New Property Owner Grants in Honolulu

• Author: Chris Remington
• Posted: 2024-02-14

Hawaii is unlike any other American state in the union. It's a series of islands in the Pacific Ocean and has a very tropical climate and a majority of its own indigenous people. As islands, they were more protected from the novel coronavirus than the continental states. To date, there are only a little over 10,000 cases of Covid-19 in all of Hawaii, and only 94 deaths. Even still, Hawaii did a lot to prevent the spread of this virus, like shutting down much of their economy. So while a lot of people aren't suffering from the virus, many are suffering from a lack of income. This is why the City Council of Honolulu is offering a variety of grants to property owners, it was announced on Friday, September 11.

This grant program has been heavily debated by the City Council for many weeks now. It has taken on many forms before finally landing on giving financial relief to landlords whose tenants cannot afford to pay rent. The ultimate thinking behind this move is that by giving out cash grants to the people who own property, you're killing two birds with one stone, so to speak.

If people get money directly in order to pay their rent, it's very hard to control whether or not they actually pay their rent. Because a state like Hawaii is largely controlled by the Democrats, the residents there know that they have protections against evictions. So if people were handed the money, they could theoretically spend it on anything they want and still end up shorting the landlords. Though if the money is given directly to the landlords, on the condition that back rent is forgiven, then property owners are guaranteed to receive their owed money and renters are guaranteed to be caught up. It's the easiest way to handle the issue, according to the City Council.

There is no set amount as of yet on how much these grants will be for. In fact, they are going to vary individually based on the amount of property taxes the landlords pay. So, per that model, landlords who own more property and ultimately pay more taxes are going to receive more money. Landlords who only own one or a few properties will not get as much money. The City Council claims that this is the fairest way to do this, as owners of more property will be able to cover more expenses with more money. As of right now, no one is arguing, as property owners are just happy that grants are on the horizon.

How States Can Suddenly Afford Grants

There are a lot of people in the nation who are a bit confused when they read multiple articles every single week about new grants being handed out by state governments. One of the most popular questions asked is, "If they can afford to give away all this money, why haven't they been able to fix infrastructure" and other sorts of projects that really need taken care of. The answer is that this isn't state money that states are handing out.

It's a very odd thing that's happening. States are receiving billions of dollars in federal money from the CARES Act, which was part of the first stimulus package signed, so it's not actually state money. However, since the money is allocated to the states, all 50 American states are hoarding this money to a large degree and sporadically choosing their favorite projects to fund. President Trump and many other Republicans have harshly criticized the way the states are handing money. Though for areas like Honolulu, the City Council claims that this is what's needed. They can't just go throwing the money around as soon as they get it; the money doesn't reach the right people until there is a plan behind handing it out.

This is where all of these grant programs have been coming from. The money going to landlords in Honolulu isn't actually money that was saved away by fiscally responsible Hawaiian politicians. Hawaii is in huge debt, like most other American states, and they couldn't afford to give out these grants without the federal government filling up their coffers via the CARES Act.

Though when it comes to people who are actually suffering from the global pandemic, they don't rightly care who the money comes from. They simply want some relief and want to be able to pay their bills.