Policy Stubs

We're the new kids on the block, and unlike the rest we don't have folks writing us checks for hundreds of thousands of dollars so we can do this full time.

What we believe is possible is creating a separate housing and land market for local families tied to local incomes. The rough blue print looks might look like this:

1. Create a county or state managed land trust or designate existing community land trusts as stand-ins for such trusts
2. Limit ownership of homes in the trust to residents with no other property holdings
3. Utilize a waiting list for managing purchases units in that trust that every Hawaii resident above age 18 is eligible for subject to annual renewal
4. Create tax incentives for local folks to place their homes into that trust via property tax breaks
5. Raise taxes on homes not in the trust and direct revenue to building more homes that are placed into that trust
6. Use a progressive conveyance tax on properties and direct the funds into building more homes in that trust
7. Retool our existing housing programs (RHRF, LIHTC, HMMF bonds, downpayment assistance programs, etc) to support projects being built on trust land
8. Tie property resales in the trust to local income growth + some limited equity growth

There are lot of intermediate cleanup to do in the meantime. This is a brief outline of our policy ideas. We'll build these out into more robust kits as time allows.

• We spend a lot subsidizing development of affordable housing, giving hundreds of millions in tax breaks, subsidizing financing, $1/year leases, and sometimes paying both to build it and rent it via section 8. We should redirect these funds so that public and non-profit developers like the City & County, HHFDC, and Lahaina Community Land Trust are first in line. These groups can bring real affordability permanently.
• We support creating community land trusts (CLTs) to address critical affordability needs in residential and commercial real estate markets. CLT's allow for community directed development because they are community owned. We think the state should view them as partners and direct funding towards establishing CLTs in every ahapua'a.
• We believe some of the best-value affordable housing, has already been built. We think that programs like Honolulu's Downpayment Assistance Program should be expanded and retooled so that the City & County or state purchases a permanent affordability easement in the property.
• We support retooling our tax policy to drive out unproductive use of our housing units. This includes an empty homes tax, a higher conveyance tax, and raising property tax rates while providing for more exemptions for local families to insure that local households are not hit with unexpected tax bills.
• We support phasing out vacation rentals in non hotel districts. Hawaii's homes should be for locals first, and we can't achieve that when investment returns for an AirBnB outstrip what you can earn as a longterm landlord.
• We support rent stabilization and think the best economics research does as well.
• Some YIMBY policies sound intuitive, like reducing minimum lot sizes. Unfortunately, private developers are incentivized to net-out these benefits because of how property markets work. We support ideas like reduced minimum lot sizes and eased FAR's for non-profit developers who sell their property with deeded resale restrictions, lease with first-right of refusal, or other mechanisms to insure that potential cost savings are achieve and passed on to local families.
• We support investing in better pay and other incentives to get local planning departments fully staffed and running efficiently.
• We support giving tenants a first right of refusal, transferable to other nonprofit entities, to help sustain naturally affordable housing. We support creating tax credits to encourage this outcome.