Bill offers mobile-home residents financial help for relocation

A bill is on its way to the governor's desk that allows cities to use future property-tax money to relocate residents of manufactured homes.

Drafted in response to public outrage over residents being forced from mobile-home parks, SB115 ultimately passed with a two-thirds majority.

Owners of manufactured homes run into trouble because they are often allowed only 30-day leases for the land on which their homes sit, said bill sponsor Rep. Wayne Niederhauser, R-Sandy. If the land is ever purchased by a developer, the poor and often elderly residents are out of luck.

SB115 allows cities to use tax-increment funding to help with moving costs, which can be around $18,000 per manufactured home. New developments can also get tax-increment funding, which normally is used for infrastructure improvements. The money comes from an increase in property-tax receipts when the land is improved.

Critics of the bill said mobile-home residents should not be treated differently from residents of apartments or condominiums. They also worried the bill will open the door for cities wishing to tax some residents for the direct benefit of others.

Taylorsville Mayor Russ Wall, who helped get SB115 rolling, was very pleased with its passage.

"I think in the last two years we have got more accomplished to help protect the rights of the people who actually own the homes and to also provide them some form of relief if they are forced out of their home through no fault of their own," said Wall, whose city is home to three mobile-home parks.

SB95 also is on its way to the governor's desk. Sponsored by Senate Majority Whip Scott Jenkins, it requires owners of mobile-home parks to itemize utility bills for their residents, among other things.

Future legislation could provide insurance options for manufactured-home owners or allow them to band together and purchase land from park owners, said mobile-home owner and advocate Steve Anderson. The initiatives are part of a national effort.

E-MAIL: rpalmer@desnews.com