By Jerry Hallee, Brian Johnson, Betty Iams and Penny Anderson

The city of Davis’ proposed Sacramento River water project and the attendant water rate increases highlight the unique challenges faced by the homeowners who live in the Rancho Yolo senior community in East Davis.

Homeowners in most mobile home parks rent on a month-to-month basis the land upon which their manufactured homes sit. The Rancho Yolo homeowners rent their home sites. I use the term “manufactured” home rather than mobile home because these homes are not “mobile” at all. They cannot be relocated without major cost and damage, and of course, without having to find a suitable new location for the home.

Rancho Yolo provides low-income seniors an opportunity to own their homes. The park has 262 homes and is the largest community of affordable homes in Davis and perhaps in all of Yolo County. The Rancho Yolo Community Association wants to maintain the affordability of this community resource. Keeping rent and utility increases as low as possible is vitally important to attainment of that objective.

What are some of the challenges?

* Increasing fees and taxes: The ever-increasing city of Davis fees and the school district’s many tax measures have a huge impact on park rents for our home sites. Our unique situation creates many problems. For example, the park owner increases rents annually, passing on the additional costs associated with the city’s water and utility bills and any additional taxes or fees levied during the previous year, including the city’s park maintenance and open space tax and the Davis school district’s several tax measures.

While Rancho Yolo residents may claim exemptions for the school taxes on their homes, they still have to pay for all the school taxes levied on the Rancho Yolo property that are billed directly to the park owner.

Make no mistake, Rancho Yolo residents want to pay their fair share. And a minority of us have the ability to pay more. However, 70 percent of our residents have incomes that are at or less than 80 percent of the Yolo County median income. So we fear that many Rancho Yolo residents will not have sufficient funds to pay the estimated $40-per-month water rate increase especially when added to the other factors that raise rents.

Consider that many of our residents live on Social Security and that their benefits have not been increased over the past three years because the federal government reports no inflation. Tell that to the Social Security recipient who sees their rent increase every year in part because local governments are raising fees and taxes.

* No opportunity to exercise Proposition 218 protest: The 262 Rancho Yolo homeowners have been denied the opportunity to protest the proposed rate increases because they are not directly billed for water and other utility costs. Only the park’s offsite property manager, who lives in Novato, will have the right to register a single protest. This hardly seems fair given the high stakes associated with this enormous water project.

* Renters in apartments vs. renters in a manufactured home park: It is true that renters in apartments experience many of the same problems described above. The major and very significant difference is that renters may choose to move to another community if rents rise beyond their ability to pay. On the other hand, moving your manufactured home is next to impossible.

* Increasing rents in mobile home parks lower home value: A recent statewide study shows there is a direct correlation between rent increases and mobile home values. The study recorded home value reductions of $1,000 for every $10 in rent increase. Rancho Yolo homeowners will each lose $4,000 in home value due to the projected $40 water rate increase.

* Refund or exemption program: Rancho Yolo “low-income” homeowners must be included in any “low-income refund or exemption program” intended to provide relief for those unable to assume the burden of higher water/utility fees. The city has a low-income refund program for the park maintenance and open space taxes. However, the Rancho Yolo homeowners do not get the benefit of this program because that tax bill goes directly to the park owner.

* Park conversions: Park owners who fear rent control or get tired of hearing homeowners complain about rent increases have other options. They may choose to pursue a park conversion to another use.

Under California law, a park owner can legally provide only one year notice to residents, requiring these homeowners to either move their manufactured homes from the park property or to abandon their homes. Park owners are increasingly pursuing conversions.

How is it that Rancho Yolo homeowners find themselves in this situation? It is a fair question. Frankly, it just did not occur to us when purchasing a home in a park that has been in existence for decades that someday an owner may want to do something else with the property. Further, we have all assumed that the city or other local jurisdictions would never allow such a change. Neither did we consider the subtleties of local fees and taxes until actually faced with the consequences of those local actions.

And we believe that just about every mobile home buyer made the same assumptions. California now has two statewide organizations spending a great amount of time and resources educating mobile home park residents about these very serious concerns. Ultimately, a resident-owned park will always be our best protection.

Finally, if the City Council decides the water project should go forward, it should place the proposed project on a ballot so that all eligible city voters have the opportunity to cast a vote for or against it.

— Jerry Hallee, Brian Johnson, Betty Iams and Penny Anderson are the president, vice president, treasurer and secretary, respectively, of the Rancho Yolo Community Association.

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