After hearing more than five hours of testimony Tuesday, the Maui County Council voted in favor of a bill that encourages vacation unit owners to rent to fire victims on a long-term basis.
Bill 131 was proposed by Mayor Richard Bissen and offers tax incentives starting Jan. 1 for short-term rental owners who assist those displaced by the fires.
Thousands of families are still in hotels and temporary housing while there are currently more than 24,000 vacation rentals and second homes on Maui.
Dozens of testifiers spoke to the emotional and logistical tolls of not having long-term housing.
Bissen said 2,700 families currently need housing and he asked homeowners to help.
“I recognize that there is much anxiety and uncertainty for so many of our families that continue to navigate these transitions with short-term housing in our hotels,” he said. “I want you to know that I have heard you and I assure you that no survivors will be evicted or left without housing as we navigate these very difficult times.”
“As mayor, I’m speaking directly, now, to our short-term rental owners, requesting their kokua in stepping up to make these units available to families that have been impacted,” he continued.
“Those who choose to participate will benefit from a 100% real property tax exemption and the assurance of a long-term renter.”
More than 60 testifiers offered oral comments during Tuesday's council meeting, with the vast majority supporting the bill. More than 600 written testimonies were also submitted.
Testifier Jordan Ruidas, an organizer of the Lahaina Strong movement, urged the council to support the bill even though she thinks "having to dangle carrots and incentivize these owners is absolutely appalling.”
“These properties are folks’ second, third, fourth and more properties,” she said. “Our only properties have burned down to the ground, along with our town and the place we knew… These owners have a home to lay their head while our people are sleeping in hotels — if that — and being treated as second-class citizens in our own home, having moved up to eight different times and given just hours to be out of these rooms.”
Short-term rental owners who testified said not all homeowners have the financial means to rent at a loss.
Tom Geary, who owns a Kāʻanapali condo, called the bill a “no-brainer” but said more thought needs to go into the “consequences and the economics.”
“If we get priced out as a family, and we can’t afford to have our condo sit empty — we’re not hedge funders — then we’re going to have to sell it to a hedge funder. That’s not going to help anyone,” he said, calling for a halt to the “vilification” of vacation rental owners.
Bissen acknowledged there will be a financial loss taken by homeowners, but emphasized a collective need to do the right thing.
“The concerns and the emails have been sent to me is that they’ll be losing money,” he said in his opening statements. “And the answer to that is, that’s right. They will be losing money. But what they will be gaining is much more, and what the whole community gains.”
The council voted to approve amendments to the bill based on testimony they received, including protection from eviction for existing long-term renters.
Once it’s known how many homeowners will sign up for the tax exemption, council members say a companion bill may be considered to penalize noncompliance.
A second reading of the bill is scheduled for Dec. 15.
