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Monday’s editorial supported the City Council’s vacant housing bill, which would significantly increase the tax on housing that is not occupied more than six months of the year (“Consider new tax on vacant homes,” Star-Advertiser, Our View, May 22).
The detailed conditions of the bill are complex and probably difficult to meet. Setting that aside, the whole concept is a negative incentive to encourage properties to become available for residents.
Negative incentives should be implemented with care. This proposal will make many properties too expensive for the current owners to afford, thus creating selloffs and foreclosures. The recession of 2008 was caused by the same situation. Hawaii will suffer a significant economic impact and many people will lose a great deal of their savings. The thought that only nonresidents will be impacted is naive; everyone will be affected.
A better approach would be incentives that don’t have a negative impact on property owners and investors. Be creative and think positive.
John Faris
Waikiki
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