Letter to the Editor for Saturday — April 24, 2004

• Problem: Affordable Housing

Problem: Affordable Housing

There is a shortage of affordable housing for sale or for rent on Kaua‘i. One reason is that many people purchase property here and turn it into vacation rentals.

Solutions:

• Increase all property taxes throughout the Island. Offer a three-tier exemption program. If the property is owner-occupied on a full time basis, the owner would receive a large property tax exemption. If the owner rents property on a long-term basis of more than six continuous months, the owner receives a smaller exemption. If owner uses the property for vacation rentals, they receive no tax exemption.
• Time share properties are assessed at the total price that each unit sells for the year divided by the number of owners purchasing that unit, for example, one unit has sold to 52 owners (one week each) at $20,000 then the unit sold for $1,040,000 price. The property tax would then be based on the $1,040,000 price. Since the owner does not occupy the unit for more than six months, them would not be a tax exemption and the owner pays the highest property tax.
• There are many properties on Kaua‘i that are vacation rentals and not are not being managed by a vacation property company. Sometimes those properties are not meeting health and safety standards. They also might not be advertised accurately. Tourist can be disappointed in their accommodations. There should be a toll free number where any tourist can lodge complaints so properties can be inspected for sanitation standards and for equal access. All vacation rental advertisements should be required to print the toll free phone number with an explanation that if they are not satisfied with the accommodations, they can report problems.
• Bed and Breakfast accommodations that are owner/occupied on the same property for a minimum of six months would be treated as owner occupied property with the largest tax exemption.
• A portion of the taxes collected would be set aside to assist any developer that offers quality houses that are affordable. The money could be used to develop the infrastructure required for affordable housing thus reducing the cost of building houses. Also, money could be used to support non-governmental housing projects such as Habitat for Humanity.

I assume that time-share salespeople and real estate agents might not be thrilled with these suggestions but could these ideas help find affordable housing for the people of Kaua‘i.

Sandy Helmer

Koloa