The Hawaiʻi County Council is considering a bill to amend its affordable rental housing program to help increase the island's housing supply.
Homeowners in the program must keep the rent they charge below a certain cost, and in exchange, they get breaks on their real property taxes and a cap on how much their assessed value can increase every year.
Bill 218 would change how that maximum rent is calculated.
The goal is to get more homeowners into the program by bringing up the highest allowable rent that they can charge.
“And then on the renters’ side, we're going to hopefully have that increased number of units in the program, which is essentially more affordable rentals on the island,” said Council Vice-Chair Holeka Goro Inaba.
The program’s rental cap is dependent on federally set “fair market rents” and varies by zip code. Bill 218 would swap that with area median income, which does not vary by individual zip codes and serves as a guide for other affordable housing efforts.
The higher rent, however, could make it more difficult for some low-income households to afford the units in the program, so it needs to strike a balance between what homeowners and renters can afford.
“ I'm very supportive overall, I think, if we can get more people renting at an affordable rate. But I would like to see the numbers and make sure that we're not inadvertently making things unaffordable for people who are barely making the rent for some of these places in some of the lower rent areas,” said Councilmember Jennifer Kagiwada.
The council postponed the measure until November for further discussion.
