Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Keani Rawlins- Fernandez, Economic Development and Budget Committee Chair
Keani.rawlins@mauicounty.us
Long-Term Rental Housing Tax Incentive Bill Passes Second and Final Reading at Council
WAILUKU, HI – Council Vice Chair and Economic Development and Budget Committee Chair, Keani Rawlins-Fernandez announced today that Bill 129 (2020) A BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE RELATING TO REAL PROPERTY TAX passed second and final reading unanimously at the Council meeting on Friday, December 4, 2020.
The legislation proposed by Rawlins-Fernandez created a long-term rental classification and a long-term rental exemption to real property owners that rent units for 12 consecutive months or more to the same tenant.
“Our housing shortage has been exasperated exponentially by a consistently growing trend, which favored visitor accommodations over the long-term rental housing needs of our residents. The limited supply of long-term rentals in our county, have resulted in a panicked demand which in turn resulted in long-term rental rates reaching astronomical monthly heights,” Rawlins-Fernandez said, “I am so pleased that this second phase in tax reform has advanced with unanimous support from my colleagues on the council, and look forward to introducing the next bill to incentivize affordable long-term rentals.”
Bill 129 enables owners of real property to apply for a long-term rental exemption, and if qualified, will receive a $200,000 reduction to the property’s tax assessment and be moved from the non-owner occupied classification to the new long-term rental classification.
Owners of multiple real property may apply for a long-term rental exemption on each property that contains a long-term rental.
Real property owners that qualify for both a homeowner exemption and a long-term rental exemption on the same property will receive a $300,000 reduction to their tax assessment and remain in the owner-occupied class.
Collection of long-term rental exemption applications will begin in April 2021, and qualifying property exemptions will be applied to property tax assessments for 2022, when the program is set to commence.
The Maui County Department of Finance, Real Property Tax Division, intends to notify property owners starting March 2021. The deadline for owners to apply for the home exemption and circuit breaker for the upcoming tax year is December 31, 2020. Visit the thier website at mauipropertytax.com.
###
