Column: Renters suffer when Hawaii property assessments increase

While we hear an outcry from Hawaii’s homeowners over soaring property tax assessments, we seem to hear little from and about those most affected by those increases, namely renters.

Compared to the rest of the country, Hawaii has a low rate of homeownership, 58.4% versus a nationwide average of 64.7%, and, therefore, has a high proportion of renters. Statistical data from the decennial census and the American Community Survey on generational differences in home ownership in Hawaii show that of the 449,988 households in Hawaii in 2020, 149,088, or 33%, were headed by individuals 65 and over, while 309,900, or 67%, were headed by persons under 65.

Of heads of households aged 65 and over, 74.6% owned their homes, while of those under 65 only 50.4% did. Homeownership is projected to decline further as it continues to become less and less affordable for more and more people. As reported in a Jan. 17 Star-Advertiser article, Hawaii renters also spend relatively more of their income on rent than their mainland counterparts — a whopping 42.1% compared to the next highest state, California, with 28.5%.

In Honolulu County, the tax rate for owner- occupied properties is $3.50 per $1,000 assessed, regardless of the total value of the property. For non-owner-occupied “residential A” properties, which are where renters live, the tax rate is $4.50 per $1,000 for assessments of up to $1 million, and then leaps to $10.50 for each $1,000 over $1 million. Thus, a tax bill on a $1.5 million owner-occupied property, before any homeowner exemptions, is $5,250, while for a non-owner-occupied property of the same assessed value it is $9,750. It would be naive to think that most landlords do not pass most, if not all, of the additional property tax on to their renters.

As long as increases in property assessments reflect the market, homeowners see a steep increase in the value of their properties, while paying a very modest tax rate on their increased assessment. Similarly, landlords see an increase in the value of their investments concomitant to the increase in assessments, and are able to bypass paying the accompanying tax increase by passing it on to their tenants in the form of rent increases.

Therefore, homeowners and landlords gain in wealth as their properties increase in value, while, in contrast, renters are the big losers on all fronts. They are burdened with ever increasing rents, lose their ability to save, and see their dream of someday owning their own home evaporate.

Why is there so little concern among our legislators and others over the consequences of property tax legislation for such a large section of our population? These consequences have far-reaching implications for our community and for our collective future as the division between haves and have-nots widens.

When will the city stop looking at our properties as ATM machines that disburse and get replenished by higher property assessments without considering the ultimate unfairness to many, especially to those living in residential-A properties, our renters?

Why are we talking about tax credits and exemptions for homeowners while ignoring the much larger plight of renters? Where are the advocates for our renters? And where are the voices of renters themselves?

Maybe many of them are too exhausted from working multiple jobs to make the rent and feel too hopeless to get involved.

A tenant union modeled after the nonprofit San Francisco Tenants Union, which since 1970 has successfully advocated for legislation to protect and promote the rights of tenants in San Francisco, might also be helpful in achieving greater fairness and equity for Hawaii’s renters.

Ursula Retherford, a Kailua homeowner and longtime landlady, has a background in sociology and advocates for social and environmental sustainability.