HB 788 Summary

• Establishes the 15-year "hale kokua project" within the Department of Human Services to incentivize private property owners in counties with populations exceeding 500,000 to provide rental housing to homeless individuals and families.

• Limits participation to a maximum of 10 property owners per census tract and prioritizes placement of homeless families with the longest tenure living in public areas (parks, streets, cars, campgrounds).

• Provides property owners with incentives including state construction grants (amount unspecified in draft), monthly rent subsidies (amount unspecified in draft), real property tax waivers or reductions, and zoning/building code exemptions.

• Creates the hale kokua special fund administered by the Department of Human Services to support the project through conveyance tax revenue allocations and other public or private funding sources.

• Increases conveyance tax rates on property transfers by 5 cents per $100 across all property value brackets and allocates a percentage of conveyance tax collections to the hale kokua special fund; project and tax provisions expire July 1, 2037.