Testimony Opposing Bill 9 – Phase out of Legal TVRs in A-1 & A-2 Zones
I am writing to respectfully oppose the proposed Bill 9 legislation to phase out legal Transient Vacation Rentals (TVRs) in A-1 and A-2 Apartment Zoning Districts in Maui.
We own a 1-bedroom unit at Maui Kamaole in South Kihei and are deeply invested in the well-being of the Maui community. Our unit supports local jobs—including cleaners, handymen, and service providers—and contributes to the economy through steady, above-average wages and reliable work.
While we respect the intent to address affordable housing, converting legal TVRs to long-term rentals is not a realistic or effective solution. These units are in aging complexes with high operating costs. For example, our unit’s expenses exceed $6,000/month, with over $2,500 going toward HOA fees and taxes alone.
Eliminating TVRs would also create a projected $53M–$91M annual tax revenue shortfall and threaten thousands of local jobs and nearly $1B in visitor spending. These losses would directly impact public services, infrastructure, and the very affordable housing fund this bill intends to support.
This measure offers no incentives or workable paths for owners to rent long-term to locals. The likely result is more vacant units or sales to buyers who may not prioritize local housing needs.
Instead of a blanket ban, we urge the County to work collaboratively with all stakeholders to develop solutions that preserve both housing opportunities and economic stability.
I oppose this, this is not the answers to housing issues. Go build multi generational larger homes that are affordable and think about revoking hotel water rights so that housing can be built.
The housing crisis has been an issue for decades and approving Bill 9 will not solve the problem. Most STR condos have an AOAO over $1,000 ( partly due to fire insurance increases from the Lahaina fire), add that to rent and utilities, a 2 bedroom rent would be at least $3500-$4500. This is not affordable housing.
Additionally, if the locals wanted to purchase these condos for themselves, why havent they? Because they can’t afford it.
Lastly, the economic impact on Maui as a whole would be catastrophic, even to local people who work as cleaners, electricians, landscapers, plumbers etc.
I strongly oppose this bill. Phasing out STRs will not address the affordable housing crisis and will only further harm Maui’s already struggling economy.
My wife and I have owned our rental 1 bedroom condo in Kihei for 35 years and there is no way it would help create affortable housing for the locals. The AOAO fees and taxes alone are crippling hence the reason we need to rent it out when not using it ourselves. We strongly oppose the bill. Tourism is your main industry and this bill will destroy it!
Thank you for the opportunity to share my concerns about why I oppose this bill: it will not create affordable housing as was its stated purpose. Attention and time spent on this untenable effort reduces time that could be used to create true affordable housing. This is so incredibly sad for all of Maui’s people who despite their hard work or misfortune because of Lahaina’s fire do not have affordable housing available to them. Much more creative approaches would better serve those in need without taking away the tourist industry on which Maui depends. Research studies have shown this is already occurring. In that same vein real estate value, on which tax income and services to the same people who need affordable housing, has plummeted. Thank you for all of your efforts and I hope you will vote to defeat this bill as quickly as possible so that time and effort can be devoted to finding the most effective solution to the long standing housing problem.
County Council Members, Housing and Land Use Committee Members and Mayor,
My name is Jerome Bosch. My wife and I are FULL-TIME RESIDENTS, SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS in Kihei, OWN A VACATION RENTAL at Maui Vista and have multiple side activities, many of them related to STR maintenance and management.
I am writing today to express my strong opposition to the proposed legislation to phase-out more than 7,000 vacation rentals and share with you how this proposed phase-out has already deeply impacted my family and many other families around us.
Since the devastating fires of August 2023, we have seen a sharp drop in tourism and tourism spending on Maui. It resulted in a decline on all fronts for us and many other businesses on the island.
Our small specialty car rental business is mainly supported by visitors, with less than 6% of our revenue coming from local customers. And with less than 3% of guests at our vacation rental living in Hawaii, our whole clientele is mainly visitors from the mainland and international.
Comparing the data from January to June 2023 and January to June 2025, we have seen a decline of our small business income of 34%. Our STR condo occupancy has seen a decline of 18%, which is further accentuated with a decline of our nightly rate of 13%, for an overall decline of income of 29%.
Combined with DECLINING INCOME is a constant INCREASE OF COST of doing business. The HOA fees for our vacation rental have gone up 20% since 2023, our insurance premium has gone up 85% and our Real Property taxes have gone up 70%!!
Unlike the Administration which can decide to increase taxes in order to balance the annual budget (and has not been shy about it in the past few years with increased real property tax rates, increased TAT, additional MCTAT, increased GET), at a personal level, we don’t have the same magic wand and with expenses going up while income is going down, the scale is tipping in the wrong direction with no signs of things getting better any time soon, and very likely becoming much worse if this bill passes. While this IMBALANCE is directly affecting our bottom line, it has an impact on other local families, businesses, and Maui in general. Less money in our pocket means less money for us to spend and provide income to others, including the County.
During COVID, we learned to “PIVOT”, trying to re-invent ourselves and our businesses to make it work in the “new normal”, but since then, it seems like we’ve been having to keep pivoting, there hasn’t been a time of stable/normal economy. What happens when you keep on pivoting? You just don’t move forward anymore; you run the risk of FALLING BACKWARDS or even get destabilized and fall apart altogether. For the past couple of years, that is exactly the feeling we’ve been having, it’s one hurdle after the next and instead of progressing, we have been in DAMAGE CONTROL MODE, just trying to keep things afloat. If passed as intended, this proposal would yet beanother hurdle for Maui in a long time and all self-inflicted…
We all deserve some stability, and we all want everyone to have a chance to move forward. Which brings an additional point. This bill seems to focus on converting STRs into LTRs for local residents. But my question is: why only wish local residents could RENT a place? Why not aim for local residents to become owners as well. The emphasis should be on developing systems, bills, grants, programs that facilitate a path to OWNERSHIP. This would be a true move forward, building an everlasting legacy for current and future generations of local residents.
Since Mayor Bissen suggested this bill a little over a year ago, so much time and energy has been spent on trying to justify such an approach, but by now, several studies and countless testimonies have shown that the amount of positive that this bill would bring would be dwarfed by the negative impact throughout our community. At the same time, this bill has somewhat divided this island, so this is why I urge decision-makers to consider the consequences of phasing out short-term rentals on Maui and to work TOGETHER with the community to find a BALANCED solution that benefits everyone involved. Our businesses, our livelihoods, and the future of our island depend on it.
County Council Members, Housing and Land Use Committee Members, and Mayor,
Aloha, my name is Yvonne Bosch, and I STRONGLY OPPOSE Bill 9 (as proposed) to phase out the Minatoya Listed condos.
My husband and I are FULL-TIME RESIDENTS, SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS in Kihei and OWN A VACATION RENTAL at Maui Vista. We are your constituents and are active voters.
How will this proposal, if passed, impact us?
Frankly, this year-long proposal has already harmed us. Tourism is our only income source, and we're losing business daily.
Our specialty car rental business is predominantly supported by visitors, with local customers contributing less than 6% of our revenue. Similarly, only a small fraction of guests at our short-term vacation rental, less than 3%, reside in Hawaii. Consequently, the majority of our clientele comprises visitors from the mainland and other countries.
When comparing the data from January to June of 2023 and January to June of 2025, there has been a decrease in small business income by 34%. The STR condo occupancy has decreased by 18%, accompanied by a reduction in the nightly rate by 13%, resulting in an overall income decline of 29%.
Coupled with declining income, there has been a consistent rise in business expenses. The Homeowners Association (HOA) fees for our vacation rental have increased by 20% since 2023, our insurance premiums have risen by 85%, and our real property taxes have gone up by 70%.
Tourism on Maui had been declining for several months prior to the fires, likely due to inflation following the COVID-19 pandemic. The aftermath of the fires has further affected our businesses with a significant drop in tourism and the widespread narrative on social media advising people to stay away. This period has lasted longer and has had a more severe economic impact than the COVID-19 lockdown.
Whether we like it or not, tourism is our lifeblood on the islands. This is our economic driver. This is what keeps money flowing to handle all the things that you as the Council want to accomplish for Maui County and its residents. This is what keeps the small businesses in business. This bill will choke us all out.
My husband and I used to live in the Detroit area where the auto industry is their economic driver, everyone is affected by what happens to the auto industry and whenever there is a slowdown it depresses the entire region whether you worked directly for the auto industry or not. Everyone feels it with layoffs and bankruptcies left and right.
Located in the Pacific, Maui is not suitable for large-scale manufacturing or major industries with high wages. Therefore, we must focus on tourism. Pineapple and sugar cane production have ceased, and while new crops are emerging, they are not enough to support the entire island's community.
Regarding our specific condo, when we purchased our one-bedroom, one-bathroom condo in 2016, the intention was to rent it out on Airbnb, while also using it for personal purposes and lending it to family and friends visiting us and the island. A common practice of mortgage lenders (First Hawaiian) is to require a 25% downpayment for those purchasing a property to use as a short-term vacation rental, which is what we had to put down.
This table shows the basic costs we’d have if we were to offer our unit as a long-term rental, which would not include the hiring of a cleaner or other jobs such as handyman which we support throughout the year as a short-term vacation rental. This shows our personal break-even amount, which is likely less than those who have purchased units since COVID.
Monthly
$1,179.56 Mortgage
$811.00 Maintenance Fees (HOA) current, but ever rising
$75.00 Special Assessment average based on historical data
$60.00 Condo Insurance current, but ever rising
$768.00 Real Property Taxes* current, but ever rising
$181.00 Hawaiian Electric average over entire ownership
$83.00 Maintenance and Improvements guesstimate based on historical data but very much an unknown
$3,157.56 Break-even
"*based on a Maui County assessed value of $752,100.
Not much has sold since the fires so we EXPECT future property taxes to shrink based on current sales and valuations."
But also, there is a value for the ability to use one's own property independently, which would be restricted if the unit were placed in the long-term rental pool. For us, this option is not desired.
Because we live here, we recognize the housing need but believe this proposal is impractical and financially irresponsible. It may benefit a few who can afford it, but it will significantly harm tourism, affecting everyone dependent on it.
As such, we would like to offer some suggestions concerning affordable housing and potential job opportunities:
ASK owners if any of them would volunteer to transition their current short-term rental into long-term. Offer the owner some incentives. The mayor has been heard to say that the needed units have decreased from all Minatoya properties to a couple hundred. This would be the quickest way to obtain the required units.
Require an STR license: $100 per year to be an STR = $700,000 per year extra in the budget, with mandatory inspections (like FEMA) = new jobs for possibly 10+ inspectors.
For god’s sake, go after the ILLEGAL short-term rentals that are in neighborhoods and are NOT paying taxes! Nothing is more frustrating to folks that follow the rules than those who do not follow the rules and go scot-free. Because then, what is the motivation to remain legal? A strong sense of what is ethically right, I guess.
I want to reiterate, I STRONGLY OPPOSE Bill 9 (as proposed) to phase out the Minatoya Listed condos. And we urge decision-makers to consider the consequences of phasing out short-term rentals on Maui and to work together with the community to find a balanced solution that benefits everyone involved. Our businesses, our livelihoods, and the future of our island depend on it.
Respectfully,
Yvonne Bosch
owner #2214 Maui Vista, 2191 S. Kihei RD.
I am a proud Maui native, mother of five, and a survivor of the 2023 Lahaina wildfire. Today, I am sharing my story to express my opposition to the proposed phase-out of short-term rentals on our island.
The Lahaina fire was the most terrifying experience of my life. My family and I lost our home, and we were forced to flee with little time to spare. At the time, I was five months pregnant with my fifth child, and the safety of my children was all I could focus on. Despite the overwhelming loss, I found solace and support in my job, my colleagues, and the short-term rental community.
I have worked in the short-term rental industry for three years, and it has been a life-changing opportunity. This job has provided my family with stability, flexibility, and a sense of security that is rare in today’s world. The people I work with are not just coworkers, they are family. After the fire, this community went above and beyond to help us, offering my family a safe place to stay, donating clothing, gift cards, household items, and giving us the resources we needed to rebuild our lives.
If the proposed phase-out of short-term rentals goes forward, families like mine will face devastating consequences. This industry is my livelihood, and losing it would mean losing the stability my family has worked so hard to rebuild. Furthermore, the ripple effects would harm countless others who depend on this industry for employment, housing, and community support.
While I understand the desire to address Maui’s housing challenges, I believe this proposal is not the answer. Many short-term rental units are not designed for local families, particularly larger ones like mine. Additionally, the associated costs of these properties make them out of reach for many residents. While change is needed, I do not believe phasing out short-term rentals will achieve the intended results. Instead, it risks displacing workers and families, undermining industries that contribute significantly to our economy.
In conclusion, I urge you to reconsider this phase-out and work together with the community to explore solutions that balance the needs of our island. Let’s find a way to address Maui’s housing challenges without sacrificing the economic stability and livelihoods of local families. The short-term rental industry has been a source of immense support for my family, particularly during one of the most challenging periods of our lives. I ask that you not take away this lifeline from families like mine.
I strongly oppose the ban on short term rentals on Maui or anywhere else. This does not solve the need of affordable housing. It is an emotional response to a terrible tragedy. Independent analysis confirms that banning short term rentals will cause significant harm to a huge number of Maui residents who rely on tourist revenue for their survival.
I strongly oppose the ban on short term rentals on Maui or anywhere else. This does not solve the need of affordable housing. It is an emotional response to a terrible tragedy. Independent analysis confirms that banning short term rentals will cause significant harm to a huge number of Maui residents who rely on tourist revenue for their survival.
You are going to ruin Maui if this is passed. You’ll kill tourism, kill jobs, kill the real estate market, and your precious tax revenue paid by the STRs.
Hello, Maui Council Members, Mayor Bissen and other interested parties,
My husband, Mark, and I oppose the passage of this bill. We own a condo in Kaanapali Royal and operate it as an STR when we are not there. Our family is on the mainland and, due to that and professional obligations, we are not always able to be on island. We believe we provide a wonderful service to our guests—we consistently get 5 star reviews. We provide numerous recommendations for businesses for our guests to frequent. We rave about restaurants, attractions and activities for them to visit and, in that way, we pay it forward to Maui. We have a copy of the Malama Maui County Pledge posted in our condo for guests to read which, hopefully, helps them appreciate the truly special place that Maui is and stresses to them how they should protect and treasure this wonderful island.
We also especially value the people we do business with! Our property manager, Monty, is in business as a single provider, he’s not part of any large business, he’s just taking care of our place and a few others in order to provide for himself and his family. He really goes above and beyond to help our guests however he can and we appreciate him immensely! In addition to Monty, we value our relationship with our handyman, Darren. Darren is the best! He will run over to Kahului on a moments notice to pick up supplies for emergency repairs, for example, and we completely trust him to do whatever is needed. Monty contracts out for the cleaning and we also appreciate his crew—they do a fantastic job and we rarely get any negative comments about our place not being clean. We are also happy to have been fortunate enough to do some cosmetic updates to our condo—we’ve removed most of the carpet and installed LVP flooring (thanks to Jenner at Lane’s carpet—she’s the best!), We purchased a new grill, replaced can lighting, hired painters Dave Munoz and Bill Casey, to paint our entire condo (so thankful to have found them, they did a fantastic job at such a great price), and had Derrick do various other things like renovate our wet bar on the lanai (this project brought to light the fact that the main shut off valve had a cabinet installed in front of it on our downstairs neighbor’s lanai, which they then fixed, so we potentially averted lots of damage to our building in the process). We are so grateful to all of these people and really want our relationships with them to continue! We would like to install stone flooring in the downstairs bedroom and we will need to replace our large slider (already talking to Rainbow Flooring about that project). Long story short, we value adding to the Maui economy by giving all these providers business and we look forward to doing that in the future.
Our condo is getting increasingly expensive to manage, too, fyi—our taxes have more than doubled in the 5 years that we’ve owned it and our HOA is up by $500 more per month from when we bought our place. Mortgage, property taxes and HOA total about $6050.00 per month, so the extra income from STRs does offset some of that expense for us. This total does not include any utility bills or other living expenses, so these condos are not cheap! When we bought the place, First Hawaiian informed us that any address to the west of Honoapiilani Highway in West Maui was considered the resort zone so, therefore, we were required to get a “condo-hotel, condotel” mortgage with a higher interest rate than conventional mortgages. Since we are in a planned community adjacent to the golf course, I believe there was a zoning error when our complex was built. We were always meant to be short term rentals, it’s in our by-laws. The condo complex right next to us, the same distance from the HP Highway, is zoned Resort. Since we were required to pay for a resort mortgage, we were always meant to be an STR and we are on the golf course a stone’s throw from the resorts, why are we not considered a Resort zoned property? Because we’ve been paying more for our mortgage than other apartment-zoned properties with conventional mortgages, I feel like it would be a mistake to take our STR rights away from us with this bill. We would be losing a right we are entitled to in our bylaws and I would guess we would not be the only owners who may contact First Hawaiian about potential legal issues related to the double standard Maui has for mortgage rates. It is not fair to us that we are in this position with the risk of the Minetoya list being phased out. One more point I want to mention is that our complex, Kaanapali Royal, is on the golf course, it’s not in a residential community. Therefore, if we are allowed to continue to operate as an STR, we will be providing added tourism housing thereby keeping tourists out of Maui’s neighborhoods, which is something I think we all want.
We sympathize with the housing issues facing Maui County especially in light of the tragic fires, we really do. We offered our condo in the immediate aftermath to house survivors, anything we could do to help! We are so appreciative of all of the staff at our complex for the way they pulled together after the fire to get things back to normal. We did buy them all lunch shortly after that to show our appreciation. Really, anything we can do to help them is of utmost importance to us. STRs serve a purpose, families do not want to stay all in little hotel rooms where they can’t all be together and, oftentimes with the cost of hotel rooms on Maui, families cannot afford it. If this bill passes and STRs get phased out, Maui will be off-limits for many people who currently can afford it—you will be losing a lot of business. Our complex makes a good chunk of our operating budget from parking fees paid directly to our office from our STR guests. If that source of revenue goes away, our complex will have to scale back on expenses and possibly let some staff go (we employ security 24 hours a day, 3 full time maintenance people, 3 full time landscapers, our front office manager Kehau and our complex manager, Justin). This is another reason why this bill should not pass.
Look, we are not wealthy people (I’m a nurse whose never made over $50,000 a year and I’ve been a nurse for 36 years for gosh sakes!). Our house on the mainland is on the small side and is not our dream house by any means. We work hard and we are truly so appreciative to have our place in Maui. If this bill passes and we aren’t allowed to do STRs anymore, we will try to keep our place there. We may rent to a friend who works remotely and wants to move there or we may sell our place on the mainland and use the money to pay down our mortgage in Maui. Since the value of real estate has gone down due to the prospect of this bill passing, we would rather not sell at this point in time. If, down the road we do sell, we will be so disappointed, I really doubt we would ever come back, it will be too sad. We love Maui, it’s so incredibly beautiful and it’s home to us. We want nothing more than to be there all the time!
In summary, please don’t pass this bill—the effect it will have on the entire Maui community is too great a risk to take! 900million dollars a YEAR?! That UHERO report was an eye-opener. Compromise is key! Thanks for your time and good luck with the decision-making process!
Mahalo,
Jeanne Malter
2560 Kekaa Drive
Lahaina, HI 96761
Dear Chair Kama, Vice Chair Uʻu-Hodgins and Members of the Housing and Land Use Committee:
I oppose Bill 9 as drafted and propose that the Council amend Bill 9 to exclude Papakea Oceanfront Resort which the County has historically identified as having A2-H2 zoning. Below I have listed some of the reasons I believe Papakea Oceanfront Resort should be excluded from Bill 9:
* Papakea was initially marketed and sold as a legal vacation rental property before any zoning restrictions limited transient vacation rentals in apartment zoned properties.
* Papakea owners have been operating legal vacation rentals for almost fifty years.
* Papakea has never been workforce housing, so Papakea is not an example of a property that converted from workforce housing to transient vacation rental use.
* The majority of units at Papakea are under 600 square feet and the property has limited parking.
* Papakea is not in a residential neighborhood and is located alongside a long stretch of hotel-zoned properties and directly adjacent to multiple commercially-zoned properties.
* Unlike apartment buildings designed for long-term residential use, Papakea has a front desk, an activity concierge, shared activity space, and numerous other common resort amenities.
* Owners purchased condos at Papakea with the reasonable expectation that short-term rentals were legal based on ordinances as far back as 1989, and as recent as 2022.
* In reliance on the Maui County ordinances and published documents, Hawaii state law, and constitutional protections, owners invested in costly renovations, furnishings, and long-term financial commitments such as mortgages that make any phase out of short-term rental right offensive of each buyer’s investment-backed expectations.
Here are some of Papakea’s Contributions to the Community:
* Papakea’s resort operations provide full-time, benefited, employment for 35 local resident employees; some have worked at the property for over 17 years; many started in entry-level positions and worked into supervisory roles.
* Papakea supports a wide variety of local trade professionals including pest control, HVAC, painting, plumbing, electrical, general contracting, masonry, tile and flooring, fitness instructors, entertainers, and tree trimming.
Here are just some of the individual Owner Contributions to the Community:
* Owners support/hire many small businesses owned and operated by local residents from the Maui community rely on Papakea short-term rentals including housekeepers, handymen, on-island agents, and contractors. These service providers set their own rates, work hours, select their own clients, work conditions and standard operating procedures. Shutting down short-term rentals at Papakea means telling local entrepreneurs that worked hard to build a small business that they need to just go get a job somewhere else to make less money, have less flexibility, and be subject to oppressive corporate policies.
* Papakea STRs support the State of Hawaii and County of Maui through payment of property taxes (many at the short-term rental rate), Transient Accommodations Tax, General Excise Tax, and Maui County Transient Accommodations Tax.
* Papakea guests support many small businesses on the island including restaurants, food trucks, tour operators, activities, state parks, the national park, and shops.
* Papakea owners and guests regularly participate in community activities including volunteering at beach cleanups, Maui Humane Society, the hospital, and many other local organizations, and contribute to local philanthropic and cultural efforts.
I would like to thank the committee for the opportunity to comment on the opposition of Bill 9.
Testimony Opposing Bill 9 – Phase out of Legal TVRs in A-1 & A-2 Zones
I am writing to respectfully oppose the proposed Bill 9 legislation to phase out legal Transient Vacation Rentals (TVRs) in A-1 and A-2 Apartment Zoning Districts in Maui.
We own a 1-bedroom unit at Maui Kamaole in South Kihei and are deeply invested in the well-being of the Maui community. Our unit supports local jobs—including cleaners, handymen, and service providers—and contributes to the economy through steady, above-average wages and reliable work.
While we respect the intent to address affordable housing, converting legal TVRs to long-term rentals is not a realistic or effective solution. These units are in aging complexes with high operating costs. For example, our unit’s expenses exceed $6,000/month, with over $2,500 going toward HOA fees and taxes alone.
Eliminating TVRs would also create a projected $53M–$91M annual tax revenue shortfall and threaten thousands of local jobs and nearly $1B in visitor spending. These losses would directly impact public services, infrastructure, and the very affordable housing fund this bill intends to support.
This measure offers no incentives or workable paths for owners to rent long-term to locals. The likely result is more vacant units or sales to buyers who may not prioritize local housing needs.
Instead of a blanket ban, we urge the County to work collaboratively with all stakeholders to develop solutions that preserve both housing opportunities and economic stability.
Mahalo for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Ryan E. Rawlyk, P.Eng.
This bill severely hurts Maui residents financially and mentally as well as spiritually.
I oppose this, this is not the answers to housing issues. Go build multi generational larger homes that are affordable and think about revoking hotel water rights so that housing can be built.
The housing crisis has been an issue for decades and approving Bill 9 will not solve the problem. Most STR condos have an AOAO over $1,000 ( partly due to fire insurance increases from the Lahaina fire), add that to rent and utilities, a 2 bedroom rent would be at least $3500-$4500. This is not affordable housing.
Additionally, if the locals wanted to purchase these condos for themselves, why havent they? Because they can’t afford it.
Lastly, the economic impact on Maui as a whole would be catastrophic, even to local people who work as cleaners, electricians, landscapers, plumbers etc.
I am totally OPPOSED to Bill 9
Barbara Chewning
I strongly oppose this bill. Phasing out STRs will not address the affordable housing crisis and will only further harm Maui’s already struggling economy.
My wife and I have owned our rental 1 bedroom condo in Kihei for 35 years and there is no way it would help create affortable housing for the locals. The AOAO fees and taxes alone are crippling hence the reason we need to rent it out when not using it ourselves. We strongly oppose the bill. Tourism is your main industry and this bill will destroy it!
I strongly oppose this bill as written. It’s hurting the local economy including the people that make their living serving the STR communities.
Thank you for the opportunity to share my concerns about why I oppose this bill: it will not create affordable housing as was its stated purpose. Attention and time spent on this untenable effort reduces time that could be used to create true affordable housing. This is so incredibly sad for all of Maui’s people who despite their hard work or misfortune because of Lahaina’s fire do not have affordable housing available to them. Much more creative approaches would better serve those in need without taking away the tourist industry on which Maui depends. Research studies have shown this is already occurring. In that same vein real estate value, on which tax income and services to the same people who need affordable housing, has plummeted. Thank you for all of your efforts and I hope you will vote to defeat this bill as quickly as possible so that time and effort can be devoted to finding the most effective solution to the long standing housing problem.
County Council Members, Housing and Land Use Committee Members and Mayor,
My name is Jerome Bosch. My wife and I are FULL-TIME RESIDENTS, SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS in Kihei, OWN A VACATION RENTAL at Maui Vista and have multiple side activities, many of them related to STR maintenance and management.
I am writing today to express my strong opposition to the proposed legislation to phase-out more than 7,000 vacation rentals and share with you how this proposed phase-out has already deeply impacted my family and many other families around us.
Since the devastating fires of August 2023, we have seen a sharp drop in tourism and tourism spending on Maui. It resulted in a decline on all fronts for us and many other businesses on the island.
Our small specialty car rental business is mainly supported by visitors, with less than 6% of our revenue coming from local customers. And with less than 3% of guests at our vacation rental living in Hawaii, our whole clientele is mainly visitors from the mainland and international.
Comparing the data from January to June 2023 and January to June 2025, we have seen a decline of our small business income of 34%. Our STR condo occupancy has seen a decline of 18%, which is further accentuated with a decline of our nightly rate of 13%, for an overall decline of income of 29%.
Combined with DECLINING INCOME is a constant INCREASE OF COST of doing business. The HOA fees for our vacation rental have gone up 20% since 2023, our insurance premium has gone up 85% and our Real Property taxes have gone up 70%!!
Unlike the Administration which can decide to increase taxes in order to balance the annual budget (and has not been shy about it in the past few years with increased real property tax rates, increased TAT, additional MCTAT, increased GET), at a personal level, we don’t have the same magic wand and with expenses going up while income is going down, the scale is tipping in the wrong direction with no signs of things getting better any time soon, and very likely becoming much worse if this bill passes. While this IMBALANCE is directly affecting our bottom line, it has an impact on other local families, businesses, and Maui in general. Less money in our pocket means less money for us to spend and provide income to others, including the County.
During COVID, we learned to “PIVOT”, trying to re-invent ourselves and our businesses to make it work in the “new normal”, but since then, it seems like we’ve been having to keep pivoting, there hasn’t been a time of stable/normal economy. What happens when you keep on pivoting? You just don’t move forward anymore; you run the risk of FALLING BACKWARDS or even get destabilized and fall apart altogether. For the past couple of years, that is exactly the feeling we’ve been having, it’s one hurdle after the next and instead of progressing, we have been in DAMAGE CONTROL MODE, just trying to keep things afloat. If passed as intended, this proposal would yet beanother hurdle for Maui in a long time and all self-inflicted…
We all deserve some stability, and we all want everyone to have a chance to move forward. Which brings an additional point. This bill seems to focus on converting STRs into LTRs for local residents. But my question is: why only wish local residents could RENT a place? Why not aim for local residents to become owners as well. The emphasis should be on developing systems, bills, grants, programs that facilitate a path to OWNERSHIP. This would be a true move forward, building an everlasting legacy for current and future generations of local residents.
Since Mayor Bissen suggested this bill a little over a year ago, so much time and energy has been spent on trying to justify such an approach, but by now, several studies and countless testimonies have shown that the amount of positive that this bill would bring would be dwarfed by the negative impact throughout our community. At the same time, this bill has somewhat divided this island, so this is why I urge decision-makers to consider the consequences of phasing out short-term rentals on Maui and to work TOGETHER with the community to find a BALANCED solution that benefits everyone involved. Our businesses, our livelihoods, and the future of our island depend on it.
Sincerely,
Jerome Bosch
June 5, 2025
County Council Members, Housing and Land Use Committee Members, and Mayor,
Aloha, my name is Yvonne Bosch, and I STRONGLY OPPOSE Bill 9 (as proposed) to phase out the Minatoya Listed condos.
My husband and I are FULL-TIME RESIDENTS, SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS in Kihei and OWN A VACATION RENTAL at Maui Vista. We are your constituents and are active voters.
How will this proposal, if passed, impact us?
Frankly, this year-long proposal has already harmed us. Tourism is our only income source, and we're losing business daily.
Our specialty car rental business is predominantly supported by visitors, with local customers contributing less than 6% of our revenue. Similarly, only a small fraction of guests at our short-term vacation rental, less than 3%, reside in Hawaii. Consequently, the majority of our clientele comprises visitors from the mainland and other countries.
When comparing the data from January to June of 2023 and January to June of 2025, there has been a decrease in small business income by 34%. The STR condo occupancy has decreased by 18%, accompanied by a reduction in the nightly rate by 13%, resulting in an overall income decline of 29%.
Coupled with declining income, there has been a consistent rise in business expenses. The Homeowners Association (HOA) fees for our vacation rental have increased by 20% since 2023, our insurance premiums have risen by 85%, and our real property taxes have gone up by 70%.
Tourism on Maui had been declining for several months prior to the fires, likely due to inflation following the COVID-19 pandemic. The aftermath of the fires has further affected our businesses with a significant drop in tourism and the widespread narrative on social media advising people to stay away. This period has lasted longer and has had a more severe economic impact than the COVID-19 lockdown.
Whether we like it or not, tourism is our lifeblood on the islands. This is our economic driver. This is what keeps money flowing to handle all the things that you as the Council want to accomplish for Maui County and its residents. This is what keeps the small businesses in business. This bill will choke us all out.
My husband and I used to live in the Detroit area where the auto industry is their economic driver, everyone is affected by what happens to the auto industry and whenever there is a slowdown it depresses the entire region whether you worked directly for the auto industry or not. Everyone feels it with layoffs and bankruptcies left and right.
Located in the Pacific, Maui is not suitable for large-scale manufacturing or major industries with high wages. Therefore, we must focus on tourism. Pineapple and sugar cane production have ceased, and while new crops are emerging, they are not enough to support the entire island's community.
Regarding our specific condo, when we purchased our one-bedroom, one-bathroom condo in 2016, the intention was to rent it out on Airbnb, while also using it for personal purposes and lending it to family and friends visiting us and the island. A common practice of mortgage lenders (First Hawaiian) is to require a 25% downpayment for those purchasing a property to use as a short-term vacation rental, which is what we had to put down.
This table shows the basic costs we’d have if we were to offer our unit as a long-term rental, which would not include the hiring of a cleaner or other jobs such as handyman which we support throughout the year as a short-term vacation rental. This shows our personal break-even amount, which is likely less than those who have purchased units since COVID.
Monthly
$1,179.56 Mortgage
$811.00 Maintenance Fees (HOA) current, but ever rising
$75.00 Special Assessment average based on historical data
$60.00 Condo Insurance current, but ever rising
$768.00 Real Property Taxes* current, but ever rising
$181.00 Hawaiian Electric average over entire ownership
$83.00 Maintenance and Improvements guesstimate based on historical data but very much an unknown
$3,157.56 Break-even
"*based on a Maui County assessed value of $752,100.
Not much has sold since the fires so we EXPECT future property taxes to shrink based on current sales and valuations."
But also, there is a value for the ability to use one's own property independently, which would be restricted if the unit were placed in the long-term rental pool. For us, this option is not desired.
Because we live here, we recognize the housing need but believe this proposal is impractical and financially irresponsible. It may benefit a few who can afford it, but it will significantly harm tourism, affecting everyone dependent on it.
As such, we would like to offer some suggestions concerning affordable housing and potential job opportunities:
ASK owners if any of them would volunteer to transition their current short-term rental into long-term. Offer the owner some incentives. The mayor has been heard to say that the needed units have decreased from all Minatoya properties to a couple hundred. This would be the quickest way to obtain the required units.
Require an STR license: $100 per year to be an STR = $700,000 per year extra in the budget, with mandatory inspections (like FEMA) = new jobs for possibly 10+ inspectors.
For god’s sake, go after the ILLEGAL short-term rentals that are in neighborhoods and are NOT paying taxes! Nothing is more frustrating to folks that follow the rules than those who do not follow the rules and go scot-free. Because then, what is the motivation to remain legal? A strong sense of what is ethically right, I guess.
I want to reiterate, I STRONGLY OPPOSE Bill 9 (as proposed) to phase out the Minatoya Listed condos. And we urge decision-makers to consider the consequences of phasing out short-term rentals on Maui and to work together with the community to find a balanced solution that benefits everyone involved. Our businesses, our livelihoods, and the future of our island depend on it.
Respectfully,
Yvonne Bosch
owner #2214 Maui Vista, 2191 S. Kihei RD.
Aloha,
I am a proud Maui native, mother of five, and a survivor of the 2023 Lahaina wildfire. Today, I am sharing my story to express my opposition to the proposed phase-out of short-term rentals on our island.
The Lahaina fire was the most terrifying experience of my life. My family and I lost our home, and we were forced to flee with little time to spare. At the time, I was five months pregnant with my fifth child, and the safety of my children was all I could focus on. Despite the overwhelming loss, I found solace and support in my job, my colleagues, and the short-term rental community.
I have worked in the short-term rental industry for three years, and it has been a life-changing opportunity. This job has provided my family with stability, flexibility, and a sense of security that is rare in today’s world. The people I work with are not just coworkers, they are family. After the fire, this community went above and beyond to help us, offering my family a safe place to stay, donating clothing, gift cards, household items, and giving us the resources we needed to rebuild our lives.
If the proposed phase-out of short-term rentals goes forward, families like mine will face devastating consequences. This industry is my livelihood, and losing it would mean losing the stability my family has worked so hard to rebuild. Furthermore, the ripple effects would harm countless others who depend on this industry for employment, housing, and community support.
While I understand the desire to address Maui’s housing challenges, I believe this proposal is not the answer. Many short-term rental units are not designed for local families, particularly larger ones like mine. Additionally, the associated costs of these properties make them out of reach for many residents. While change is needed, I do not believe phasing out short-term rentals will achieve the intended results. Instead, it risks displacing workers and families, undermining industries that contribute significantly to our economy.
In conclusion, I urge you to reconsider this phase-out and work together with the community to explore solutions that balance the needs of our island. Let’s find a way to address Maui’s housing challenges without sacrificing the economic stability and livelihoods of local families. The short-term rental industry has been a source of immense support for my family, particularly during one of the most challenging periods of our lives. I ask that you not take away this lifeline from families like mine.
Mahalo for your time and consideration.
I strongly oppose the ban on short term rentals on Maui or anywhere else. This does not solve the need of affordable housing. It is an emotional response to a terrible tragedy. Independent analysis confirms that banning short term rentals will cause significant harm to a huge number of Maui residents who rely on tourist revenue for their survival.
I strongly oppose the ban on short term rentals on Maui or anywhere else. This does not solve the need of affordable housing. It is an emotional response to a terrible tragedy. Independent analysis confirms that banning short term rentals will cause significant harm to a huge number of Maui residents who rely on tourist revenue for their survival.
This bill is wrong for Maui, and will only make things worse if it's passed.
My property is not directly affected by the bill, however I oppose it because I believe it would hurt the local economy and it is unethical.
My property is not directly affected by the bill, however I oppose it because I believe it would hurt the local economy and it is unethical.
I am in support of Bill 9.
You are going to ruin Maui if this is passed. You’ll kill tourism, kill jobs, kill the real estate market, and your precious tax revenue paid by the STRs.
June 6, 2025
Hello, Maui Council Members, Mayor Bissen and other interested parties,
My husband, Mark, and I oppose the passage of this bill. We own a condo in Kaanapali Royal and operate it as an STR when we are not there. Our family is on the mainland and, due to that and professional obligations, we are not always able to be on island. We believe we provide a wonderful service to our guests—we consistently get 5 star reviews. We provide numerous recommendations for businesses for our guests to frequent. We rave about restaurants, attractions and activities for them to visit and, in that way, we pay it forward to Maui. We have a copy of the Malama Maui County Pledge posted in our condo for guests to read which, hopefully, helps them appreciate the truly special place that Maui is and stresses to them how they should protect and treasure this wonderful island.
We also especially value the people we do business with! Our property manager, Monty, is in business as a single provider, he’s not part of any large business, he’s just taking care of our place and a few others in order to provide for himself and his family. He really goes above and beyond to help our guests however he can and we appreciate him immensely! In addition to Monty, we value our relationship with our handyman, Darren. Darren is the best! He will run over to Kahului on a moments notice to pick up supplies for emergency repairs, for example, and we completely trust him to do whatever is needed. Monty contracts out for the cleaning and we also appreciate his crew—they do a fantastic job and we rarely get any negative comments about our place not being clean. We are also happy to have been fortunate enough to do some cosmetic updates to our condo—we’ve removed most of the carpet and installed LVP flooring (thanks to Jenner at Lane’s carpet—she’s the best!), We purchased a new grill, replaced can lighting, hired painters Dave Munoz and Bill Casey, to paint our entire condo (so thankful to have found them, they did a fantastic job at such a great price), and had Derrick do various other things like renovate our wet bar on the lanai (this project brought to light the fact that the main shut off valve had a cabinet installed in front of it on our downstairs neighbor’s lanai, which they then fixed, so we potentially averted lots of damage to our building in the process). We are so grateful to all of these people and really want our relationships with them to continue! We would like to install stone flooring in the downstairs bedroom and we will need to replace our large slider (already talking to Rainbow Flooring about that project). Long story short, we value adding to the Maui economy by giving all these providers business and we look forward to doing that in the future.
Our condo is getting increasingly expensive to manage, too, fyi—our taxes have more than doubled in the 5 years that we’ve owned it and our HOA is up by $500 more per month from when we bought our place. Mortgage, property taxes and HOA total about $6050.00 per month, so the extra income from STRs does offset some of that expense for us. This total does not include any utility bills or other living expenses, so these condos are not cheap! When we bought the place, First Hawaiian informed us that any address to the west of Honoapiilani Highway in West Maui was considered the resort zone so, therefore, we were required to get a “condo-hotel, condotel” mortgage with a higher interest rate than conventional mortgages. Since we are in a planned community adjacent to the golf course, I believe there was a zoning error when our complex was built. We were always meant to be short term rentals, it’s in our by-laws. The condo complex right next to us, the same distance from the HP Highway, is zoned Resort. Since we were required to pay for a resort mortgage, we were always meant to be an STR and we are on the golf course a stone’s throw from the resorts, why are we not considered a Resort zoned property? Because we’ve been paying more for our mortgage than other apartment-zoned properties with conventional mortgages, I feel like it would be a mistake to take our STR rights away from us with this bill. We would be losing a right we are entitled to in our bylaws and I would guess we would not be the only owners who may contact First Hawaiian about potential legal issues related to the double standard Maui has for mortgage rates. It is not fair to us that we are in this position with the risk of the Minetoya list being phased out. One more point I want to mention is that our complex, Kaanapali Royal, is on the golf course, it’s not in a residential community. Therefore, if we are allowed to continue to operate as an STR, we will be providing added tourism housing thereby keeping tourists out of Maui’s neighborhoods, which is something I think we all want.
We sympathize with the housing issues facing Maui County especially in light of the tragic fires, we really do. We offered our condo in the immediate aftermath to house survivors, anything we could do to help! We are so appreciative of all of the staff at our complex for the way they pulled together after the fire to get things back to normal. We did buy them all lunch shortly after that to show our appreciation. Really, anything we can do to help them is of utmost importance to us. STRs serve a purpose, families do not want to stay all in little hotel rooms where they can’t all be together and, oftentimes with the cost of hotel rooms on Maui, families cannot afford it. If this bill passes and STRs get phased out, Maui will be off-limits for many people who currently can afford it—you will be losing a lot of business. Our complex makes a good chunk of our operating budget from parking fees paid directly to our office from our STR guests. If that source of revenue goes away, our complex will have to scale back on expenses and possibly let some staff go (we employ security 24 hours a day, 3 full time maintenance people, 3 full time landscapers, our front office manager Kehau and our complex manager, Justin). This is another reason why this bill should not pass.
Look, we are not wealthy people (I’m a nurse whose never made over $50,000 a year and I’ve been a nurse for 36 years for gosh sakes!). Our house on the mainland is on the small side and is not our dream house by any means. We work hard and we are truly so appreciative to have our place in Maui. If this bill passes and we aren’t allowed to do STRs anymore, we will try to keep our place there. We may rent to a friend who works remotely and wants to move there or we may sell our place on the mainland and use the money to pay down our mortgage in Maui. Since the value of real estate has gone down due to the prospect of this bill passing, we would rather not sell at this point in time. If, down the road we do sell, we will be so disappointed, I really doubt we would ever come back, it will be too sad. We love Maui, it’s so incredibly beautiful and it’s home to us. We want nothing more than to be there all the time!
In summary, please don’t pass this bill—the effect it will have on the entire Maui community is too great a risk to take! 900million dollars a YEAR?! That UHERO report was an eye-opener. Compromise is key! Thanks for your time and good luck with the decision-making process!
Mahalo,
Jeanne Malter
2560 Kekaa Drive
Lahaina, HI 96761
Dear Chair Kama, Vice Chair Uʻu-Hodgins and Members of the Housing and Land Use Committee:
I oppose Bill 9 as drafted and propose that the Council amend Bill 9 to exclude Papakea Oceanfront Resort which the County has historically identified as having A2-H2 zoning. Below I have listed some of the reasons I believe Papakea Oceanfront Resort should be excluded from Bill 9:
* Papakea was initially marketed and sold as a legal vacation rental property before any zoning restrictions limited transient vacation rentals in apartment zoned properties.
* Papakea owners have been operating legal vacation rentals for almost fifty years.
* Papakea has never been workforce housing, so Papakea is not an example of a property that converted from workforce housing to transient vacation rental use.
* The majority of units at Papakea are under 600 square feet and the property has limited parking.
* Papakea is not in a residential neighborhood and is located alongside a long stretch of hotel-zoned properties and directly adjacent to multiple commercially-zoned properties.
* Unlike apartment buildings designed for long-term residential use, Papakea has a front desk, an activity concierge, shared activity space, and numerous other common resort amenities.
* Owners purchased condos at Papakea with the reasonable expectation that short-term rentals were legal based on ordinances as far back as 1989, and as recent as 2022.
* In reliance on the Maui County ordinances and published documents, Hawaii state law, and constitutional protections, owners invested in costly renovations, furnishings, and long-term financial commitments such as mortgages that make any phase out of short-term rental right offensive of each buyer’s investment-backed expectations.
Here are some of Papakea’s Contributions to the Community:
* Papakea’s resort operations provide full-time, benefited, employment for 35 local resident employees; some have worked at the property for over 17 years; many started in entry-level positions and worked into supervisory roles.
* Papakea supports a wide variety of local trade professionals including pest control, HVAC, painting, plumbing, electrical, general contracting, masonry, tile and flooring, fitness instructors, entertainers, and tree trimming.
Here are just some of the individual Owner Contributions to the Community:
* Owners support/hire many small businesses owned and operated by local residents from the Maui community rely on Papakea short-term rentals including housekeepers, handymen, on-island agents, and contractors. These service providers set their own rates, work hours, select their own clients, work conditions and standard operating procedures. Shutting down short-term rentals at Papakea means telling local entrepreneurs that worked hard to build a small business that they need to just go get a job somewhere else to make less money, have less flexibility, and be subject to oppressive corporate policies.
* Papakea STRs support the State of Hawaii and County of Maui through payment of property taxes (many at the short-term rental rate), Transient Accommodations Tax, General Excise Tax, and Maui County Transient Accommodations Tax.
* Papakea guests support many small businesses on the island including restaurants, food trucks, tour operators, activities, state parks, the national park, and shops.
* Papakea owners and guests regularly participate in community activities including volunteering at beach cleanups, Maui Humane Society, the hospital, and many other local organizations, and contribute to local philanthropic and cultural efforts.
I would like to thank the committee for the opportunity to comment on the opposition of Bill 9.
Sincerely,
Virginia Johnson
3543 Lower Honoapiilani Road, Apartment K206