Bill to increase conveyance tax on Hawaiʻi homes will potentially fund homeless services

House Bill 1211 has a lot of the same language as Senate Bill 678 did. If passed, homes sold for more than $2 million could see taxes go up to between 2–6 percent.

Housing advocates say this new measure will raise hundreds of millions of dollars each year. These extra funds would go to homeless services and the critical affordable housing need here.

“Hawaiʻi hasn’t updated this in a long time but the urgency and the need for all the things funded by this tax, homeless services, affordable housing, land conservation. The need has grown but the budget has not,” said Kenna StormoGipson, director of housing policy at Hawaiʻi Budget & Policy Center.

StormoGipson said she wants to make clear this bill will not affect residents living in their homes—just sales of homes.