Mayor Caldwell and Board of Water Supply announce new affordable housing subsidies

News Release from BWS and City and County of Honolulu, September 18, 2018

Honolulu — Mayor Kirk Caldwell and the Board of Water Supply (BWS) are pleased to announce new subsidies from BWS that will be used to help spur the building of affordable housing on the island of O‘ahu.

“It’s up to all of us to work together to find solutions to our affordable housing crisis and I want to thank the Board of Water Supply for stepping up,” said Mayor Caldwell. “This incentive is another tool we can use to help our most vulnerable citizens get off the street and into a permanent home.”

“The Board of Water Supply stands ready to do its part in supporting these important city initiatives,” said BWS Board Chair Bryan Andaya. “Our board is committed to helping the mayor. We believe we have a robust and fair subsidy program in place that will be part of the overall incentives package the city can offer to developers.”

The Board of Water Supply will have the ability to waive the water systems facilities charges and new meter cost for qualified on-site affordable and homeless dwelling units, up to 500 dwelling units per year. The waivers will be granted when the building permit is submitted for approval. 

To qualify, the units must be certified as either affordable or homeless dwelling units by the appropriate agency of the City and County of Honolulu. Waiver of the Water System Facilities Charge will apply only to fixture units associated with the certified dwelling units. The amount of the meter waiver shall be calculated as a percentage of the number of certified dwelling units to the total number of dwelling units in the project.

If the annual cap of 500 dwelling units has not been reached and a project is proposed that would qualify for more than the remaining number of dwelling units in that year, the BWS manager and chief engineer has the discretion to increase that year’s limit. If the waivers for 500 units is not used by the end of each fiscal year, they will not roll-over; at the start of each fiscal year, the cap will reset at 500 units. This waiver provision shall expire on June 30, 2023. The city’s fiscal years runs from July 1 of one calendar year to June 30 of the following calendar year.  

“The Board of Water Supply looks forward to working with the city and developers on these projects and providing assistance as needed,” said BWS Manager and Chief Engineer Ernest Lau.

The subsidies took effect as of Sunday, September 16.

For questions regarding the subsidies, please contact Kathleen Pahinui at 748-5319.

—PAU—