Bill Text: HI SCR211 | 2022 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Urging The Counties To Utilize An Empty Homes Tax As A Means Of Addressing Affordable Housing In The State.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-03-16 - Referred to HOU/WAM. [SCR211 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2022-SCR211-Introduced.html

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THE SENATE	S.C.R. NO.	211
THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2022
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

URGING THE countIES to utilize an empty homeS tax as a means OF ADDRESsING affordable housing IN THE STATE.

 

 

 

     WHEREAS, property taxes in the State are among the lowest in the nation at approximately .28 percent; and

 

WHEREAS, about one fourth of all housing in the State is owned by people who do not reside in the State; and

 

WHEREAS, low property taxes have benefitted real estate investors, many of whom do not reside in the State and purchase homes and other residential properties as investments or second homes; and

 

     WHEREAS, a significant number of residential investment properties are vacant, which, combined with low property taxes, negatively impacts the housing supply statewide and results in less revenues for the counties and government services; and

 

WHEREAS, homes and other residential properties that are vacant for extended periods of time negatively impact the State's housing supply by taking housing units out of the housing market and contributing to a scarcity of affordable housing and a prevalence of homelessness in the State; and

 

     WHEREAS, in 2017, the empty homes tax, also known as the vacancy tax, was introduced in Vancouver, British Columbia to help return vacant and under-utilized properties to the market as long-term rental homes for people who live and work in Vancouver and support affordable housing initiatives; and

 

     WHEREAS, under Vancouver's empty homes tax:

 

     (1)  Thirty-six percent of properties declared or deemed vacant in 2019 were converted to occupied in 2020;

 

     (2)  There was a twenty-six percent reduction in vacant properties from 2017 to 2020; and

 

     (3)  $86,600,000 of revenues from the empty homes tax were allocated to support affordable housing initiatives between 2017 and 2020; and

 

WHEREAS, Vancouver's empty homes tax does not apply to principal residences, homes that qualify for an exemption, or homes rented for at least six months of the year; and

 

WHEREAS, adopting a tax similar to Vancouver's empty homes tax would help return vacant or under-utilized properties to the State's long-term rental housing inventory and relieve pressure on the State's rental housing market; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2022, the House of Representatives concurring, that the City and County of Honolulu and the counties of Hawaii, Kauai, and Maui are urged to utilize an empty homes tax, similar to the Vancouver, British Columbia empty homes tax, as a means of addressing affordable housing in the State; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Mayor and Council Chair of the City and County of Honolulu and the Mayors and Council Chairs of the counties of Hawaii, Kauai, and Maui.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title: 

Empty Homes Tax; Vacancy Tax; Counties