Maui Council Debates Property Taxes

Aloha Kakou:

The Maui County Council yesterday heard testimony from hotel general managers and directors regarding the effect proposed property tax rates would have on the visitor industry.

http://mauinews.com/page/content.detail/id/548582/Visitor-industry-leaders--Tax-burden-high.html?nav=10

Here are comments regarding the meeting from Carol Reimann, Executive Director of the Maui Visitor Bureau, who attended the meeting:

"Here is a short list of subsequent discussions on the floor:
· taking another look at the homeowner rate - at $2.50 we are the lowest in the State, if not the Country. Coupled with the homeowner exemption – we’ve created an environment of investment speculation in real estate.
· homeowner exemption - which is currently $300,000, the highest in the state
· revamping the circuit breaker credit - so that it only benefits those who are in need (currently, it was reported that there were homeowners in the $5-$10 million bracket receiving circuit breaker credits!)
· the fact that other counties treat commercial and hotel/resorts the same
· the fact that timeshare are treated the same as hotel/resorts in all other counties
· the hotel/resort classification includes hotels & condos on 9,754 hotel-zoned parcels of land. Currently the category includes only 28 hotels on 285 parcels; the remaining parcels are primarily condos. They discussed possibly breaking apart the 28 hotels into a separate category because fluctuations in valuations of hotels vs condos are often not at the same level, making it difficult for the County to adjust RPT rates in a fair manner.
· Mike White pointed out that the way our RPT rates are structured has created a scenario where our businesses provide the lion’s share – carrying the weight of homeowners. He also shared statistics that clearly shows how most homeowners do not pay their share of governmental services that they enjoy.
· Riki Hokama noted that RPT rates are not about fairness, but is a tool that has been used to set policy for land use. He is also quoted in the Maui News today – his quote clearly reflects his displeasure with our timeshare partners.
· here’s an interesting statistic - 30% of homeowners pay the minimum in real property tax - $150 per year!!!"