To: Maui County Council
Re: Bill 181 (2025) – Real Property Tax Exemptions

Aloha Chair Sugimura and Members of the Council,

My name is Edward Codelia. I am testifying in support of increasing the homeowner and long-term rental exemptions under Bill 181, but I also believe the Council should go much further in addressing the growing financial pressure being placed on longtime Maui County residents.

As both a resident and a Realtor, I regularly see the growing disconnect between local incomes and the actual cost of surviving in Hawaiʻi. Property values may have increased dramatically on paper, but that does not mean local residents suddenly became wealthy. Many longtime residents, especially older residents still working to survive, are being taxed based on inflated assessments driven by outside demand, speculative investment, second-home ownership, and broader market pressures that have little connection to local wage realities.

The proposed exemption increases will help some residents in the short term. However, the larger issue remains that Maui County government has become increasingly dependent on rising property tax revenues created by rapidly escalating valuations.

At some point the County must decide whether its first responsibility is preserving continuous government expansion or preserving the ability of local residents to remain in their homes and communities.

I believe the Council should begin seriously exploring stronger long-term protections for resident homeowners, including:

* larger primary residence exemptions,
* caps on annual assessment increases for owner-occupants,
* indexed exemptions tied to inflation and assessment growth,
* and expanded age-based protections for longtime resident homeowners.

I would specifically encourage the Council to consider a more Hawaiʻi-based approach to senior property tax protections beginning at age 61 instead of 65. The age of 65 was largely built around mainland federal systems and retirement assumptions that do not necessarily reflect the economic realities of Hawaiʻi, where many residents continue working well beyond traditional retirement age simply to afford housing, healthcare, utilities, insurance, and daily living costs.

Many residents in their early 60s are already financially strained while living on fixed or semi-fixed incomes in one of the most expensive places in the world. Waiting until 65 to provide stronger protections may no longer reflect the reality local residents are facing.

Other states already provide far more aggressive homeowner protections for seniors through tax freezes, capped assessments, homestead protections, and expanded exemptions. Meanwhile, many longtime Hawaiʻi residents increasingly feel punished simply for remaining in homes their families may have held for generations.

The larger concern is sustainability. Maui County cannot continue relying indefinitely on escalating property values and rising assessments as a permanent revenue model while residents themselves experience declining affordability and increasing financial instability.

I appreciate the opportunity to testify.

Edward Codelia, Maui Resident

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