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Maui County’s licensed child care providers may get more than they expected in property tax relief.

Mayor Richard Bissen’s administration had proposed doubling the tax exemption for providers who own their facilities from $50,000 to $100,000 of assessed value, but last week the County Council’s Budget, Finance and Economic Development Committee said it wanted to double down again, increasing the exemption to $200,000.

“Child care is a very important service that we absolutely need to support, and just in case I have more children, I want it to be affordable,” council chair Alice Lee, who is 76, jokingly said prior to voting on the higher property tax exemption for day care facilities.

, introduced by committee chair Yuki Lei Sugimura, originally proposed increasing the property tax exemption to $100,000. The exemption was created in 1997 and last amended in 2009.

“Values of buildings have been going up tremendously over the years, and we haven’t really touched this exemption in many years,” said county Finance Director Marcy Martin.

The bill only applies to nine licensed facilities on Maui, and therefore the proposal would have little financial impact on the county, Martin said. With the current $50,000 exemption, the average property tax relief for licensed facilities is $950 per year, she said.

Martin said most of those nine facilities are owner-occupied homes, which means they already receive a $300,000 exemption based on that status. The day care exemption is in addition to that.

Many other day care facilities on Maui are operated by churches, nonprofit organizations or the government, and already pay little or no property taxes. Additionally, the bill only applies to licensed facilities because that is how the law was originally written, according to Martin.

Council member Nohelani U‘u-Hodgins praised the proposed legislation, saying day care is expensive and most young parents must decide whether to go back to work and possibly end up paying someone as much as they earn to watch their children.

There are 2,422 children enrolled in day care programs on Maui, according to a  by the nonprofit organization .

The PATCH survey found that the average monthly cost for full-time care facilities operating in commercial buildings on Maui starts at $1,812 for children up to 6 months old, and decreases gradually for higher age groups, down to $1,030 for children 5-to-10 years old. Within registered child care homes — residential properties taking up to six children — the average for full-time care ranges from $857 to $887 throughout different age groups.

It took only two minutes for the committee to unanimously approve Lee’s suggestion to quadruple the $50,000 existing exemption. The committee then approved the bill as amended, which means it will go to the full council for a final vote.

Martin said the administration would not oppose the bill, despite the committee doubling the amount of the higher proposed tax relief.

PATCH executive director Carol Wear said Bill 145 would provide substantial relief to providers facing high operational costs.

“This bill promotes affordability, allowing these facilities to allocate more resources toward quality care and reduce the burden on families seeking child care,” Wear said.

Three day care providers contacted by Civil Beat were not aware of the bill, but welcomed it.

“That would be really good for everyone,” said Verna Barcai. She runs a small day care in her Wailuku home since 1996 — her own children and grandchildren went through her day care. She is licensed to have up to six children in her house, from 2 months to 5 years old.

One of the reasons Barcai chose to open a day care was that she could not afford to work after having children; the cost would take the bulk of her paycheck.

“You’re not making any money, you’re just going to work and letting somebody else raise your kids,” she said.

Today, some employers may offer to cover a portion of day care costs, Barcai said. But she wishes the government would offer some subsidies to help parents “to be at work and still be able to afford child care.”

Civil Beat’s coverage of Maui County is supported in part by a grant from the Nuestro Futuro Foundation.