Vision

The cost of rent has been a contentious issue among residents for decades, with many calling for a cap on rent or a plan to stabilize costs. Petterson agrees with these sentiments, and proposes the creation of both a law and a commission to monitor rental rates and cost increases across the island. This commission will work similarly to New York City’s ‘Rent Guidelines Board’. A board that is mandated to establish rent adjustments for dwelling units subject to the Rent Stabilization Law in New York. 

This law encompasses many different aspects but most notably includes the Maximum Base Rent (MBR) system. Petterson would also like to include this system into law and prices will be decided by the new commission. This commission will hold a series of public meetings and hearings every year. By considering presented research and testimony from tenants, owners, advocacy groups, elected officials, and industry experts, this will allow them to determine fair rent prices and MBR for residents of Maui.

Like NYC’s rent stabilization law, this proposed law will not just reduce rental costs for select homes. Instead, it will also allow renters to report violations to tenant rights which will allow this new commission to levy civil penalties and reduce rental costs for such infractions. Rent may also be reduced if services provided, by law or by contract, are not maintained. Additionally, landlords who may try to price-gouge during natural disasters, state emergencies, or similar events, may be assessed by the commission to determine penalties and damages that will be paid to the tenant.

This new law and commission will first address newly registered rental homes and apartments. With Bill 9 now coming into play, it is imperative that this law and commission be introduced before these short-term rentals, most of which are not owned by residents, are converted to long-term residential rentals. Then, it will address rentals that are owned by non-residents (out-of-state individuals), rentals that no longer have mortgages, and finally the regular rentals that have mortgages or extra costs.

Why is this Important?

Hawai’i has the highest cost of living out of any state, with a higher income tax and GET for items that is often put onto the consumer. In addition, approximately 45% of renters are rent burdened, meaning they spend more than 30% of their income on housing. With some even spending up to 50% of their income just to keep a roof over their head. Yet, still no rent control has been implemented.

Petterson believes that if we are to truly allow Maui Nui to thrive, this new law and commission must be implemented. Residents can no longer afford to live in their home state and the county is failing to provide them with the ability to do so.

As Maui grows increasingly expensive, Petterson intends to stabilize land tax for home owners. There is currently no law to limit inflation or account for changes in taxation during property reassessments. For this reason, Maui needs a bill that limits the maximum increase for inflation per year as well as a total cap for inflation as a whole.

Petterson hopes to work with the Maui County Council to implement this law, following similar laws passed in other states.

This law would work similarly to the 1978 California Proposition 13 Law that capped property taxes and limited property reassessments to annual reassessments, changes of ownership, large-scale renovations and remodels, or upon the property owner’s request. Petterson intends to introduce a similar law specifically tailored for Maui with the intent to protect and reduce costs for both current and future home owners.

Maui county already holds property reassessments once a year. However, like Cal Prop 13, Petterson proposes that yearly property reassessments have an increase cap on the property value. Full reassessments with no caps may only happen upon change of ownership, with some exclusions to the law, large-scale renovations and remodels, or upon the property owner’s request. This will prevent cases of homeowners losing their property due to exorbitant increases to its value and property tax, brought on by neighboring developments and large-scale property purchases.

While this may lead to a loss of revenue for the county, Petterson believes it’s a long-term investment for a healthier housing-market, and has additional proposals to account for this potential loss. 

Why is this Important?

Homeownership has been a constant struggle for Maui residents. Without the protection of a limit to property reassessment inflation, many have been forced out of their homes due to rising land tax. While there are exemptions homeowners can make in certain situations and through appeals, protection against exorbitant tax fluctuation is not guaranteed.

The community has experienced a long history of these recurring problems. Such as the well-documented incident where a popular T.V. Talk Show hosts purchased vast amounts of land, causing an exorbitant rise in the neighboring land tax, or when billionaire business owners built extravagant mansions that lead to similarly devastating ripple-effects for the community. Petterson believes that it’s time to take a stand and make homeownership affordable for Maui residents once more.

According to multiple calculations, the livable wage for single, childless individuals is approximately $31 – $35 per hour. Petterson believes that everyone deserves a livable wage and strongly feels that as a mayor, they should not be making almost triple that amount. 

To rectify this, Petterson would like to reduce the mayoral salary back down to $200,000 per year. A much smaller raise compared to the new $245,000 per year and falling below Honolulu’s ($217,392 per year) and Hawai’i’s ($209,028 per year) mayoral salaries. This way, the additional $45,000 funds may be returned to the county to be used in other programs that help our citizens.

However, Petterson has no intention of seeking the reduction of pay for other county members. This proposal is solely for the mayoral position and something she only wishes to bring upon herself.

Why is this Important?

Petterson fully believes that one county mayor should not be making significantly more than their counterparts. Particularly counterparts who have a higher resident count than Maui does. While the job of mayor is not an easy one, it does not mean we should be raising one member’s salary so exorbitantly.  Especially when many Maui residents are facing rising costs of living.

As stated previously, according to multiple calculations, the livable wage for single, childless individuals is approximately $31 – $35 per hour. Petterson believes that everyone deserves a livable wage but due to the state’s law that doesn’t allow counties to set minimum wages, she believes that Maui county should at least increase the wages of its lowest paying jobs to $30 an hour.

There are many understaffed positions in county departments, some of which have stayed unfilled for months. However, a decent portion of these jobs do not pay well; with some as low as $21.64 per hour. Which is also not calculating for our higher taxes on income. In addition, many of these empty positions that require experience and/or degrees barely pay a livable wage. Leading to more empty positions and high turn-over rates.

Petterson proposes increasing the pay for the lowest-earning county workers. Allowing more workers to live comfortably while we fight as a community to make this a possibility for all residents of Maui Nui and maybe even Hawai’i as a whole. 

Why is this Important?

If Maui is to be able to thrive, we must raise pay to make it happen. The federal minimum wage has stayed stagnant for decades, while prices have only skyrocketed. Hawai’i has the highest cost of living, yet will only raise its minimum wage to $18 per hour in 2028. By then, costs of living may grow even higher if we do not deal with the issue now.

While counties cannot change this for everyone, it has the ability to do so for their workers. As such, it is the county’s duty to improve pay wherever it can. According to various studies over the last decade, raising the minimum wage will also decrease worker turn-over, produce better results, increase resident spending, and boost the economy. An imperative step to stabilizing Maui’s future and costs for locals.

Maui’s hotels have, throughout 2021 to 2024, kept the same tax rate of $11.75. Since then, the hotel tax rate has gone up a meager amount of five cents, which adds up to the current tax rate of $11.80. Petterson finds this tax increase to be insufficient as Maui residents struggle with affordability and funding programs meant to aid residents, as well as general upkeep of infrastructure. 

As the inflation rates climb and larger federal tax cuts are implemented by the, officially named, ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’, Petterson finds it imperative to raise taxes for hotels and transient vacation rentals/short-term rental homes to make up for the loss of federal funds.

Petterson has no current intention of further raising taxes on the existing three tiers of TVR-STRHs and instead wishes to create a new tier bracket. This will be similar to her proposed tax on vacation homes that are worth over five million dollars. Thus, leaving current tax rates for lower tiers the same and instead specifically charging rentals targeted towards the ultra-wealthy.

Why is this Important?

Petterson is adamant that if vacation rental taxes are to be raised, so should taxes on hotels to provide a fair competition. In 2026, taxes on the three TVR-STRH tiers were raised, with tier one being raised by 50 cents. But hotels stayed stagnant. This is unacceptable when Maui is continuously facing an unstable economy and needs fair competition.

While efforts have been made to tax empty vacation homes it has ultimately been proven insufficient to combat the mounting inflation rates. Petterson intends to take it a step further by working with the Maui County Council to create a new tax tier. Thus, making an increased surcharge on empty, high-value secondary-homes with an assessed worth of over five million dollars, alleviating more of the tax burden from Maui’s residents. 

Should an owner live in this home full-time, or rents it out to a full-time resident, the proposed surcharge will not apply. Much like New York, Petterson wants this charge to target luxury second-homes and investor-owned apartments that the average person, even the average wealthy person, could not reasonably afford outside of a primary residence.

This charge would function almost identically to the new ‘pied-à-terre’ surcharge announced by New York, and others implemented in different cities such as Paris, France and Toronto, Canada. This will provide Maui County with an increased income that would benefit the community as a whole.

When looking at properties that have not had full-time residents nor long-term rentals, one in particular stands out. One estate in Maui is estimated to be worth $60 million. Should we follow New York’s range of additional tax on these residences, adding between 0.5% and 4%, the additional minimum revenue returned to the county by this property alone would be $300,000, with the maximum at $2,400,000.

Non-resident owners of these high-value secondary-homes don’t contribute to Maui, or Hawai’i’s, other taxes that regular residents must pay. Such as gas taxes, income tax, and additional rises in item cost due to GETs being put on the consumer. Taxes that go towards our amenities, upkeep, public safety, and more. They sit under-utilized, empty, and are often used to hide wealth from other federal taxes. It is time to correct this gravely overlooked issue.

Why is this Important?

Maui, and many of the other Hawaiian islands, have been plagued by high-valued, empty vacation homes that sit without long-term residents for most of the year. The owners of these homes don’t contribute to the island on a day-to-day basis, they don’t pay the additional taxes primary residents have to, and they increase property value across the island without giving back. While the county has a higher tax on non-owner-occupied homes over $3 million, this is not enough when we compare this to the extra cost regular residents pay.

It is time to change this. It is time to return revenue to the island that these homeowners would have paid if they lived here full-time. Allowing the county more funds to properly care for its primary residents without needing to tax them more and more. Petterson knows this is possible to pass, knows that many have seen it pass in other states, and is dedicated to doing the same thing for Maui’s people.

Many of Maui’s roads face heavy traffic with tourism contributing heavily to the crowding. This constant use leads to quicker road decay, discontentment due to slow traffic, and unfortunate confrontations. Petterson proposes a new toll fee on ‘scenic’ roads, the Road to Hana one such example, in an effort to circumvent some of the costs as well as promote a more conscious driving from visitors. 

The Hawai’i Senate bill SB217 is a bill that authorizes the imposing toll fees on the Road to Hana, however as of January 13, 2025, it is still pending introduction. While the county must wait for this bill to be introduced, Petterson has already devised how these tolls could potentially work.

The intended fee would be $30 per car with free kamaaina rates for residents who can provide valid Hawai’i drivers licenses. This fee will only apply to vehicles entering, licenses will not be checked when leaving. In return, the tax would fund the upkeep of roads as well as potential improvements and expansions when needed.  

With numbers as small as five cars per day, each paying the $30 on a single road, Maui county can make up to $54,750 a year with this small fee alone. Furthermore, should we calculate the official minimum number of visitors at 400 drivers per day, this small fee would generate $12,000 per day with a total of $4,380,000 per year. Providing pivotal funds to both the county and our roads. Petterson hopes that these additional funds will help pave the way to new developments for improved road upkeep and safety. 

As an additional increase to road safety, these scenic, and often dangerous, roads will now only be open to tourists from 4 am to 6 pm, if they only seek to make the drive. The toll will also be limited to these times, leaving the nights and early mornings free for residents to drive home or drive to work without worry. Petterson wishes to implement booths with guards on both ends of these roads to monitor tolling and any potential trespassing through both day and night. Giving jobs to residents of Hana or any other local town near scenic roads.

Why is this Important?

With such a vast amount of visitors on these scenic roads, Petterson believes a new tax is not only necessary to maintain proper upkeep, but would also function as a deterrent. Should tourists wish to avoid any additional fees and instead choose a tour guide, the outcome would still result in less cars and thus reduce traffic for local residents.