TVR taxes are high. HOA fee's are high. Mortgage rates are high. You make an investment in real estate and you pay the taxes. You keep residents from living in some of the very few properties not burned down, you get to continue to pay YOUR obligations. Ask the bank to lower your rate. Ask your HOA to reduce the fee's. Did they? No? Will they? No. Your TVR taxes helps residents. This bill help residents. While you continue to live you life elsewhere Lahaina residents suffer. Your TVR did in fact, take away a Lahaina home. Your desire to keep locals out has been observed. You put up fences and took away our shoreline. You installed a hardened shoreline that eroded our beaches. You want residential benefits from the mainland. You want your multiple Lahaina TVR properties to skip out on taxes. You make tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars a year on your rental business. You can afford to pay your fair share. After all, your property did not burn and will be one of only a few hundred in Lahaina Town once the water is back. Your property has increased in value since there are so few left. Your rental rate will skyrocket once you are able to bring back the TRV guests. You are going to be just fine, TVR owner.
I am one of the 199 owners at Lahaina Shore. While our building survived the fire, it is within the fire zone. We have yet to have access to our building but still must pay our mortgages, taxes, and AOAO fees. It may be years before our properties may be utilized. I ask that you also give us tax relief while our units are inhabitable
Thanks
Unit # 210
Shelly Glass
Maui Resident
We were asked to submit this here. We cannot rent our units and are not residents. We visit now and then but this in an investment property. We do not want any local residents to buy in our building. Locals just ruin things and we like to keep Lahaina Shores visitor focused as the money is so good, we bought more than one.
We are owners at the Lahaina Shores. While our building survived the fire, it is within the fire zone. We understand water and sewer to the area are compromised, and have heard that it may be a number of years before our property can be utilized by anyone. Many of the units in Lahaina Shores are owned by individuals who rent them out for part of the year, and thus are not classified as "residential." Nonetheless, we, like many others are not in a position to absorb the losses we have suffered. Given that our property cannot be used for any purpose, we would ask that tax relief be extended to properties, such as ours, that are not residential, that may be standing, but that cannot lawfully be used.
This agenda includes 5 different items, but most relevant to our concerns is BFED- 35 and this item continues to include Bill 95 that previously create a full exemption from real property tax for ALL properties in Lahaina tax zone 4 sections five and six.
UNFORTUNATELY, the Council member who proposed Bill 95 has submitted several proposed amendments to this bill. Most concerning is an amendment that would only provide the additional tax relief to Owner Occupied properties and not to non owner occupied or TVR properties within the burn zone.
The proposed amendments also include an amendment to allow owner occupied properties outside Lahaina tax zone 4 sections five and six to also get a tax exemption if the property was made uninhabitable and proof can be by photograph or insurance claim. And it also includes a section to allow Homeowner tax exemptions in place prior to the fires to remain in effect until at least June 30, 2025, while the property may be uninhabitable even though the exemption might require the owner to live in the property.
Both written and oral testimony should be encouraged to support expanding tax relief to all properties in the burn zone. Council members need to feel empathy for the property owners with undamaged properties who have not been able to use their properties for the past 3 months and most likely will not be able to use the for the next year or two.
Don't yell at the Council members, instead try to appeal to their own sense of fairness. But understand that many of the Council members are not empathetic to ANY second home or TVR owners, as they feel that these uses take away housing opportunities for residents. The Council members will respond to masses of people calling for them to take a particular action, but will ignore just a few, who seem unsatisfied or angry. It takes 50-100 testimonies to actually get their attention. So, wives and husbands should each send in or speak their own testimonies. Try not to repeat the exact same thing that others have said, but try to personalize your own testimony and how the payment of these property taxes impacts you personally. DO NOT say that you may not be able to afford to keep your Maui home at these high taxes, without being able to use or rent your property. They actually want you to sell, in hopes that a local person would buy your second home to live in full time.
It is noteworthy that BFED-35 also includes two other tax relief bills, BILL 91 and Bill 102. Neither of these bills would provide tax relief to property owners whose properties were not damaged or destroyed and both depend on someone to declare the property as uninhabitable. And the Real Property tax department has submitted some code amendments that also do not help anyone whose home was not destroyed by the fires.
The most significant news from the past week were comments made by the Director of Water supply who said that it will be two to three years before safe drinking water will be available in Lahaina. https://www.civilbeat.org/.../it-will-be-years-before.../
This supports the argument that property taxes for ALL properties in the burn zone need to be suspended for at least 2 years.
Written testimony can continue to be submitted via the ecomments link:
I support property tax relief for all owners in the area of destruction. Relief should not be limited to owner-occupied units.
My family purchased a unit in Puamana 50 years ago. It is full of family memories, even though we did not live there year-round. My parents lived there at least half of each year, and my niece was married at Puamana. We have a deep love and appreciation for Maui, and are devastated by this fire. Although we have rented the unit out in the last few years when we were not using it, we are committed to supporting Lahaina through its restoration. In the meantime, we are burdened by HOA fees and steep property taxes while not receiving any utility service perhaps for several years. Our unit did not burn down, and it could be used to house those year-round residents who have lost their homes, but without tax relief, this will be much more difficult. I submit that all property owners (even LLC's, which are often essentially individual owners), should receive property tax relief until services to their property are restored completely.
We are owners in Puamana. We have been visiting Lahaina for 30 years and renting in Puamana every year. It was our dream to own in Puamana and eventually retire there. Finally, two years ago our dream became a reality when we purchased a home in Puamana. Our children are still in school so we can't live there year around until they are in college. To help pay for our mortgage and HOA dues, we have been renting it out. We came to visit last month and our hearts were just broken when we saw the devastation in Puamana. We are fortunate that our home did not burn down but it is inhabitable and who knows how long it will be before we can use it again. We will have a loss of use for years until the water and sewer are repaired. In the meantime, we still have to pay our mortgage and our HOA dues. I understand that owner occupied units are in a different position because they have no place to live and I support that they shouldn't have to pay property taxes but we should not be penalized because we don't live there year around. We are US citizens and not international investors. We love Maui and that is why we purchased there and plan to retire. Please, please consider all owners. Thank you for all you are doing.
I am an owner at Lahaina Roads. While our building miraculously survived the fire it is in the catastrophic fire zone 4. Everything burnt to the ground around us. It is evident water and sewer to the area are compromised, and we have heard that it may be a number of years before our property can be utilized by anyone.
Many of the units in Lahaina Roads are owned by individuals who do rent them out for part of the year, and thus are not classified as "residential." Nonetheless, I, like many others, am not in a position to absorb the losses for multiple years. I am still responsible for paying monthly HOA fees. Given that my property cannot be used for any purpose, I would ask that tax relief be extended to all properties, such as mine, that are not residential, that may be standing, but that cannot be lived in for quite some time.
the County should understand that charging property taxes without providing services is unreasonable
Thank you for your consideration,
Connie Maurer Lahaina Roads #311
My husband and I have been supporters of the Islands almost all of our married life - over 24 years. We are environmentally conscious, supporters of locals and natives and we are do all we can to love, respect and support our Maui Ohana. We have owned property in Lahaina since 2015 and it is our goal to help Maui rebuild Lahaina in a way that preserves its tradition and culture, supporting Lahaina’s right to retain control of the rebuild. While we cannot live full time on Maui we consider it our home. We are invested not just financially but emotionally. We respectfully ask that we be included in the tax relief despite the fact we cannot live in our home full time. We have been devastated by the loss of our Lahaina Ohana and we have felt the affects as well. We ask only that we be fairly treated and included in tax relief so we do not lose our home as well. Please amend the bill to include all home owners whose homes are not habitable.
This needs to include non owner occupied properties. With no clean water for 2 years, whether the property is standing or not and regardless of use type, none of the properties are useful!
Whether arable land, owner occupied home, long or short term rental, store, or restaurant, if a property is completely unusable why should it be taxed until it is usable again?
What property "value" does it have? You cannot live on it, grow produce on it, graze livestock with it, sell your farm goods from another location on it, or even sit on a mat and enjoy a view from it. It cannot be owner occupied if you cannot live there!
Full time resident owners who pay their HI State Income Tax obviously should be the only ones to get a tax break during normal times. These are not normal times. We have all been traumatized!
We do not need to be ugly with each other. The hotels and short term rentals have their place in normal times too. Whether owned by locals or foreigners. Without their excise and transient accommodation taxes we would not have enough money for our infrastructure.
For that matter, unless your ancestors paddled from another island, claimed first human occupancy of Maui then battled to keep this land, you are a foreigner too.
The market value of some of those short term rentals are more for a single room than a 3 bedroom house. Their taxes reflect that. They wouldn't have that same market value as a residence. It is more valuable because of the daily rates. Less value, less taxes, less money to our community. There needs to be a balance.
There is also a great need for more AFFORDABLE housing developments for fulltime residents. Maybe we can use some of that short term rental tax money and build them. How about requiring all residents in those developments to show at least 10 years of HI State Income Tax Returns before they are allowed to buy one and can only sell to someone else with the same requirements? Or possibly County Owned Rent controlled apartment homes. That would also create more County Jobs to manage and maintain them. I know there must be a lot of problems with each of those ideas but at least I am trying.
We need to stop being unpleasant with one another and look forward to a more positive solution. I am hoping our council will work in that direction. Budgets are hard to balance and Mother Nature kicked the heck out of the excise tax dollars Lahaina would have been providing as well as the property taxes. All of the lost jobs means less income tax too.
We need to pull together and stop poking at each other. No one started the winds to blow. Regardless of how the fire started, without the wind my church and our houses would all still be standing. Try to be kind to others whether they are foreigners or not.
Foreign Temporary Short Term Vacation Renal Owners Should Pay Taxes! Local residents should not be forced to cover the greedy foreigners investment if they won't even change from short term rental now when needed most.
In reviewing these comments, it is clear there is a document shared with many who elected to simply cut and paste. Based on what I have read, it appears that the majority of comments have had zero thought and instead are just putting the same thing down. It is all TVR owners and not many residents. Or the people that claim to be residents but actually live on the mainland. They visit but not enough to be actual residents. Home is where you live, not something you rent out for months at a time. At a silly daily rate.
How great would it be if this was the event where legitimate Maui residents reclaimed these properties.
We read Bill 95 from inception. We know from the very beginning it was only for owner occupied properties. Many TVR owners jumped at the chance to support it without even reading the details. Giving Owner-Occupied properties tax breaks is the right things to do. Residents should be given special treatment and foreign speculative investors are free to change their designation to owner-occupied or long term rental. But they really like that TVR money and in the past few years, made it clear they do not even recognize ""resident communities" but rather want to change everything to a resort. Please take care of your residents and constituents that have lost their primary home. All the TBR people lost an investment property and are doing just fine in their primary home. Lahaina Shores and Puamana will be just fine. A shame they used to be primarily residential and they have been collecting absorbent fee's for renting those units for a long time. The are horrified at the though of residents in their property. They want wealthy mainlanders and have consistently rejected having full-time residents in the communities. TVR properties can continue to pay their established fair share. Residents and only residents should be considered for tex relief. As the bill was originally written. Do not let foreign investors shirk their tax duty. Pass this bill excluding TVR properties. They all thought they would get a free pass when they never even read the bill. Prior comments all all about support. They did not read it and it is not a new amendment. No benefits for the very people that have ruined our communities. You own multiple properties? Good for you but that makes you worse, not better. A shame if you have to sell to someone that will make your TVR a residence. We should find a way to reduce TVR's in Lahaina Shores as well. And Puamana. A home and an investment property are not the same, your "Home" is not your home. It is a business. Your home is elsewhere and is doing just fine. The RESIDENTS need this tax relief. Investment properties are not homes. They are businesses. And if you business did not burn down, pay your taxes and stop complaining.
We are owners at Lahaina Shores Beach Resort. While our building survived the fire it is well within the catastrophic fire zone. We understand water and sewer to the area are compromised, and have heard that it may be a number of years before our property can be utilized by anyone. At this point, we haven’t been allowed access to assess damages due to the toxic surrounding environment.
Many of the units in Lahaina Shores are owned by individuals who rent them out for part of the year, and thus are not classified as "residential." Nonetheless, we, like many others, are not in a position to absorb the losses we have suffered. We are still responsible for paying monthly HOA fees. Given that our property cannot be used for any purpose, we would ask that tax relief be extended to properties, such as ours, that are not residential, that may be standing, but that cannot lawfully be used.
My wife and I have been owners on Maui since 1989 and full time residents for the past several years. We were fortunate to have had our primary residence and an investment property in Lahaina until August 8th when our home was completely deystroyed by the fire and our investment property became uninhabitable.
My intent was to support Bill 95 and Bill BFED-35 to give all the victims of the Lahaina fire a property tax exemption because their property is uninhabitable with no potable water and no sewage. But unfortunately I oppose Bill 95 and Bill BFED-35 since it does not apply to all homeowners that were affected by this tragic event. This situation will continue for at least several months to come. Singling out home owners who are not living in their units is a form of discrimination. This is a time when all the people of Maui should work together. It is not the time to have policies that only help a few and hurts so many others.
Please consider the TOTAL wellbeing of all the people who love Maui!
Respectfully,
David Medina
My husband and I are blessed to call Lahaina home, but on August 8th, our home was destroyed by the fire. We also own a unit in Puamana that survived the fire, but is uninhabitable. When I first heard about Bill 95, I was thrilled and relieved that the hardship for owners of standing homes, as well as destroyed homes in the burn zone, was being recognized, and that the County understood that charging property taxes without providing services was unreasonable. Unfortunately, within the amendments to Bill 95, there is now an exclusion for homes that are not being used as principal residences. I can no longer support BFED-35 which encompasses Bill 95.
Currently, the message to owners of non-owner occupied properties, especially those who rent their units short term, is difficult to hear. There is a request in to Mayor Bissen and Governor Josh Green to use emergency actions under state law to convert short-term units into long term rentals and now these properties are being excluded from tax relief in the new form of this bill.
Short term rental properties are typically in resorts with expensive homeowner fees and high property taxes, and without tax relief from the County, cannot be considered part of the housing solution. Not to mention that all properties in the disaster zone will be uninhabitable for an extended period of time, also precluding these homes from housing the displaced families. Please consider the willingness of non-resident homeowners to be part of the solution, as everyone on the WestSide is part of the same community, sharing the love of the WestSide, specifically LahainaTown. This has been my favorite place in the world since I first visited Maui in 1977. It is gone and it hurts me to see the how our community is being divided during this time when we should be collectively working toward a solution while rebuilding our wonderful town. A step in the right direction would be to provide tax relief to ALL properties in the burn zone.
I am an owner of 9-1 Puamelia Place in Puamana. This unit is within the fire zone and has been uninhabitable since the fire. The unit may remain unoccupied for the next two to three years in the absence of safe drinking water.
Bill 95 seeks to avoid doing further harm to those of us who have experienced such a catastrophic loss by temporarily suspending the real property tax in Lahaina tax zone 4 sections five and six where our unit is located. This Bill seems very just and exemplifies the standard of good and compassionate governance to “do onto others as you would have done unto you.”
However, we have just now been made aware that there is a proposed amendment which would limit this exemption to only full time residents.
Respectfully, this is neither a laudable nor compassionate amendment.
Whether the unoccupied unit is owned by a full time resident or by someone who spends most of the year on the island without declaring residency is a distinction without a difference.
In both cases, the ethical rationale for providing tax relief (the avoidance of financially burdening someone who has already sustained such a terrible financial loss; the recognition that the government is not providing multiple essential services in exchange for taxation; the significant loss of inherent property value) is exactly the same.
Accordingly, I would ask that you give kind consideration to the proposal to exempt all currently unoccupied properties in the fire zone from the payment of property taxes until such time as the units can be occupied.
Several proposed amendments have been submitted to Bill 95, which is part of BFED-35. I have grave concerns regarding the amendment which would allow property tax relief to owner occupied buildings, but not to non-owner occupied or TVR properties, that survived the fire in the burn area.
Our property (Lahaina Shores Unit 301) was not burned, but is uninhabitable. The entire building has no electricity, water or sewage service. John Stufflebean, Director of Maui County Water Supply, has stated that it could take 2-3 years for water to be restored to the burn area. Occupancy could present a significant health and safety risk due to the environmental toxicity of the surrounding area.
Given this situation, it may be years before Lahaina Shores can be safely reoccupied. Meanwhile, we are being taxed for services we aren't receiving and assessed at a rate that doesn't take into consideration the sharp decline in property values.
There is no real difference between the properties that are owner occupied and those that are not. Both are uninhabitable now and in the foreseeable future. Both do not have access to County services such as water and sewer. Both are affected by the environmental toxicity in the burn area. Property values for both have declined drastically.
Please consider allowing property tax relief for all of those properties that survived the fire but are inhabitable until such time as they have access to essential County services and can be safely reoccupied. At the very least, property taxes should be greatly reduced due to the considerable decrease in essentail services and in property value as a result of the devastating fire.
We are owners of one of the 199 condos at the Lahaina Shores which we use both as a secondary residence and an investment rental property. Although our building survived the August 8th wildfire, it is well within the fire zone of apocalyptic destruction in Lahaina. As you may know, entry to our building has been prohibited since August 8th due to concerns about safety of the structure and possible contamination caused by smoke, soot, and ash from the fire. In addition, water, sewer and electrical power to our building and the surrounding area are unavailable, and it may be a number of years before this public infrastructure is restored and our property can be utilized as a personal residence or rental property. Thus, although our building was not destroyed, it is currently and will be for the foreseeable future, uninhabitable and unable to be used for any purpose. Like so many of our fellow condo owners and residents of Lahaina, the wildfire has caused us to suffer a significant financial loss. Given that our property cannot be used for any purpose we ask that the tax relief promised by Mayor Bissen for property “completely destroyed by the wildfire” be extended to include properties, like ours, that are “essentially destroyed” because they are uninhabitable for any purpose. We support the passage of property tax bills that can accomplish this goal.
Sincerely,
David C. and Eleanore Kay Dawson. (Unit 308 Lahaina Shores)
kaydawson@comcast.net
We are owners at the Lahaina Shores. While our building survived the fire, it is within the fire zone. We understand water and sewer to the area are compromised, and have heard that it may be a number of years before our property can be utilized by anyone. Many of the units in Lahaina Shores are owned by individuals who rent them out for part of the year, and thus are not classified as "residential." Nonetheless, we, like many others are not in a position to absorb the losses we have suffered. Given that our property cannot be used for any purpose, we would ask that tax relief be extended to properties, such as ours, that are not residential, that may be standing, but that cannot lawfully be used.
John McNamara
Betty McNamara
Ann McNamara Kim
Michelle McNamara Shaw
Unit #520
Lahaina Shores Beach Resort
475 Front Street
Lahaina, HI 96761
bettymcnamara@hotmail.com
TVR taxes are high. HOA fee's are high. Mortgage rates are high. You make an investment in real estate and you pay the taxes. You keep residents from living in some of the very few properties not burned down, you get to continue to pay YOUR obligations. Ask the bank to lower your rate. Ask your HOA to reduce the fee's. Did they? No? Will they? No. Your TVR taxes helps residents. This bill help residents. While you continue to live you life elsewhere Lahaina residents suffer. Your TVR did in fact, take away a Lahaina home. Your desire to keep locals out has been observed. You put up fences and took away our shoreline. You installed a hardened shoreline that eroded our beaches. You want residential benefits from the mainland. You want your multiple Lahaina TVR properties to skip out on taxes. You make tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars a year on your rental business. You can afford to pay your fair share. After all, your property did not burn and will be one of only a few hundred in Lahaina Town once the water is back. Your property has increased in value since there are so few left. Your rental rate will skyrocket once you are able to bring back the TRV guests. You are going to be just fine, TVR owner.
I am one of the 199 owners at Lahaina Shore. While our building survived the fire, it is within the fire zone. We have yet to have access to our building but still must pay our mortgages, taxes, and AOAO fees. It may be years before our properties may be utilized. I ask that you also give us tax relief while our units are inhabitable
Thanks
Unit # 210
Shelly Glass
Maui Resident
We were asked to submit this here. We cannot rent our units and are not residents. We visit now and then but this in an investment property. We do not want any local residents to buy in our building. Locals just ruin things and we like to keep Lahaina Shores visitor focused as the money is so good, we bought more than one.
We are owners at the Lahaina Shores. While our building survived the fire, it is within the fire zone. We understand water and sewer to the area are compromised, and have heard that it may be a number of years before our property can be utilized by anyone. Many of the units in Lahaina Shores are owned by individuals who rent them out for part of the year, and thus are not classified as "residential." Nonetheless, we, like many others are not in a position to absorb the losses we have suffered. Given that our property cannot be used for any purpose, we would ask that tax relief be extended to properties, such as ours, that are not residential, that may be standing, but that cannot lawfully be used.
The agenda for the next Budget Finance and Economic Development (BFED) meeting has been posted forThursday, November 16 at 1:30
pm HST:
https://mauicounty.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=A&ID=1133856&GUID=4 C15BDB0-7AA5-4AAC-B618-C5C4EDDDBD02
This agenda includes 5 different items, but most relevant to our concerns is BFED- 35 and this item continues to include Bill 95 that previously create a full exemption from real property tax for ALL properties in Lahaina tax zone 4 sections five and six.
UNFORTUNATELY, the Council member who proposed Bill 95 has submitted several proposed amendments to this bill. Most concerning is an amendment that would only provide the additional tax relief to Owner Occupied properties and not to non owner occupied or TVR properties within the burn zone.
The proposed amendments also include an amendment to allow owner occupied properties outside Lahaina tax zone 4 sections five and six to also get a tax exemption if the property was made uninhabitable and proof can be by photograph or insurance claim. And it also includes a section to allow Homeowner tax exemptions in place prior to the fires to remain in effect until at least June 30, 2025, while the property may be uninhabitable even though the exemption might require the owner to live in the property.
Both written and oral testimony should be encouraged to support expanding tax relief to all properties in the burn zone. Council members need to feel empathy for the property owners with undamaged properties who have not been able to use their properties for the past 3 months and most likely will not be able to use the for the next year or two.
Don't yell at the Council members, instead try to appeal to their own sense of fairness. But understand that many of the Council members are not empathetic to ANY second home or TVR owners, as they feel that these uses take away housing opportunities for residents. The Council members will respond to masses of people calling for them to take a particular action, but will ignore just a few, who seem unsatisfied or angry. It takes 50-100 testimonies to actually get their attention. So, wives and husbands should each send in or speak their own testimonies. Try not to repeat the exact same thing that others have said, but try to personalize your own testimony and how the payment of these property taxes impacts you personally. DO NOT say that you may not be able to afford to keep your Maui home at these high taxes, without being able to use or rent your property. They actually want you to sell, in hopes that a local person would buy your second home to live in full time.
It is noteworthy that BFED-35 also includes two other tax relief bills, BILL 91 and Bill 102. Neither of these bills would provide tax relief to property owners whose properties were not damaged or destroyed and both depend on someone to declare the property as uninhabitable. And the Real Property tax department has submitted some code amendments that also do not help anyone whose home was not destroyed by the fires.
The most significant news from the past week were comments made by the Director of Water supply who said that it will be two to three years before safe drinking water will be available in Lahaina. https://www.civilbeat.org/.../it-will-be-years-before.../
This supports the argument that property taxes for ALL properties in the burn zone need to be suspended for at least 2 years.
Written testimony can continue to be submitted via the ecomments link:
https://mauicounty.granicusideas.com/.../654d8bea7d79654c...
Note that all the bills previous comments and proposed amendments can be accessed thru the ecomments link above.
Written testimony can also be sent directly to the Council member’s email
COUNCILMEMBER EMAIL ADDRESSES:
• Alice.Lee@mauicounty.us , Council Chair
• Yukilei.Sugimura@mauicounty.us , Vice-Chair
• Tasha.Kama@mauicounty.us , Presiding Officer Pro Tempore
• Thomas.Cook@mauicounty.us , Councilmember
• Gabe.Johnson@mauicounty.us , Councilmember
• Tamara.Paltin@mauicounty.us , Councilmember
• Keani.Rawlins@mauicounty.us , Councilmember
• Shane.Sinenci@mauicounty.us , Councilmember
• Nohe.Uu-Hodgins@mauicounty.us , Councilmember
I support property tax relief for all owners in the area of destruction. Relief should not be limited to owner-occupied units.
My family purchased a unit in Puamana 50 years ago. It is full of family memories, even though we did not live there year-round. My parents lived there at least half of each year, and my niece was married at Puamana. We have a deep love and appreciation for Maui, and are devastated by this fire. Although we have rented the unit out in the last few years when we were not using it, we are committed to supporting Lahaina through its restoration. In the meantime, we are burdened by HOA fees and steep property taxes while not receiving any utility service perhaps for several years. Our unit did not burn down, and it could be used to house those year-round residents who have lost their homes, but without tax relief, this will be much more difficult. I submit that all property owners (even LLC's, which are often essentially individual owners), should receive property tax relief until services to their property are restored completely.
We are owners in Puamana. We have been visiting Lahaina for 30 years and renting in Puamana every year. It was our dream to own in Puamana and eventually retire there. Finally, two years ago our dream became a reality when we purchased a home in Puamana. Our children are still in school so we can't live there year around until they are in college. To help pay for our mortgage and HOA dues, we have been renting it out. We came to visit last month and our hearts were just broken when we saw the devastation in Puamana. We are fortunate that our home did not burn down but it is inhabitable and who knows how long it will be before we can use it again. We will have a loss of use for years until the water and sewer are repaired. In the meantime, we still have to pay our mortgage and our HOA dues. I understand that owner occupied units are in a different position because they have no place to live and I support that they shouldn't have to pay property taxes but we should not be penalized because we don't live there year around. We are US citizens and not international investors. We love Maui and that is why we purchased there and plan to retire. Please, please consider all owners. Thank you for all you are doing.
I am an owner at Lahaina Roads. While our building miraculously survived the fire it is in the catastrophic fire zone 4. Everything burnt to the ground around us. It is evident water and sewer to the area are compromised, and we have heard that it may be a number of years before our property can be utilized by anyone.
Many of the units in Lahaina Roads are owned by individuals who do rent them out for part of the year, and thus are not classified as "residential." Nonetheless, I, like many others, am not in a position to absorb the losses for multiple years. I am still responsible for paying monthly HOA fees. Given that my property cannot be used for any purpose, I would ask that tax relief be extended to all properties, such as mine, that are not residential, that may be standing, but that cannot be lived in for quite some time.
the County should understand that charging property taxes without providing services is unreasonable
Thank you for your consideration,
Connie Maurer Lahaina Roads #311
My husband and I have been supporters of the Islands almost all of our married life - over 24 years. We are environmentally conscious, supporters of locals and natives and we are do all we can to love, respect and support our Maui Ohana. We have owned property in Lahaina since 2015 and it is our goal to help Maui rebuild Lahaina in a way that preserves its tradition and culture, supporting Lahaina’s right to retain control of the rebuild. While we cannot live full time on Maui we consider it our home. We are invested not just financially but emotionally. We respectfully ask that we be included in the tax relief despite the fact we cannot live in our home full time. We have been devastated by the loss of our Lahaina Ohana and we have felt the affects as well. We ask only that we be fairly treated and included in tax relief so we do not lose our home as well. Please amend the bill to include all home owners whose homes are not habitable.
This needs to include non owner occupied properties. With no clean water for 2 years, whether the property is standing or not and regardless of use type, none of the properties are useful!
Whether arable land, owner occupied home, long or short term rental, store, or restaurant, if a property is completely unusable why should it be taxed until it is usable again?
What property "value" does it have? You cannot live on it, grow produce on it, graze livestock with it, sell your farm goods from another location on it, or even sit on a mat and enjoy a view from it. It cannot be owner occupied if you cannot live there!
Full time resident owners who pay their HI State Income Tax obviously should be the only ones to get a tax break during normal times. These are not normal times. We have all been traumatized!
We do not need to be ugly with each other. The hotels and short term rentals have their place in normal times too. Whether owned by locals or foreigners. Without their excise and transient accommodation taxes we would not have enough money for our infrastructure.
For that matter, unless your ancestors paddled from another island, claimed first human occupancy of Maui then battled to keep this land, you are a foreigner too.
The market value of some of those short term rentals are more for a single room than a 3 bedroom house. Their taxes reflect that. They wouldn't have that same market value as a residence. It is more valuable because of the daily rates. Less value, less taxes, less money to our community. There needs to be a balance.
There is also a great need for more AFFORDABLE housing developments for fulltime residents. Maybe we can use some of that short term rental tax money and build them. How about requiring all residents in those developments to show at least 10 years of HI State Income Tax Returns before they are allowed to buy one and can only sell to someone else with the same requirements? Or possibly County Owned Rent controlled apartment homes. That would also create more County Jobs to manage and maintain them. I know there must be a lot of problems with each of those ideas but at least I am trying.
We need to stop being unpleasant with one another and look forward to a more positive solution. I am hoping our council will work in that direction. Budgets are hard to balance and Mother Nature kicked the heck out of the excise tax dollars Lahaina would have been providing as well as the property taxes. All of the lost jobs means less income tax too.
We need to pull together and stop poking at each other. No one started the winds to blow. Regardless of how the fire started, without the wind my church and our houses would all still be standing. Try to be kind to others whether they are foreigners or not.
Aloha (not just a word!)
Foreign Temporary Short Term Vacation Renal Owners Should Pay Taxes! Local residents should not be forced to cover the greedy foreigners investment if they won't even change from short term rental now when needed most.
In reviewing these comments, it is clear there is a document shared with many who elected to simply cut and paste. Based on what I have read, it appears that the majority of comments have had zero thought and instead are just putting the same thing down. It is all TVR owners and not many residents. Or the people that claim to be residents but actually live on the mainland. They visit but not enough to be actual residents. Home is where you live, not something you rent out for months at a time. At a silly daily rate.
How great would it be if this was the event where legitimate Maui residents reclaimed these properties.
Residents get tax relief. TVRs excluded.
We read Bill 95 from inception. We know from the very beginning it was only for owner occupied properties. Many TVR owners jumped at the chance to support it without even reading the details. Giving Owner-Occupied properties tax breaks is the right things to do. Residents should be given special treatment and foreign speculative investors are free to change their designation to owner-occupied or long term rental. But they really like that TVR money and in the past few years, made it clear they do not even recognize ""resident communities" but rather want to change everything to a resort. Please take care of your residents and constituents that have lost their primary home. All the TBR people lost an investment property and are doing just fine in their primary home. Lahaina Shores and Puamana will be just fine. A shame they used to be primarily residential and they have been collecting absorbent fee's for renting those units for a long time. The are horrified at the though of residents in their property. They want wealthy mainlanders and have consistently rejected having full-time residents in the communities. TVR properties can continue to pay their established fair share. Residents and only residents should be considered for tex relief. As the bill was originally written. Do not let foreign investors shirk their tax duty. Pass this bill excluding TVR properties. They all thought they would get a free pass when they never even read the bill. Prior comments all all about support. They did not read it and it is not a new amendment. No benefits for the very people that have ruined our communities. You own multiple properties? Good for you but that makes you worse, not better. A shame if you have to sell to someone that will make your TVR a residence. We should find a way to reduce TVR's in Lahaina Shores as well. And Puamana. A home and an investment property are not the same, your "Home" is not your home. It is a business. Your home is elsewhere and is doing just fine. The RESIDENTS need this tax relief. Investment properties are not homes. They are businesses. And if you business did not burn down, pay your taxes and stop complaining.
We are owners at Lahaina Shores Beach Resort. While our building survived the fire it is well within the catastrophic fire zone. We understand water and sewer to the area are compromised, and have heard that it may be a number of years before our property can be utilized by anyone. At this point, we haven’t been allowed access to assess damages due to the toxic surrounding environment.
Many of the units in Lahaina Shores are owned by individuals who rent them out for part of the year, and thus are not classified as "residential." Nonetheless, we, like many others, are not in a position to absorb the losses we have suffered. We are still responsible for paying monthly HOA fees. Given that our property cannot be used for any purpose, we would ask that tax relief be extended to properties, such as ours, that are not residential, that may be standing, but that cannot lawfully be used.
Thank you for your consideration,
Rocky and Stephanie Eastman
Unit 318
My wife and I have been owners on Maui since 1989 and full time residents for the past several years. We were fortunate to have had our primary residence and an investment property in Lahaina until August 8th when our home was completely deystroyed by the fire and our investment property became uninhabitable.
My intent was to support Bill 95 and Bill BFED-35 to give all the victims of the Lahaina fire a property tax exemption because their property is uninhabitable with no potable water and no sewage. But unfortunately I oppose Bill 95 and Bill BFED-35 since it does not apply to all homeowners that were affected by this tragic event. This situation will continue for at least several months to come. Singling out home owners who are not living in their units is a form of discrimination. This is a time when all the people of Maui should work together. It is not the time to have policies that only help a few and hurts so many others.
Please consider the TOTAL wellbeing of all the people who love Maui!
Respectfully,
David Medina
My husband and I are blessed to call Lahaina home, but on August 8th, our home was destroyed by the fire. We also own a unit in Puamana that survived the fire, but is uninhabitable. When I first heard about Bill 95, I was thrilled and relieved that the hardship for owners of standing homes, as well as destroyed homes in the burn zone, was being recognized, and that the County understood that charging property taxes without providing services was unreasonable. Unfortunately, within the amendments to Bill 95, there is now an exclusion for homes that are not being used as principal residences. I can no longer support BFED-35 which encompasses Bill 95.
Currently, the message to owners of non-owner occupied properties, especially those who rent their units short term, is difficult to hear. There is a request in to Mayor Bissen and Governor Josh Green to use emergency actions under state law to convert short-term units into long term rentals and now these properties are being excluded from tax relief in the new form of this bill.
Short term rental properties are typically in resorts with expensive homeowner fees and high property taxes, and without tax relief from the County, cannot be considered part of the housing solution. Not to mention that all properties in the disaster zone will be uninhabitable for an extended period of time, also precluding these homes from housing the displaced families. Please consider the willingness of non-resident homeowners to be part of the solution, as everyone on the WestSide is part of the same community, sharing the love of the WestSide, specifically LahainaTown. This has been my favorite place in the world since I first visited Maui in 1977. It is gone and it hurts me to see the how our community is being divided during this time when we should be collectively working toward a solution while rebuilding our wonderful town. A step in the right direction would be to provide tax relief to ALL properties in the burn zone.
Respectfully,
Cathy Medina
Dear BFED Committee:
I am an owner of 9-1 Puamelia Place in Puamana. This unit is within the fire zone and has been uninhabitable since the fire. The unit may remain unoccupied for the next two to three years in the absence of safe drinking water.
Bill 95 seeks to avoid doing further harm to those of us who have experienced such a catastrophic loss by temporarily suspending the real property tax in Lahaina tax zone 4 sections five and six where our unit is located. This Bill seems very just and exemplifies the standard of good and compassionate governance to “do onto others as you would have done unto you.”
However, we have just now been made aware that there is a proposed amendment which would limit this exemption to only full time residents.
Respectfully, this is neither a laudable nor compassionate amendment.
Whether the unoccupied unit is owned by a full time resident or by someone who spends most of the year on the island without declaring residency is a distinction without a difference.
In both cases, the ethical rationale for providing tax relief (the avoidance of financially burdening someone who has already sustained such a terrible financial loss; the recognition that the government is not providing multiple essential services in exchange for taxation; the significant loss of inherent property value) is exactly the same.
Accordingly, I would ask that you give kind consideration to the proposal to exempt all currently unoccupied properties in the fire zone from the payment of property taxes until such time as the units can be occupied.
Kind regards
Tom Mulvihill
mulvihillthomas@yahoo.com
Good afternoon,
Several proposed amendments have been submitted to Bill 95, which is part of BFED-35. I have grave concerns regarding the amendment which would allow property tax relief to owner occupied buildings, but not to non-owner occupied or TVR properties, that survived the fire in the burn area.
Our property (Lahaina Shores Unit 301) was not burned, but is uninhabitable. The entire building has no electricity, water or sewage service. John Stufflebean, Director of Maui County Water Supply, has stated that it could take 2-3 years for water to be restored to the burn area. Occupancy could present a significant health and safety risk due to the environmental toxicity of the surrounding area.
Given this situation, it may be years before Lahaina Shores can be safely reoccupied. Meanwhile, we are being taxed for services we aren't receiving and assessed at a rate that doesn't take into consideration the sharp decline in property values.
There is no real difference between the properties that are owner occupied and those that are not. Both are uninhabitable now and in the foreseeable future. Both do not have access to County services such as water and sewer. Both are affected by the environmental toxicity in the burn area. Property values for both have declined drastically.
Please consider allowing property tax relief for all of those properties that survived the fire but are inhabitable until such time as they have access to essential County services and can be safely reoccupied. At the very least, property taxes should be greatly reduced due to the considerable decrease in essentail services and in property value as a result of the devastating fire.
Thank you for your time,
Elizabeth Koller
Dear Sir or Madam,
We are owners of one of the 199 condos at the Lahaina Shores which we use both as a secondary residence and an investment rental property. Although our building survived the August 8th wildfire, it is well within the fire zone of apocalyptic destruction in Lahaina. As you may know, entry to our building has been prohibited since August 8th due to concerns about safety of the structure and possible contamination caused by smoke, soot, and ash from the fire. In addition, water, sewer and electrical power to our building and the surrounding area are unavailable, and it may be a number of years before this public infrastructure is restored and our property can be utilized as a personal residence or rental property. Thus, although our building was not destroyed, it is currently and will be for the foreseeable future, uninhabitable and unable to be used for any purpose. Like so many of our fellow condo owners and residents of Lahaina, the wildfire has caused us to suffer a significant financial loss. Given that our property cannot be used for any purpose we ask that the tax relief promised by Mayor Bissen for property “completely destroyed by the wildfire” be extended to include properties, like ours, that are “essentially destroyed” because they are uninhabitable for any purpose. We support the passage of property tax bills that can accomplish this goal.
Sincerely,
David C. and Eleanore Kay Dawson. (Unit 308 Lahaina Shores)
kaydawson@comcast.net
We are owners at the Lahaina Shores. While our building survived the fire, it is within the fire zone. We understand water and sewer to the area are compromised, and have heard that it may be a number of years before our property can be utilized by anyone. Many of the units in Lahaina Shores are owned by individuals who rent them out for part of the year, and thus are not classified as "residential." Nonetheless, we, like many others are not in a position to absorb the losses we have suffered. Given that our property cannot be used for any purpose, we would ask that tax relief be extended to properties, such as ours, that are not residential, that may be standing, but that cannot lawfully be used.
John McNamara
Betty McNamara
Ann McNamara Kim
Michelle McNamara Shaw
Unit #520
Lahaina Shores Beach Resort
475 Front Street
Lahaina, HI 96761
bettymcnamara@hotmail.com