HONOLULU (KHON2) - The Honolulu City Council deferred a decision on Bill 46, the "vacant homes tax." The proposal would establish a new, higher property tax classification for residential properties that are vacant or not likely to be long-term residences. The goal is to help address the City's affordable housing crisis. Get Hawaii's latest morning news delivered to your inbox, sign up for News 2 You "We've been trying to take care of our local people as much as possible. We don't want to raise taxes on local people and we did a number of exemptions to make sure we take care of them," explained Honolulu Council Chair Tommy Waters. "If you own a home and you have an exemption, and you own a second home like Mr. Kurota, you're okay. It doesn't apply to you. Often times if grandma passes away, and kids and grandkids don't want to live in grandma's home, but they don't want to sell it? That's okay. We take care of them too. The tax won't apply to them. We're really looking at the absentee investor. Folks who live offshore, who come to Honolulu, park their money for a few years, and make money," Waters stated. Find more Hawaii, Oahu, Maui and Kauai news here The Council postponed the vote to take a deeper look at a study on the proposal, verify the impacts and review the implementation plan. The City said the complete analysis will be available by June and Council Chair Waters hopes the bill will carryout in two years.