PROPOSED TRANSIENT ACCOMODATIONS RENTAL CODE AMENDMENT

[Audio] Aloha, This is Jennifer Wilkinson of Hiki No Realty. Lets talk about the TAR bill and dispel some of the myths and expose some of the truths..

[Audio] From the beginning the drafters said the reason for this bill was to fulfill a promise to the people to revisit STVRS, and that very few will be affected..

[Audio] In reality, this bill affects everyone – anyone who currently has a short or mid term rental – this includes all hosted and unhosted. This bill replaces the existing rules regulating unhosted rentals. It also affects all current and future property owners as well as all renters and anyone who advertises rentals on any public space..

[Audio] The drafters say, "any owner in any zone can start a new TAR at anytime".

[Audio] In reality, this is an extreme oversimplification. Rules dictate which structures on your property you can or can't rent, and which you may or may not live, including dictating which room must occupy if you operate a rental. You must live in the primary and largest unit on your property and you can never choose to live in the smaller unit, or detached bedroom or Ohana. Even if you're retired, an empty-nester, or physically incapable of maintaining the larger unit. You also can't rent out a tiny home, secondary dwelling, yurt, cabin, additional farm dwelling or Ohana or ADU if you start after January 2023. The bill also discriminates against renters who, even with landlord approval, cannot temporarily rent out a room to help make ends meet when an unexpected bill occurs. And no future owner will be allowed to rent the house to a long-term tenant if they would be an on-site operator of any short or mid term rental unit..

[Audio] The drafters insisted they created this bill to align with state and county tax law..

[Audio] The reality is, state and county tax law already exists and everyone is already required to comply – they have been long before this county decided to create zoning regulations around STVRs. And this bill does ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to change county property tax law, nor state tax law. There is no need to align to laws that apply regardless of any changes to zoning code. There is nothing to align..

[Audio] Some voiced concern about the effect this bill, but it has been repeatedly said "if you're operating legally, you don't need to worry". This is by far the biggest and most misleading statement the drafters have made..

[Audio] This bill will immediately make illegal hundreds of 30+ day unhosted rentals that currently operate legally under the existing law. Hundreds of condos that have CCR restrictions against "STVRs" as defined in law; This bill will immediately make illegal all those currently legal rentals. Finally, Ag owner operators currently, and harmlessly renting a small unit on their property to supplement inadequate farm income will - just by registering - be admitting to violating state law. They will then be forced to cease operations and will face steep fines for violations..

[Audio] The drafters in their notice to the public that this bill would be offered at Council cited needing to ensure safe and legal rental units with operating standards that apply to everyone. They said this bill will help preserve our neighborhoods and that it aims to keep more housing in the long term rental market..

[Audio] Lets unpack that. Safe, legal and with standards for all? There are no such required applications, permits, fees, fines or standards applied to long term rentals. Why aren't our resident tenants ensured the same? Likewise this bill further targets residents who for decades because of our broken building and permitting process have made modifications to their home outside of the standard permit process. These lower income folks who couldn't afford the cost of engineering or planning professionals nor wait for the sometimes years-long permitting process, will be given a stark choice – cease operating your short and mid term rental, or sign an affidavit under penalty of perjury (which is a crime) that you are compliant with all health, safety and code regulations. It's the folks who need this income the most who will be the most harmed by the adoption of this bill. Next they talk about preserving neighborhoods. The county prohibited all new unhosted rentals in neighborhoods 5 years ago with Bill 108. Now this bill says that if you have an owner-occupied residence you may start a new rental at any time. In other words, this bill does ZERO to preserve neighborhoods. Finally, the long-term housing argument. This bill targets residents – these are people who actually LIVE on the properties they are renting space on. That means these are spare rooms, detached bedrooms and other structures in or with shared space in people's private homes. Providing temporary rentals allows residents to earn a little extra money while controlling the length of time strangers share their space. Many of these units are not fit for long-term rentals because they do not have all the facilities needed to maintain everyday life. And many of these units are only temporarily vacant because they are spare rooms or structures occupied by family or even the primary resident most of the time..

[Audio] As this bill was written entirely without data to support its assertions (except for a pre-covid report that didn't dive very deep), lets take a look at some REAL numbers. This data is taken from the UHERO report that the primary drafter referenced in her introduction and is combined with Hawaii Tourism Authority data and the Department of Business and Economic Development and Tourism's Economic Impact Model. When looking at 2023, visitors who stayed in short term rentals on the big island spent nearly $600 million dollars, most of it outside the resorts and in our communities where the money stayed local. The number of jobs this segment supports is over 6000, and between the rental owners, their vendors (including property managers, cleaners, landscapers and others) and the ancillary businesses that benefited from those earned dollars being spent (like restaurants and local hardware and grocery stores), the household income generated in 2023 was nearly $300 million, again which mostly stayed on this island. This doesn't even consider the County TA and property taxes paid by rentals (about $31 million). As you can see, squeezing out short term rentals will have a negative ripple effect on our entire economy..

[Audio] Data and testimony have shown the harm this bill will cause to Hawaii residents. This bill hurts locals..

[Audio] The drafters have not performed any studies, nor offered data to support their assertions of safer housing, preserved neighborhoods and more housing. There have been zero studies on the difference between hosted and unhosted rentals on surrounding housing supply and costs. This bill will hurt locals..

[Audio] Bill 108 did not create affordable housing or reduce housing-related costs. Looking at neighbor islands who have had STVR regulations for decades, their laws have not created housing or reduced housing-related costs. THIS bill will not be any different, and instead will hurt locals and disproportionately affect the lower income earners..

[Audio] This bill is just bad law.. [image]. Bill 121.