Gov. Green extends emergency affordable housing proclamation

Gov. Josh Green signed the fifth emergency proclamation relating to affordable housing, which waives several state and county fees and increases the number of affordable units developers are required to build.

Developers must now produce 60% of their units at 140% of the area median income or less – instead of the previous 50%-plus requirement.

The latest emergency proclamation keeps many of the fee waivers in place for the interim and exempts affordable housing developers from paying state school impact fees and general excise taxes, as well as county park dedication and wastewater fees, subject to the county’s approval.

These exemptions help offset rising interest rates and increasing building costs due to inflation and supply chain disruptions.

The proclamation also concludes the Build Beyond Barriers Working Group. It assigns the BBB’s duties to the Hawai‘i Housing Finance and Development Corporation, which will review developer applications for eligibility and process fee waiver exemptions.

“I want to thank everyone who participated in the BBB and helped us identify the many challenges and barriers to building affordable homes in Hawai‘i,” said Green. “It is now appropriate to integrate its functions into the operations of HHFDC, which is uniquely positioned to execute the EP.”

One measure of the working group’s impact is that lawmakers have proposed about 20 bills this legislative session, seeking to codify solutions to housing challenges identified by and aligned with the group and the Emergency Proclamation.

Proposals include bills to make it easier for office building owners to convert their commercially zoned properties for residential uses. Others permanently repeal school impact fees for affordable housing projects and exempt the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands projects from paying general excise and use taxes on their projects.

The effective dates of the Fifth Emergency Proclamation Relating to Affordable Housing are from Feb. 20 through April 20, 2024.