Council to vote on housing charter amendment

LIHU‘E — The council will vote this Wednesday on a measure that could have big implications for housing on the island.

Resolution No. 2022-22 proposes a County Charter amendment requiring at least 2% of property-tax revenues each year to be allocated to a housing-development fund.

If supported by five or more of the seven councilmembers Wednesday it will go on the general election ballot Nov. 8.

Based on fiscal year 2022-23 revenues, the resolution would allocate at least $3.75 million toward housing in the current fiscal year.

Councilmember Luke Evslin, who introduced the measure along with council Vice Chair Mason Chock, said Monday that a consistent infusion of funds would allow the County Housing Agency to do more long-term planning and go after revenue bonds that they would otherwise be unable to access.

“The timing seems right. The county has never before been in this position where we have a bunch of land that we’re planning for housing development,” said Evslin, citing affordable projects in the works in Waimea, Kilauea and ‘Ele‘ele.

Evslin saw the bump in revenues over last year, in part a result of the reclassification of the residential investor-tax class, increasing property values and a new, county transient accommodations tax as reasons to act now on housing.

“For me, it makes sense to make sure that we’re dedicating a portion of that to affordable housing,” said Evslin.

Though the resolution passed council unanimously on first reading, it was greeted with skepticism by council Chair Arryl Kaneshiro and Councilmember Billy DeCosta. Kaneshiro, who could not be reached for comment Monday, was concerned about the use of a charter amendment for budgeting priorities.

Mayor Derek Kawakami opted not to weigh in on the amendment when asked about it Monday.

A July 20 public hearing on the measure saw testimony on both sides of the issue.

County Budget Administrator Ken Shimonishi, testifying as a member of the public, voiced similar concerns on the use of a charter amendment to fund affordable housing.

“The County Charter is the basic document that defines the organization, structure, powers, functions and essential procedures of the county…comparable to the U.S. Constitution or a state constitution,” wrote Shimonishi in his testimony.

“It should not be amended frequently and should reflect broadly the general and essential functions of the county, and in my opinion should not be used to address specific budgeting appropriation items.”

Former Councilmember and Mayor JoAnn Yukimura used the analogy of a household budget to lay out her support for the measure.

“If you have a really top priority like buying a downpayment on a house or a college payment, you don’t give the leftovers of your monthly budget to that. You give it first,” said Yukimura. “That’s what the charter amendment does.”

Yukimura pointed to a development in Koloa-Po‘ipu, which could have been expanded to include a wider range of income qualifications, if the county had funding to do so.

“That would have made affordable housing available to a broader range of workforce families (including teachers, which is a particular concern of mine),” wrote Yukimura. “And it would have made Ko‘ae a better housing project. It is well known that putting together families with a diversity of incomes usually creates a more-successful community.”

The resolution resembles a 2003 measure that allocated 0.5% of county real-property-tax revenues to the Public Access, Open Space and Natural Resources Preservation Fund, which can be used to purchase land for public uses like beach access, preserving historic sites and protecting environmentally sensitive areas.

The number was briefly upped to 1.5% in 2012, then reduced back to 0.5% in 2015, at the urging of then-Mayor Bernard Carvalho, according to The Garden Island reporting.

A measure revising the county charter to reserve 3% of property-tax revenues for an affordable-housing fund was approved by Maui voters in 2020.

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Guthrie Scrimgeour, reporter, can be reached at 647-0329 or gscrimgeour@thegardenisland.com.