACK of housing has contributed to the difficulty in getting and keeping healthcare workers in our community. In the last few years, we have lost countless staff from doctors, nurses, techs, radiology staff, case workers, to cleaning staff because they LOST their housing to new owners (who own multiple dwellings) who decided it was more profitable to short term rent their houses. These are neighborhoods and apartments where families lived upcountry, Wailuku, Paia, Kihei and Lahaina. Now these folks live in Vegas, Oregon, Washington State and we have LOST their contributions to our community. Everyday I see extraordinary amounts of tourists and owners who claim to "pay their taxes" and "supply jobs" when in reality, those "jobs" will be utilized REGARDLESS of short term rental or not. I have landscapers, I use cleaners, I do NOT short term rent multiple properties at the expense of my community. I feel we have become of society of haves and have nots. Many of these comments I am reading are WEALTHY OWNERS with multiple properties or REAL ESTATE AGENTS whose vested interest is NOT FOR THE COMMUNITY BUT FOR THEIR OWN WALLETS. Please keep tourism in tourist areas such as hotels. KEEP OUR COMMUNITY for those who CONTRIBUTE TO OUR COMMUNITY in more ways than "employing workers" and "paying their taxes".
I have rented our condo on Maui for over 20 years. I am a senior and this attempt to stop me from renting my condo would take away my income. Please do not pass this devastating idea. I am very opposed.
To the Honorable Alice Lee, Chair, Maui County Council, and Council Members, As condo owners who pay property, GET, and TAT taxes, we ask you to oppose the TVR Phase Out legislation in PSLU-34.
Our family has been coming to Maui from Alaska for the past 30 years. We bought a condo to extend our love and appreciation for this place to our many nieces and nephews who live all over the US. We are delighted to share this place with short term renters who truly love their time here as well.
Maui County clearly benefits from the revenue we, and all short term vacation rentals, provide. Please oppose this problematic idea to create affordable housing in Maui.
Thank you for your attention to this concern.
Sherry and Larry Olson
50 Haouli Street #301
Wailuku, HI 96793
Aloha Honorable Alice Lee, Chair, Maui County Council and Members,
My family has been on Maui for 6 generations on my Chinese side and 5 generations on my Japanese side, starting in Keokea and Camp 2 Spreckelsville, respectively. I’m proud of my heritage and that I am a “local”. I currently live on the mainland, but our family still maintains the family’s condo in Ma’alaea, and I enjoy the privilege of being able to come home to Maui for 3-4 months out of the year.
All Mauians have such a deep pride in our island. We are excited when we talk about Maui to other people, and it is with pride that we say, “I’m from Maui!” It’s because Maui is such a special place, defined by a unique culture in a physically stunning location. It was the absolute best place to grow up as a kid in the 60’s, and my siblings and I have nothing but the most wonderful memories and experiences. It’s true! --- Lucky you live Hawaii and Maui no ka oi!
My father acquired a few properties on Maui starting in the late 60’s. He was a very astute businessman and recognized that when you have real property, a finite asset, on Maui, then you’ve got something valuable that can be left for generations to come, to ensure that the family can enjoy Maui long after he’s passed. He had donated a Ma’alaea condo to Maui College, which I remember the potential rental income was attractive to the college; eventually they sold it to another party as an investment rental property. The overall return to the College helped enable them to provide programs for local students.
The overhead required with owning a condo in beach communities on Maui is sizable --- there are very significant monthly maintenance fees, special assessments, higher insurance premiums, and higher real property taxes. In the face of these expenses, the way we are able to maintain our slice of paradise is by renting out our unit in Ma’alaea as a vacation rental for part of the year. It is unclear if this resolution applies to all title (ownership) changes after December 31, 2021, including if you’re a current owner. If so, the ability to cover overhead expenses through TVR income will not be an option if ownership shares sold after December 31, 2021 result in a title change or once the condo passes down to our children.
Our condo was left to us to enjoy and keep a concrete connection to Maui. My siblings and I plan to do the same thing by passing this down to our children, with the hope that they will do the same with their children. Should this resolution pass, our bequest will become a burden to our children. And the sad part is that the Maui connection will very likely be lost.
I recognize the need for and applaud your efforts to try to find ways to provide affordable housing on Maui, however, eliminating transient vacation rentals in apartment zones for future buyers is not the right solution in my opinion. By passing this bill, you will have also eliminated an extremely strong revenue source for Maui, in terms of local domestic, retail, and hospitality services and products. My friends who currently rent out their units in Ma’alaea also stay in their units for months, as I do, contributing significantly towards the community.
I am a retired hospitality professional in sales and marketing for 30 years. What we know is that the potential for revenue drives most owners of TVR units to demand that properties are well-maintained. The better-maintained the property, the better the revenue stream. You will see this in Ma’alaea where the properties are very well-maintained and attractive. These beautiful properties offer the travelers a different, oftentimes more comfortable and certainly more reasonably-priced experience to enjoy Maui than staying in a hotel resort in Wailea or Lahaina/Kaanapali. From a tourism and travel perspective, widening the customer base is good for county revenues through GET and TAT we file.
Our unit accommodates travelers who typically are repeat visitors to the island, who are not looking to rent a room in a random house in a local neighborhood. These are visitors who consider themselves part kama’aina because they’ve been to Maui so often, they respect the ‘aina and ke kai. But we would be eliminating this customer niche from our marketing strategy. In essence, eliminating these TVRs is helping the hotels create an economic monopoly which will have undesirable repercussions in the long run for the industry.
I cannot speak to how we would solve the affordable housing needs for our residents. However, to change what is successfully contributing to our island’s revenues in an effort to address the housing challenge is robbing from Peter to pay Paul. And please remember, it is not just out-of-state people who own and operate TVRs. There are many residents and people like me and my family who are from here and still consider Maui home who have TVRs and need this to keep our units and help provide an income to our families.
Mahalo for allowing me this opportunity to share my thoughts with you, and I hope you will consider alternatives besides eliminating TVRs in Ma’alaea.
WRITTEN TESTIMONY: PHASING OUT TRANSIENT ACCOMMODATIONS IN THE APARTMENT DISTRICTS (PSLU-34)
Let me take a minute to share who we are & why we OPPOSE PHASING OUT TRANSIENT ACCOMMODATIONS IN THE APARTMENT DISTRICTS (PSLU-34)!
I've been a Maui County resident since 1997; my spouse, for over 50 years. We have been very fortunate to call Maui home, benefitting from the great quality of life our island affords. Over the years, our Ohana has generously supported our community through charity donations and volunteerism.
I’m a REALTOR® specializing in Short Term Rentals which we own, manage, and truly love providing guests, with 1st class Maui experiences, and we have hundreds of 5 STAR reviews as evidence!
Short Term Rentals contribute to our livelihood, our retirement, our children, our grandchildren, and our great grandchildren’s futures! This phase out will directly affect all of us by prohibiting future opportunities in our own backyard! And not just our Ohana, this phase out impacts all residents who strive to earn income in the tourism industry, while it does appear, that the major beneficiary will be the Hotel and Resort industry!
We realize that there are many obstacles facing our futures, and we do have empathy regarding affordable housing issues; however, we don't see how this phase out will best address affordable housing!
Let me provide a real time current example! Over a year ago, the Department of Planning initiated action steps due to a complainant from the Maalaea Yacht Marina resort. A single complaint that led to the discovery of a zoning issue. Sadly, just last week, we along with many owners, were ordered to cease all Short-Term Rentals, in a condo we purchased there 10 years ago. This surprise enforcement action, in a complex with a 30-year history of short-term rentals.
As a result, this associated retirement income stream, will be significantly reduced, and, for this 2 bedroom/2 bath condo, we will charge, nearly $5000/month as a long-term rental. Most likely, very appealing to work-from-home, nonresidents. Very unlikely, appealing as affordable housing for a local family of four.
If this current situation will not produce affordable housing, how will similar phase out actions be successful? Perhaps phasing out transient accommodations, will serve to reduce tourism or will drive tourist to the hotels and resorts?
This phasing out notion, may not only be ineffective, but will also deny our children a future opportunity to help defray Maui’s increasing cost of living. This type of action also prevents residents from future opportunities to really participate in the tourism industry and improve quality of lives without having to work two or more jobs!
In our humble opinion, we offer a couple of suggestions:
1)Uncover all Short-Term Rental Operators that are TAT & GET cheaters and consider governmental police powers as an enforcement vehicle.
2)Consider a moratorium on the conversion of existing long-term rentals with no recorded or never having any previous short term rental history. We all may know of residents that have been displaced because what was once a long-term rental being converted to short term.
We hope that you will Consider our Concerns and oppose PSLU-34!
Mahalo!
I am a Maui resident and healthcare worker. I moved to Maui in 2006 and initially lived at Pacific Shores in Kihei. At the time those that resided at the complex were nearly all Maui residents, there were other nurses, doctors, construction workers, restaurant workers, etc. I knew many co-workers that lived in buildings nearby. A few years ago I saw a posting online about a vacation rental at Pacific Shores and thought it must be illegal, however I was informed that the complex was now vacation rentals. In the past few years, countless friends and family have had to move away because the place they were living was turned into a vacation rental. It is a story I have heard over and over again. The hospital hires staff that never makes it to Maui because they could not find adequate housing. My husband and I have housed numerous healthcare friends until they could find housing of their own. Maui is short nurses, doctors, police, teachers, bus drivers, hotel workers, restaurant workers and the problem is only getting worse. I fully support phasing out vacation rentals in any residential or apartment zoned area. Second home owners and visitors should not be given higher priority than Maui's own residents. Mahalo.
Mahalo for the opportunity to submit testimony. I oppose this legislation, while I am not effected as my properties are in the resort zone, this bill will face many legal challenges, cost the taxpayers. Most of the units that will be made available for long term renters will fall in disarray. These old buildings need constant work and large amounts of AOAO maintenance and reserve fees. These units are small, have one parking space, no garage, not appropriate for families. There must be a better way to help those who need affordable housing, but this is not one of them.
I understand that Maui County is in need of the new Transient Tax of 3% which brings revenue to the county from short term rentals. I understand that the 10.25% tax is not not fully received by Maui County. If there is no need for this tax, why are you charging it. If there is a need for this tax why are you all thinking of eliminating this tax revenue? As we are also paying higher property taxes for our units as they are hotel/condo classification, what happens when you lose all the revenue? Why punish the owners that are now paying the brunt of the county service revenue and helping the budget for the county and state? The passing of this bill would likely result in a loss of $74M in Real Property Tax revenue for the county of Maui, and a loss of $69M in TAT Revenue for the State. How will this revenue be replaced? Most likely in an increase in taxes for Maui residents, property and GET tax. I have a grandfathered vacation rental property, and have a short term vacation rental license and I pay quite a high property tax. I don't get why I need to provide affordable housing to people. I feel that is what the government is suppose to do. You all plenty of vacant land. Maui continues to build and add hotels in throughout the island. Permits are given, and permits are paid for the building and there is no plan to house the people that will work in these hotels. It is not my job or duty to provide affordable housing to corporate America just because you are giving permits and do not have an infrastructure plan. We all paid more than real market value for our vacation homes, and we pay for the privilege to have these vacation rentals with in higher property taxes. I feel what you are doing is not democratic. It seems like a government take over of private property. When and if I ever need to sell my property I should not be punished for helping the state and county with my higher rate of property tax and generating taxable income for the county and State. We should be celebrate for our contributions to help our state promote tourism.
Sincerely,
Denise Adams
This bill is incredibly short sighted and unless the Hotel industry is committing to step up and pay significantly more in property taxes, the standard of living for Maui residents will decline.
Not only will property tax revenues fall, so will Transient Accommodations Tax revenue ( that 3% of revenues you are now collecting ) , but so will your business tax revenue as there are many Maui businesses, small businesses to be precise, who earn their income supporting the transient vacation rentals. These include cleaners, handymen, contractors, tradespeople, artists, vendors of items large to small. They will lose business and in turn, you will lose business property taxes and perhaps residents.
If you don’t care about the economics of the county, then consider whether these properties that you are taking are suitable for Maui families. Do you think Maui families with one or two or more kids want to live in a one bedroom apartment with only common area pools and green space to grow up in? Do you think they want to pay $700+ a month in condo fees for the privilege of living in a one bedroom condo? Is that the quality of life you want to provide to your citizens?
If your goal is to reduce tourism, consider the impact tourism has on the quality of life of Maui residents. No doubt there are downsides, but there are jobs and there are economic benefits to everyone even if they are not involved in the tourist industry. Do you think Costco would bring in the same quantity and diversity of products if tourists weren’t shopping there? Do you think Costco would pass along the price increases resulting from having higher per unit shipping costs from the mainland? Of course they would. So would Safeway and Foodland, Home Depot and Lowes, Walmart and Target. Some items would become uneconomic to ship here and would disappear from store shelves entirely – or be special order only. And you already know how many on-line retailers already do not ship to Hawaii, Guam and Alaska. That will increase.
I hope you seriously consider the implications of the decisions you are about to make
Kindest regards
Neal Halstead
Neal Halstead
Director | Wood’s Homes
Direct:403-270-1758 | Mobile:403-801-7311
I would like to petition Maui County to abandon the proposed ordinance prohibiting Short Term Rentals (STR) in apartment districts. Many of the apartment districts in question, including the one I own in, were built in SMA zones near the ocean and prohibiting STR will not help or correct the current shortage of low-cost, long-term rental properties.
In addition, eliminating the STR status of properties within a mile of the ocean has the appearance of favoritism to large corporate hotels and will reduce the options Maui visitors currently enjoy as many prefer to not stay in high cost, high rise hotels.
An unintended consequence of empty STR units will be the reduction in tax revenue to Maui County as well as an increase in property damage, theft and other illegal activities not to mention the reduction in tourism dollars, etc. I do understand not wanting STR in high-density, long-term rental or owned neighborhoods but most of the STR addressed in this broad-brush ordinance are not those kinds of properties and they should be exempt.
Maui County partnering with developers in non-resort areas while streamlining the permitting process for construction will prove to be the successful model for improved low-cost housing on Maui.
I Srongly Oppose! Short term rentals brings a lot of jobs and income to Maui not to mention the income from TA and TE taxes imposed on the rentals. I purchased the property many years ago knowing that I could rent it out. It is not fair to now impose restrictions on the use of the porperty. This is a typical exaple of Governmet over reach. If you wish to ban new short term rentals, although may be not a wise decision, at least people purchase property knowing what the rules are, and don't have them change arbitraily. It seems like the coucil indeed should be trying to deal with real issues like homelessness, beach errosion, water supply etc. Of course these need creativity and hard work rather than invalidating porperty owner's rights with the stroke of a pen!
I STRONGLY oppose this bill!!
If passed, this bill will not only harm Short Term Vacation Rental (STVR) property owners it will hurt everyone who lives in Maui, works in Maui, owns property in Maui, or visits Maui.
If passed, this bill will hurt the tourist industry in Maui. As STVR properties become less and less available to tourists, there will be fewer visitors to Maui. Surely, you can see that, as there are fewer and fewer places for tourists to stay, there will be fewer and fewer visitors to Maui. As the cost of visiting Maui rises (as it is sure to do when competition is eliminated) there will be fewer and fewer visitors to Maui.
As there are fewer people visiting Maui, there will be fewer people renting cars, eating food in restaurants, buying drinks in bars, renting snorkel gear, taking boat rides, buying groceries, taking cab rides, etc. This can only lead to more businesses failing in Maui. As businesses fail, people will lose their jobs. As people lose their jobs, they will either end up leaving Maui, or they will have to go on government assistance to live. This creates a "double whammy" for Hawaii: Not only do they have to deal with a loss in tax revenue, but they must also deal with an increase in government spending. Also, the people who work in the travel/tourist businesses in Maui, who will lose their jobs, are the very people you are intending to help with this bill. What good is it to provide "affordable" housing to people who can no longer afford it because they don't have a job?
As there are fewer people visiting Maui this will mean decreased TAT and GET tax revenues collected. I don't think I need to explain why this would happen. It is obvious.
Finally, if passed, this bill will cause the value of STVR property to fall as it will no longer generate the income that it does now. As those property values fall, this will cause the value of ALL property in Maui to fall as other property owners will have to lower their prices in order to compete with the falling prices of STVR properties. As the value of properties fall, this will lead to a decrease in property tax revenue for the county.
In conclusion: This bill will harm property owners, the state of Hawaii, the County of Maui, government employees, businesses, tourists, bars, restaurants, bar and restaurant workers, cab drivers, Uber/Lyft drivers, as well as hurting anyone who makes their living through the travel/tourist business in Maui. It is clear that any benefit gained from passing this bill will be far, far outweighed by the costs.
I urge you, implore you, BEG you not to do this to our beloved Maui.
Please see my extended testimony in support of BOTH PSLU-28 AND PSLU-34 submitted via email. - Sarah Hofstadter, Kihei resident
Enough already! House the homeless before a foreigner is allowed to buy here.
Yes! Fully support this. All local residents suffer so a few wealthy non-residents can get even more wealthy. They take housing away from residents & contribute to terrible traffic congestion, all while not putting much tourist dollars in our economy. I work in this industry, the people who rent these things are cheap and low quality tourists. And the people who own these things are cheap, low quality owners. They do not participate in the community and treat their units as a business rather than a home, which changes the whole dynamic of entire communities. They do not care what happens to this island or its people as long as the cash register keeps going cha-ching. TVR's are a blight on our community and only you have the power to change that. I wholeheartedly support phasing out existing TVR's and stopping any new ones.
Strongly oppose. This is ridiculously short sided, and only serves to pass the lost revenue on to residents. The majority of the jobs on the island are only there and supported by the strong desire for people to visit. Rental units have to pay GET, TAT, and a higher property tax rate so where do you expect to get that lost revenue?! This is a horrible proposal and will only hurt Maui residents in the process.
Aloha Council Members,
Mahalo for the opportunity to submit testimony.
I strongly oppose the proposed PSLU-34 legislation.
This bill fly’s in the face of fiscal responsibility. Didn’t you just pass an increased 3% TAT tax’s that goes directly to the county? This bill seeks to destroy that very revenue stream.
Doesn’t the TVR industry create more tax revenue for affordable housing than all other property classifications in the county.
PSLU-34 is a death sentence to affordable housing on Maui.
Only the hotel industry stands to win from this proposal. I wonder if that’s were the real pressure is coming from?
Andrew Grier
Testimonies received by the PSLU Committee.
I strongly OPPOSE this. I'm not going to regurgitate all of the same reasons that are being expressed here by others opposing.
This is VERY short sighted. You are not solving the real issues by these actions. You are actually creating new and potentially bigger issues.
I support a moratorium on new transient accommodations on Maui. I am an ER doctor and can testify that the LACK of housing has contributed to the difficulty in getting and keeping healthcare workers in our community. In the last few years, we have lost countless staff from doctors, nurses, techs, radiology staff, case workers, to cleaning staff because they LOST their housing to new owners (who own multiple dwellings) who decided it was more profitable to short term rent their houses. These are neighborhoods and apartments where families lived upcountry, Wailuku, Paia, Kihei and Lahaina. Now these folks live in Vegas, Oregon, Washington State and we have LOST their contributions to our community. Everyday I see extraordinary amounts of tourists and owners who claim to "pay their taxes" and "supply jobs" when in reality, those "jobs" will be utilized REGARDLESS of short term rental or not. I have landscapers, I use cleaners, I do NOT short term rent multiple properties at the expense of my community. I feel we have become of society of haves and have nots. Many of these comments I am reading are WEALTHY OWNERS with multiple properties or REAL ESTATE AGENTS whose vested interest is NOT FOR THE COMMUNITY BUT FOR THEIR OWN WALLETS. Please keep tourism in tourist areas such as hotels. KEEP OUR COMMUNITY for those who CONTRIBUTE TO OUR COMMUNITY in more ways than "employing workers" and "paying their taxes".
Mahalo for the opportunity to submit testimony.
Aloha,
I have rented our condo on Maui for over 20 years. I am a senior and this attempt to stop me from renting my condo would take away my income. Please do not pass this devastating idea. I am very opposed.
Sincerely,
JaNell McCullough
I support
To the Honorable Alice Lee, Chair, Maui County Council, and Council Members, As condo owners who pay property, GET, and TAT taxes, we ask you to oppose the TVR Phase Out legislation in PSLU-34.
Our family has been coming to Maui from Alaska for the past 30 years. We bought a condo to extend our love and appreciation for this place to our many nieces and nephews who live all over the US. We are delighted to share this place with short term renters who truly love their time here as well.
Maui County clearly benefits from the revenue we, and all short term vacation rentals, provide. Please oppose this problematic idea to create affordable housing in Maui.
Thank you for your attention to this concern.
Sherry and Larry Olson
50 Haouli Street #301
Wailuku, HI 96793
October 31, 2021
Aloha Honorable Alice Lee, Chair, Maui County Council and Members,
My family has been on Maui for 6 generations on my Chinese side and 5 generations on my Japanese side, starting in Keokea and Camp 2 Spreckelsville, respectively. I’m proud of my heritage and that I am a “local”. I currently live on the mainland, but our family still maintains the family’s condo in Ma’alaea, and I enjoy the privilege of being able to come home to Maui for 3-4 months out of the year.
All Mauians have such a deep pride in our island. We are excited when we talk about Maui to other people, and it is with pride that we say, “I’m from Maui!” It’s because Maui is such a special place, defined by a unique culture in a physically stunning location. It was the absolute best place to grow up as a kid in the 60’s, and my siblings and I have nothing but the most wonderful memories and experiences. It’s true! --- Lucky you live Hawaii and Maui no ka oi!
My father acquired a few properties on Maui starting in the late 60’s. He was a very astute businessman and recognized that when you have real property, a finite asset, on Maui, then you’ve got something valuable that can be left for generations to come, to ensure that the family can enjoy Maui long after he’s passed. He had donated a Ma’alaea condo to Maui College, which I remember the potential rental income was attractive to the college; eventually they sold it to another party as an investment rental property. The overall return to the College helped enable them to provide programs for local students.
The overhead required with owning a condo in beach communities on Maui is sizable --- there are very significant monthly maintenance fees, special assessments, higher insurance premiums, and higher real property taxes. In the face of these expenses, the way we are able to maintain our slice of paradise is by renting out our unit in Ma’alaea as a vacation rental for part of the year. It is unclear if this resolution applies to all title (ownership) changes after December 31, 2021, including if you’re a current owner. If so, the ability to cover overhead expenses through TVR income will not be an option if ownership shares sold after December 31, 2021 result in a title change or once the condo passes down to our children.
Our condo was left to us to enjoy and keep a concrete connection to Maui. My siblings and I plan to do the same thing by passing this down to our children, with the hope that they will do the same with their children. Should this resolution pass, our bequest will become a burden to our children. And the sad part is that the Maui connection will very likely be lost.
I recognize the need for and applaud your efforts to try to find ways to provide affordable housing on Maui, however, eliminating transient vacation rentals in apartment zones for future buyers is not the right solution in my opinion. By passing this bill, you will have also eliminated an extremely strong revenue source for Maui, in terms of local domestic, retail, and hospitality services and products. My friends who currently rent out their units in Ma’alaea also stay in their units for months, as I do, contributing significantly towards the community.
I am a retired hospitality professional in sales and marketing for 30 years. What we know is that the potential for revenue drives most owners of TVR units to demand that properties are well-maintained. The better-maintained the property, the better the revenue stream. You will see this in Ma’alaea where the properties are very well-maintained and attractive. These beautiful properties offer the travelers a different, oftentimes more comfortable and certainly more reasonably-priced experience to enjoy Maui than staying in a hotel resort in Wailea or Lahaina/Kaanapali. From a tourism and travel perspective, widening the customer base is good for county revenues through GET and TAT we file.
Our unit accommodates travelers who typically are repeat visitors to the island, who are not looking to rent a room in a random house in a local neighborhood. These are visitors who consider themselves part kama’aina because they’ve been to Maui so often, they respect the ‘aina and ke kai. But we would be eliminating this customer niche from our marketing strategy. In essence, eliminating these TVRs is helping the hotels create an economic monopoly which will have undesirable repercussions in the long run for the industry.
I cannot speak to how we would solve the affordable housing needs for our residents. However, to change what is successfully contributing to our island’s revenues in an effort to address the housing challenge is robbing from Peter to pay Paul. And please remember, it is not just out-of-state people who own and operate TVRs. There are many residents and people like me and my family who are from here and still consider Maui home who have TVRs and need this to keep our units and help provide an income to our families.
Mahalo for allowing me this opportunity to share my thoughts with you, and I hope you will consider alternatives besides eliminating TVRs in Ma’alaea.
Sincerely,
Wendy Wong Thayer
WRITTEN TESTIMONY: PHASING OUT TRANSIENT ACCOMMODATIONS IN THE APARTMENT DISTRICTS (PSLU-34)
Let me take a minute to share who we are & why we OPPOSE PHASING OUT TRANSIENT ACCOMMODATIONS IN THE APARTMENT DISTRICTS (PSLU-34)!
I've been a Maui County resident since 1997; my spouse, for over 50 years. We have been very fortunate to call Maui home, benefitting from the great quality of life our island affords. Over the years, our Ohana has generously supported our community through charity donations and volunteerism.
I’m a REALTOR® specializing in Short Term Rentals which we own, manage, and truly love providing guests, with 1st class Maui experiences, and we have hundreds of 5 STAR reviews as evidence!
Short Term Rentals contribute to our livelihood, our retirement, our children, our grandchildren, and our great grandchildren’s futures! This phase out will directly affect all of us by prohibiting future opportunities in our own backyard! And not just our Ohana, this phase out impacts all residents who strive to earn income in the tourism industry, while it does appear, that the major beneficiary will be the Hotel and Resort industry!
We realize that there are many obstacles facing our futures, and we do have empathy regarding affordable housing issues; however, we don't see how this phase out will best address affordable housing!
Let me provide a real time current example! Over a year ago, the Department of Planning initiated action steps due to a complainant from the Maalaea Yacht Marina resort. A single complaint that led to the discovery of a zoning issue. Sadly, just last week, we along with many owners, were ordered to cease all Short-Term Rentals, in a condo we purchased there 10 years ago. This surprise enforcement action, in a complex with a 30-year history of short-term rentals.
As a result, this associated retirement income stream, will be significantly reduced, and, for this 2 bedroom/2 bath condo, we will charge, nearly $5000/month as a long-term rental. Most likely, very appealing to work-from-home, nonresidents. Very unlikely, appealing as affordable housing for a local family of four.
If this current situation will not produce affordable housing, how will similar phase out actions be successful? Perhaps phasing out transient accommodations, will serve to reduce tourism or will drive tourist to the hotels and resorts?
This phasing out notion, may not only be ineffective, but will also deny our children a future opportunity to help defray Maui’s increasing cost of living. This type of action also prevents residents from future opportunities to really participate in the tourism industry and improve quality of lives without having to work two or more jobs!
In our humble opinion, we offer a couple of suggestions:
1)Uncover all Short-Term Rental Operators that are TAT & GET cheaters and consider governmental police powers as an enforcement vehicle.
2)Consider a moratorium on the conversion of existing long-term rentals with no recorded or never having any previous short term rental history. We all may know of residents that have been displaced because what was once a long-term rental being converted to short term.
We hope that you will Consider our Concerns and oppose PSLU-34!
Mahalo!
I am a Maui resident and healthcare worker. I moved to Maui in 2006 and initially lived at Pacific Shores in Kihei. At the time those that resided at the complex were nearly all Maui residents, there were other nurses, doctors, construction workers, restaurant workers, etc. I knew many co-workers that lived in buildings nearby. A few years ago I saw a posting online about a vacation rental at Pacific Shores and thought it must be illegal, however I was informed that the complex was now vacation rentals. In the past few years, countless friends and family have had to move away because the place they were living was turned into a vacation rental. It is a story I have heard over and over again. The hospital hires staff that never makes it to Maui because they could not find adequate housing. My husband and I have housed numerous healthcare friends until they could find housing of their own. Maui is short nurses, doctors, police, teachers, bus drivers, hotel workers, restaurant workers and the problem is only getting worse. I fully support phasing out vacation rentals in any residential or apartment zoned area. Second home owners and visitors should not be given higher priority than Maui's own residents. Mahalo.
Mahalo for the opportunity to submit testimony. I oppose this legislation, while I am not effected as my properties are in the resort zone, this bill will face many legal challenges, cost the taxpayers. Most of the units that will be made available for long term renters will fall in disarray. These old buildings need constant work and large amounts of AOAO maintenance and reserve fees. These units are small, have one parking space, no garage, not appropriate for families. There must be a better way to help those who need affordable housing, but this is not one of them.
Respectfully submitted,
Alicia Humiston
I understand that Maui County is in need of the new Transient Tax of 3% which brings revenue to the county from short term rentals. I understand that the 10.25% tax is not not fully received by Maui County. If there is no need for this tax, why are you charging it. If there is a need for this tax why are you all thinking of eliminating this tax revenue? As we are also paying higher property taxes for our units as they are hotel/condo classification, what happens when you lose all the revenue? Why punish the owners that are now paying the brunt of the county service revenue and helping the budget for the county and state? The passing of this bill would likely result in a loss of $74M in Real Property Tax revenue for the county of Maui, and a loss of $69M in TAT Revenue for the State. How will this revenue be replaced? Most likely in an increase in taxes for Maui residents, property and GET tax. I have a grandfathered vacation rental property, and have a short term vacation rental license and I pay quite a high property tax. I don't get why I need to provide affordable housing to people. I feel that is what the government is suppose to do. You all plenty of vacant land. Maui continues to build and add hotels in throughout the island. Permits are given, and permits are paid for the building and there is no plan to house the people that will work in these hotels. It is not my job or duty to provide affordable housing to corporate America just because you are giving permits and do not have an infrastructure plan. We all paid more than real market value for our vacation homes, and we pay for the privilege to have these vacation rentals with in higher property taxes. I feel what you are doing is not democratic. It seems like a government take over of private property. When and if I ever need to sell my property I should not be punished for helping the state and county with my higher rate of property tax and generating taxable income for the county and State. We should be celebrate for our contributions to help our state promote tourism.
Sincerely,
Denise Adams
Mahalo for the opportunity to submit testimony.
This bill is incredibly short sighted and unless the Hotel industry is committing to step up and pay significantly more in property taxes, the standard of living for Maui residents will decline.
Not only will property tax revenues fall, so will Transient Accommodations Tax revenue ( that 3% of revenues you are now collecting ) , but so will your business tax revenue as there are many Maui businesses, small businesses to be precise, who earn their income supporting the transient vacation rentals. These include cleaners, handymen, contractors, tradespeople, artists, vendors of items large to small. They will lose business and in turn, you will lose business property taxes and perhaps residents.
If you don’t care about the economics of the county, then consider whether these properties that you are taking are suitable for Maui families. Do you think Maui families with one or two or more kids want to live in a one bedroom apartment with only common area pools and green space to grow up in? Do you think they want to pay $700+ a month in condo fees for the privilege of living in a one bedroom condo? Is that the quality of life you want to provide to your citizens?
If your goal is to reduce tourism, consider the impact tourism has on the quality of life of Maui residents. No doubt there are downsides, but there are jobs and there are economic benefits to everyone even if they are not involved in the tourist industry. Do you think Costco would bring in the same quantity and diversity of products if tourists weren’t shopping there? Do you think Costco would pass along the price increases resulting from having higher per unit shipping costs from the mainland? Of course they would. So would Safeway and Foodland, Home Depot and Lowes, Walmart and Target. Some items would become uneconomic to ship here and would disappear from store shelves entirely – or be special order only. And you already know how many on-line retailers already do not ship to Hawaii, Guam and Alaska. That will increase.
I hope you seriously consider the implications of the decisions you are about to make
Kindest regards
Neal Halstead
Neal Halstead
Director | Wood’s Homes
Direct:403-270-1758 | Mobile:403-801-7311
Mahalo for the opportunity to submit testimony.
I would like to petition Maui County to abandon the proposed ordinance prohibiting Short Term Rentals (STR) in apartment districts. Many of the apartment districts in question, including the one I own in, were built in SMA zones near the ocean and prohibiting STR will not help or correct the current shortage of low-cost, long-term rental properties.
In addition, eliminating the STR status of properties within a mile of the ocean has the appearance of favoritism to large corporate hotels and will reduce the options Maui visitors currently enjoy as many prefer to not stay in high cost, high rise hotels.
An unintended consequence of empty STR units will be the reduction in tax revenue to Maui County as well as an increase in property damage, theft and other illegal activities not to mention the reduction in tourism dollars, etc. I do understand not wanting STR in high-density, long-term rental or owned neighborhoods but most of the STR addressed in this broad-brush ordinance are not those kinds of properties and they should be exempt.
Maui County partnering with developers in non-resort areas while streamlining the permitting process for construction will prove to be the successful model for improved low-cost housing on Maui.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Respectfully,
Richard Smith