Committee backs amendment to affordable‑rental tax class, adds Section 8 certification and raises qualifying threshold

The Hawaii County Committee on Finance on April 15 voted to forward Bill 39 to the full council with a favorable recommendation after adopting an amendment that would tie the affordable‑rental real‑property tax classification to area‑median‑income thresholds and explicitly include units certified under the Section 8 program.

Councilmember Holeyka Inaba, who moved the main motion and offered the amendment, said the change would decouple the county’s affordable‑rental tax class from the Housing Office’s internal payment standard and instead align it with a percentage of the area median income (AMI). “The intent is to broaden the scope of who we are trying to serve,” Councilmember Inaba said.

Under the version forwarded by the committee, the affordable‑rental class would be based on 80% of AMI (the bill text sets 80% as the chosen threshold) and also allow landlords whose…