Community activists urge governor to allow real estate tax bill to become law

Community activists paid Gov. David Ige a surprise visit at the State Capitol on Wednesday, urging him not veto a bill that would tax some of Hawaiʻi’s largest landowners.

The bill, passed by the state legislature earlier this year, would impose the state’s 6.2 percent corporate income tax on real estate investment trusts, holdings that are more commonly known as REITs.

Real estate investment trusts own some of Hawaiʻi’s largest shopping centers, hotels and office buildings, including Ala Moana Center and the International Market Place.

“The veto makes no sense, and the whole community is behind fairly taxing these corporations so the money they make here stays here," said Father David Gierlach, who works at St. Elizabeth’s Episcopal Church and is a member of Faith Action for Community Equity (FACE). “We cannot continue to support deadbeat dads, and that’s what these corporations are.”