Rochester needs to address its flawed reassessments of city's mobile homes

During my presentation at the City Council Workshop meeting on Jan. 21, I made a presentation and recommendations below. During the City of Rochester, Finance Committee meeting on Tuesday I made my entire presentation to the members of that committee. Daniel Fitzpatrick, at the end of my presentation requested the City Manager, the Assessor's Office and the Finance Director, to review the below recommendations and determine which ones would need to be addressed at the city level and which ones needed to be addressed at the state level.

1. Based on my conclusions on the revaluation of mobile/manufactured homes, I feel it's necessary for the City of Rochester's Assessor's Office to conduct another revaluation of all manufactured park owners and individual manufactured homeowners, living in parks.

2. City of Rochester offers services, such as trash, snow plowing, and electricity for street lights to owners of manufactured park owners, specifically non-profit Cooperatives. Offer the same for the roads, sewer lines, from private to public, within the Cooperatively owned parks (adopt them as City owned).

3. Change the classification of "land" for Cooperatively owned parks from "commercial" to residential "single family" and assess as a single family homeowner would; Cooperatives (residents) purchased their parks on a non-profit basis and are no different in that classification of other single families land in residential neighborhoods.

4. Change the classification of Cooperatively owned manufactured homes from "MFG IN PARK" to "SINGLE FA" (single family) and assess them as a single family homeowner would in a residential neighborhood.

5. Remove the trend factor for mobile/manufactured homes in parks.

6. Remove the "per site" fee for Cooperatively owned parks.

7. Change the classification of the Neighborhood Name for Cooperatives from the "Park Name" to the appropriate rural category, the same as abutting neighbors living in single family residential neighborhoods.

8. To address the housing crisis, the State of New Hampshire and City of Rochester must "Regulate investment fund ownership".

9. Allow residents in manufactured homes, that have financial hardships, to enter into an agreement with the City to pay their tax bill over a 6 month period, without interest. Further extensions should be allowed on a case-by-case basis, without interest.

10. Raise the amount of exemption assessment for the disabled and elderly by the average assessed value increase for manufactured homes.

Kevin Brigham is a longtime Rochester resident, the administrator of Royal Crest Mobile Home Park and the unofficial representative of Rochester's mobile home community.