Kauai County Council Members

[talkamotta]

Mel Rapozo, Council Vice Chair mfrapozo@kauai.gov

Tim Bynum, Councilmember tbynum@kauai.gov

Jay Furfaro, Councilmember jfurfaro@kauai.gov

Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho, Councilmember scarvalho@kauai.gov

Ronald Kouchi, Councilmember rkouchi@kauai.gov

JoAnn Yukimura, Councilmember jyukimura@kauai.gov

Sterling

Sent letters to each of the Coucil members. Probably wont do any good. Sent letters to Maui when they were raising taxes there too.

Might not do any good but it felt good.

Hawaii is a beautiful place, thats for sure. (Thats why I bought 2 1/2 weeks there and want to buy another week on the BI. ) But Hawaii isnt the only place that has alot to offer. They have competition at least for my vacation dollar and if things keep going the way they are, price will begin playing a bigger part.

 

[hibbert6]

Jim, the mayor of Maui's issue a couple of years ago was with timesharers, not hotel visitors. He made it very clear that what they want are visitors who pay full freight. The tax that Sterling is concerned about appears to be a timeshare tax only. Hotel visitors are OK.
Hawaiian officials see all the Islands as a high-end destination and timesharers get to visit without paying high-end prices. Basically, we're expendable.

Let's compare: Family of 4

7 nights at a mid-range (?!!?) Poipu hotel = $2100
4x7 breakfasts @ $10 = 280
4x7 lunches @ $10 = 280
4x7 dinners @ $25 = 700
Car Rental 1 week inc. gas = 500
TOTAL =$3860

Timeshare owner:

1 WEEK Maint. Fees at Lawai Beach Resort = $911
Groceries = 250
4x2 lunches out @ $10 = 80
4x2 dinners out @ $25 = 200
Car rental + gas = 500
Total = $1941

Therefore, we timeshare owners do spend almost exactly HALF what the high rollers spend. However, they don't return every year - few can afford to. Maybe once every 5 years: Over 20 years = 5 visits x $3860= $19,300 spent. The T/S owner, however, returns EVERY year: 20 visits x $1941 = $38,820 spent - - almost exactly DOUBLE what the high end guests spend!

Sure, if the island's tourist trade was immune to economic and political problems around the world, they might fill their nice hotels every night. But that can't happen. So, in the long run, it's the Timeshare owners who bring in (maybe the bulk of) the tourist dollars, because we are consistent, even if we cook our own meals.

Let all who have ears take heed.

Dave

 

[UWSurfer]

...plus as is noted with all this, ts owners PAY taxes.

 

[california-bighorn]

I agree with the analyse by Dave, but there are a lot more vacation dollars spent than just meals eaten out and rental cars. Think of the activities that both TS owners and non-owners spend. Example; scuba diving @ $100 to $125 per day. When you factor these kind of expenses, the timeshare owners look even better as it helps even out the costs per visit and is a huge increase in the amount spent over many years.

 

[BocaBum99]

First of all: Mahalo

What irritates me most of all is the fact that Kauai County didn't notify me personally--darn it I own property and pay taxes. Seems like the person whose taxes are going to be increased should be notified.

Also, I'm not happy that the management companies for our Hawaii Time Shares are so incompetent that can 't notify their "customers" of the impending tax increase.

The Point at Poipu, The NaPali Kauai Club, or the Alii Kai II Management.

Lets see: An increase of 75% on my $5/gallon Hawaii gas=$8.75

Guess I better stop complaining about gasoline increases.

As a Texas property tax payer I'd be delighted if my taxes stayed the same.

When was the meeting held? 2am on a Sunday morning? Why didn't the county notify me?

Bah Humbug,


Sterling

old Hawaiian sayings: "May the fleas of a thousand pigs invade their pubic hair during re-election time" "May their mother and father finally marry".

Wouldn't it make more sense to use absolute values instead of percentage changes?

A $15,000 timeshare would have taxes change from $51.60 to $90. That is an increase of $38.40.

This thread seems to be an over reaction to such a change.

Rather than fighting the battle to change win the property tax rate battle, I would be fighting the assessed value. That $15,000 timeshare is probably worth $2000 now. If you are assessed the new rate on the lower value, your taxes would be: $12.

Assessed value is the much more valuable issue to fight rather than tax rate.

 

[Icarus]

Assessed value is the much more valuable issue to fight rather than tax rate.

I've said the same thing, but it's easier for people to get POed at the issue and concentrate on the rhetoric and not the facts.

If your assessments are out of line, your associations should be following the county's procedure for appealing them.

For better or worse, Maui and now Kauai have decided to shift tax burden to the tourist industry, and yes that includes hotels too. In theory, it will help some locals stay in their homes, and make tourists pay for the infrastructure needed to support them. Yes, you will pay a higher tax rate than locals do.

If you really want to screw them, buy a house and move here. Your tax rate will be low and you'll get a huge homeowners exemption, and you can pay the high cost of living here that all the locals do.

-David

 

[Cathyb]

David: If all us timeshare owners in Maui and Kauai decided to sell, your economy in Maui (and Kauai) would suffer immensely. It's true your taxes would be lower, but not many jobs available for the residents in the hotel/timeshare industry.

 

[Icarus]

David: If all us timeshare owners in Maui and Kauai decided to sell, your economy in Maui (and Kauai) would suffer immensely. It's true your taxes would be lower, but not many jobs available for the residents in the hotel/timeshare industry.

I'm sorry, Cathy. I don't see what that has to do with anything in this thread or what I posted here. My post was intended to convey the idea that Jim mentioned first, that your associations should be monitoring the assessed values of your units and appealing them if they are out of whack with reality.

If you want to concentrate on rage that the tax portion of your MFs might go up as much as $40 - $100, feel free to do so. But that's misplaced rage and you aren't going to get anywhere by doing that. On the other hand, if the county has overvalued your units value, your association can get somewhere by following the county's procedure for appealing their assessment.

If you sell your unit, somebody will buy it. Either way somebody will occupy it and somebody will pay the taxes. Unless, of course, you decide to screw yourself financially and let your weeks go unused.

I sold my KBC unit and I'm glad I did. If selling is what makes sense to you, then by all means, feel free to sell it. Selling was the right option for me, and it had nothing to do with the taxes.

Cooler heads will prevail once you realize that the dollar amount of the change isn't that much. And you can still appeal the valuation if they have overvalued your unit.

-David

 

[Kauai Kid]

That is exactly what happened at the Maui Schooner. The owners appealed, had a law firm represent us, presented good data to the county, and they had no choice but to lower the assessment.

Sterling

 

[McFail]

To consider a $50/week tax hike not much is not looking at the big picture. Thats a $2600/yr hike per unit. 52 grand a year for a 200 unit resort. Imagine a resort needing an emergency 52 grand repair starting next year and every year after that.

 

[BocaBum99]

To consider a $50/week tax hike not much is not looking at the big picture. Thats a $2600/yr hike per unit. 52 grand a year for a 200 unit resort. Imagine a resort needing an emergency 52 grand repair starting next year and every year after that.

I completely understand the big picture. The big picture is stop worrying about the tax rate and start worrying about the assessed value. If an HOA gets the assessed value down to where it actually is, then the overall tax will go down almost independently of what the tax rate becomes. What do you not understand about that concept?

 

[Kauai Kid]

Let's compare: Family of 4

7 nights at a mid-range (?!!?) Poipu hotel = $2100
4x7 breakfasts @ $10 = 280
4x7 lunches @ $10 = 280
4x7 dinners @ $25 = 700
Car Rental 1 week inc. gas = 500
TOTAL =$3860

Timeshare owner:

1 WEEK Maint. Fees at Lawai Beach Resort = $911
Groceries = 250
4x2 lunches out @ $10 = 80
4x2 dinners out @ $25 = 200
Car rental + gas = 500
Total = $1941

Therefore, we timeshare owners do spend almost exactly HALF what the high rollers spend. However, they don't return every year - few can afford to. Maybe once every 5 years: Over 20 years = 5 visits x $3860= $19,300 spent. The T/S owner, however, returns EVERY year: 20 visits x $1941 = $38,820 spent - - almost exactly DOUBLE what the high end guests spend!

Sure, if the island's tourist trade was immune to economic and political problems around the world, they might fill their nice hotels every night. But that can't happen. So, in the long run, it's the Timeshare owners who bring in (maybe the bulk of) the tourist dollars, because we are consistent, even if we cook our own meals.

Let all who have ears take heed.

Dave

Dave: There is another side to this issue not easily quantified. Since a timeshare vacation is cheaper than a hotel we use the monies saved and are able to go multiple times per year. At least in our case, for this year, it seems like the county is ahead money wise with us as timeshare owners since we will have gone to Maui for 2 weeks and Kauai for 4 weeks.

Next year it doesn't appear we will be going as often, but we have been going to the Islands over 25 years!!

I think some of the $700 Billion bailout should go to us destitute TUG time-share owners.

Sterling