On June 28, 2017, the County of Kauai Council passed Bill No. 2659- Long-Term Affordable Tenant Occupied Rental Program. This bill gives any homeowner who owns investment property the option to apply for the homestead property tax rate, if the owner’s Real Property is classified as an affordable long-term rental.

Here are the 2026 Affordable Rental Rates

What is this?

Basically this gives owners the opportunity to have lower property taxes on their rental properties by giving tenants “affordable rental rates”. These “affordable rental rates” are determined and set by the County of Kauai.

*Actually I don’t know if they are determined by the county. However the county will state on their form every year the affordable rates. They change every year.

How do I get started?

If you did not get a form head to the Kauai county website kauai.gov for their most recent rental rates. This application form is due every year on September 30 and is for the following year. There are absolutely no exceptions for filing late.

I actually suggest filing early in case there are any errors. The county gets overwhelmed with applications in September and they are less likely to reach out to you to make any corrections the later someone files.

The application form needs to be submitted along with the tenant leases. Leases need to be for a year long. And filed every year along with the form since rates change every year.

Other important notes on this program

• All units on the property need to be apart of the program and rented out. Including that owners cannot live in one of the units, all units must be at the affordable rates set by the county, and all units need to be rented out. No units can be left empty.
• If your property has been recently purchased and looks like it has more than one unit be sure to check with the county to see how many units they have on file. Even if the units are illegal or un-permitted. The county will go by what is on their records no matter if it’s an un-permitted unit. If the county has a property listed at 3 units but the owner only does 2 applications (because the 3rd unit is un-permitted) then their application will be denied.
• The program goes into effect for the following year. So if your lease with the tenants say March 2025-2026. The owner will not see this change take place until 2026. The owner must apply by Sep 30, 2025.

An obvious stipulation on this program is that the rates set by the county are lower than market rent on Kauai. However the program is very beneficial for those with no to low mortgages.

Kauai Dreams Realty handles long term rentals and a few of our owners participate in this affordable rental program. Feel free to contact our property manager. 

See this link for other property tax exemptions: You can visit the County of Kauai’s website for additional Exemption and Tax Relief Information.