After reading Wendy Tapping’s recent letter to your paper, she made me start thinking and wondering.
As I am also a mobile home owner and taxpayer: Why is it that we are paying pad rent and city taxes? Does the landowner not already pay property tax on the land? I am sure it is a sizable amount, considering the size of the property.
So the thousands of dollars they are already collecting from the park owner, plus the $600 and over they are collecting from approximately 120 mobile homeowners in these parks seems a little extreme. Our pad rent covers sewer, water, garbage pickup and snow removal. What we are paying in rental for these amenities should cover the taxes also. We have no water meters so if you are a single person or a family of four or five you are paying the same amount.
We also have to pay our own other utilities: power, gas, cable and phone. This does not make for low cost living. Add all this up and you might say its cheaper to rent a $1,500-a-month house. But the pride of ownership is what makes us want to stay here. But with the pad rent going up every year and no improvements, we literally have to sell our homes so low that we can just make enough to afford a place to rent.
I am not sure where you live Wendy, but I agree that we need to improve all of our parks. Take the owners to task and see some results. Sixty-amp service is in the dark ages and I am sure it is unsafe, especially as mobile homes are a potentially known as fast fires. And as we gain more and more appliances, we become more unsafe. I am sure our insurance companies will raise our rates on that too.
One big question is: If I live in a rental apartment or a rental house, do I have to pay taxes? No. If I park my fifth-wheel or motorhome in a campground, do I pay taxes? No. So why and what are we paying taxes on?
I have lived in this park for two-plus years on a dirt road that every time it rains, turns into lakefront property. I have requested this be improved many times. And I have been told we are getting quotes. So can I quote the owners as to why you raised my rent, and still have not fixed my road? Can I quote the city at assessing my property at $75,000 while I have no amenities — such as fire hydrant, road, curb, gutters, drainage, or even room for a emergency vehicle to get through?
I feel that the city council does not care what happens in our parks because they are making more money from us than anyone else in this city. Double dipping?
Come see where I live.
Joan Koopmans
Penticton