Empty Homes Tax - Bill 46 Introduced in Council!

Exciting news!

A New Empty Homes Tax seeks to address our “impossibly unaffordable” housing crisis in Honolulu:

Honolulu is ranked in the top 5 “impossibly unaffordable” housing areas in the world.  (Demographia International Housing Affordability Study).  Yet the 2020 US Census reports Honolulu as having 34,253 vacant homes that could be housing local residents.  This crisis needs to be fixed!

Honolulu Council Chair Tommy Waters and Council Floor Leader Radiant Cordero have just introduced a new Empty Homes Tax, Bill 46,  BILL046(24) to help address this crisis.

            The Empty Homes Tax would for the first time prioritize Oʻahu’s housing for Oʻahu’s residents. How does it do that? By taxing all residential properties on Oʻahu that are not used at least 6 months a year as a principal residence (primary home) for an Oʻahu resident (as an owner or renter), subject to limited exemptions.  This bill 46 replaces the earlier version of the Empty Homes Tax, which has expired.

What’s new and improved about the Empty Homes Tax? 

·      A public education program to assure property owners will know about the law and how to comply

·      Phase-in of tax rates:  1% tax in Year 1, 2% tax in Year 2, 3% tax in Years 3+

·      A grace period and right to request extension of time for filing property declarations

·      Penalties will match existing short-term-rental rules (up to $10,000 per violation)

Use of EHT Revenues: 

Bill 46 states EHT revenues “may be used to increase the City’s supply of affordable housing and homes and address homelessness.”  We will be asking City Council to assure EHT revenues are spent to help in this housing crisis.

What’s next? 

August 7 at 10am: City Council hearing on the Empty Homes Tax (first reading)

Week of August 20-22:  City Council Committee hearing on the bill  

It if passes through the Committee successfully, the bill will then be returned for a second hearing before City Council, and then a second hearing before the Housing Committee, before a final hearing at City Council.

A Call to Action -- What you can do to help:

YOU are invited to participate, show your support, and provide ideas on how we can help fix our housing crisis.   We will help, by keeping you informed on dates and procedures for how to participate at those hearings.  

Here is what we would love your help with now:

·      Contact your City Council person by August 6 and tell them you support Bill 46, an Empty Homes Tax for Honolulu.  (Here’s how to contact your City Council person: Go to

https://www.honolulucitycouncil.org/find-my-councilmember, type in your street address where it says “Oʻahu Island Locator,” and it will provide you the name, email address and phone number for your Councilmember). Call or email them to say you live in their district, why this bill is important to you, and ask them to pass this bill.

·      Share this information with friends and family who can help support this bill. Ask them to Sign Up on our website https://www.hihousing.org for further updates.

·      Submit oral and/or written testimony in support of Bill 46 for the hearing on August 7 and be prepared for the Committee TBD during the period of Aug 20-22. See instructions below for how to submit testimony. You may want to use the Benefits of an Empty Homes Tax below for ideas for your testimony, but please do not copy other aspects of this notice into your testimony.

Benefits of an Empty Homes Tax

The EHT can help our housing crisis in so many ways: 

·      Increased Housing Supply: By encouraging landlords and property owners to rent out or sell vacant properties, the tax can increase homes available to Oahu residents

·      Decreasing Market Demand: The tax discourages non-resident use of Oʻahu’s housing, thereby reducing competitive pressures that increase our housing prices and rents

·      Revenue Generation: The tax generates funds that can be used for affordable housing and homelessness programs.

·      Prioritize Oʻahu’s Housing for Oʻahu’s Residents

Our impossibly unaffordable island will not change without your help. The time to act is now.

Help us be part of the solution. 

Ellen Carson & the Housing Now! Coalition

Instructions for how to submit testimony:

For City Council hearing on August 7 (10am): AGENDA

Written testimony is due at least 24 hours before the hearing (i.e, by August 6 at 10am). 

Here is where to register for providing written testimony and click on “Submit Testimony for Aug 7”: https://hnldoc.ehawaii.gov/hnldoc/measure/3048.  Use the same link to register if you also want to do oral testimony at the hearing either in person or via Zoom, although we strongly encourage folks to come in person if you can!

Please note that oral testimony is often limited to 1 or 2 minutes per person, so prepare accordingly.  The Council meeting may take several hours, so while it starts at 10am, oral testimony may not be taken until 11am or 12pm (or later).

For the tentative Committee hearing during August 20-22: 

Written testimony will again be due at least 24 hours before the hearing through the measure link at: https://hnldoc.ehawaii.gov/hnldoc/measure/3048.

We do not know the exact referral and therefore Committee date yet, but this will be where the meat of the discussion will be held, so we hope if you can join in person that this is the meeting you consider joining.

It if passes through the Committee successfully, the bill will then be returned for a second hearing before City Council, and then a second hearing before the Committee, before a final hearing at City Council.  We will keep folks updated as we go!