House Committee on Local Government (02/21/2006)

Final
STAFF SUMMARY OF MEETING

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Date:	02/21/2006	ATTENDANCE

Time:	02:15 PM to 05:49 PM	Berens	X
		Cerbo	X
Place:	HCR 0112	Curry	X
		Decker	X
This Meeting was called to order by		Massey	X
	Representative Hodge	May M.	X
		Merrifield	X
This Report was prepared by		Soper	X
	Carl Jarrett	Stafford	X
		Lindstrom	X
		Hodge	X
		X = Present, E = Excused, A = Absent, * = Present after roll call

Bills Addressed:		Action Taken:
HB06-1295 HB06-1332 HB06-1259 HB06-1168		Referred to the Committee of the Whole Referred to the Committee of the Whole Postponed Indefinitely Postponed Indefinitely

02:15 PM -- House Bill 06-1295

Representative Hodge, bill sponsor, provided an explanation of the bill's provisions to increase the salaries of elected county commissioners pursuant to the recommendations of the County Salary Survey Commission (Attachment A). The report of the commission was presented to the Joint Local Government Committee prior to this meeting.

02:16 PM

Forest Whitman, Gilpin County Commission, spoke in support of the bill.

02:16 PM

Carol Snyder, Colorado County Clerks Association, spoke in support of the bill. She spoke to the work of the salary commission, to the salaries of county clerks, and to the inequities in salaries among county officials and among officials in her county clerk's office.

02:22 PM

John LeFebvre, Adams County Treasurer, spoke in support of the bill.

02:24 PM

In response to a committee question, Chip Taylor, Colorado Counties, Inc., spoke to the percentage increase from category to category for county commissioner salaries. Mr. Taylor responded to committee concerns that, under the bill's provisions, county commissioner salaries would increase at a higher rate than other elected officials, most of whom work full time jobs while some county commissioners do not work full-time.


BILL:	HB06-1295
TIME:	02:31:50 PM
MOVED:	Hodge
MOTION:	Refer the bill to the Committee of the Whole. The motion carried on a 10-1 roll call vote.
SECONDED:	Massey
		VOTE
	Berens	Yes
	Cerbo	Yes
	Curry	Yes
	Decker	No
	Massey	Yes
	May M.	Yes
	Merrifield	Yes
	Soper	Yes
	Stafford	Yes
	Lindstrom	Yes
	Hodge	Yes
Final YES: 10 NO: 1 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

02:33 PM -- House Bill 06-1332

Representative McKinley, bill sponsor, explained the provisions of HB 06-1332, changing the category of Las Animas County from a category III to a category II county.

02:41 PM

William Cordova, Las Animas County, spoke in support of the bill (Attachment B). He spoke to assessed valuation increases in Las Animas county since 1991 and to population increases and projections. Mr. Cordova responded to committee questions regarding total salary increases if both the previous bill, HB 06-1295, and this bill are adopted. Mr. Cordova responded to committee questions regarding the ability of counties to absorb the added costs from increased salaries in both HB 06-1295 and this bill.

Committee members questioned and discussed on what basis county categories are established. Mr. Taylor indicated that the Colorado Constitution specifies that the General Assembly may consider several factors including population, the number of motor vehicle registrations, and tax resources.

03:09 PM

Representative McKinley provided closing comments on the bill.


BILL:	HB06-1332
TIME:	03:12:07 PM
MOVED:	Soper
MOTION:	Refer the bill to the Committee of the Whole. The motion carried on an 8-3 roll call vote.
SECONDED:	Merrifield
		VOTE
	Berens	Yes
	Cerbo	Yes
	Curry	Yes
	Decker	No
	Massey	Yes
	May M.	No
	Merrifield	Yes
	Soper	Yes
	Stafford	No
	Lindstrom	Yes
	Hodge	Yes
Final YES: 8 NO: 3 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

03:13 PM -- House Bill 06-1259

Representative Soper requested that the committee postpone the bill indefinitely.


BILL:	HB06-1259
TIME:	03:14:17 PM
MOVED:	Soper
MOTION:	Postpone the bill indefinitely. The motion carried on a 9-0-2 roll call vote.
SECONDED:	Stafford
		VOTE
	Berens	Yes
	Cerbo	Yes
	Curry	Yes
	Decker	Yes
	Massey	Excused
	May M.	Yes
	Merrifield	Excused
	Soper	Yes
	Stafford	Yes
	Lindstrom	Yes
	Hodge	Yes
Final YES: 9 NO: 0 EXC: 2 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

03:15 PM -- House Bill 06-1168

Representative Soper, bill sponsor, explained the provisions of HB 06-1168 to provide numerous protections for mobile home owners. He explained the provisions of prepared amendment L.001 (Attachment C).

03:17 PM

Christian Hendrickson, Rocky Mountain Home Association, spoke in opposition to the bill. He indicated the bill creates an unconstitutional taking of property and he indicated that the relocation provisions are unconstitutional as well. He also questioned the applicability of some of the bill's provisions to homeowners who leased a mobile home prior to the effective date of the bill and he reviewed other problems with the bill. Mr. Hendrickson responded to a committee question regarding the extent to which mobile homes are considered affordable housing and the degree to which the bill may reduce the numbers of mobile home parks in the state.

03:31 PM

Scott Gesell, Affordable Residential Communities, spoke in opposition to the bill. He spoke to the increased regulation and increased costs for mobile home park owners under the bill's provisions and to his concerns with the proposed mobile home commission. He indicated the makeup of the commission is unfairly skewed to residents as opposed to mobile home park owners. He further spoke against the bill's provisions with regard to the right of first refusal. In response to a committee question, Representative Soper explained that he does have a funding mechanism for the commission.

03:41 PM

Chris Siefert, Hometown America, spoke in opposition to the bill. She spoke in opposition to the proposed commission questioning the need for a commission to resolve disputes between park owners and home owners. She indicated that in her experience, such disputes have been effectively resolved using the company's resolution process.

03:44 PM

John Clark, Equity LifeStyle Properties, spoke in opposition to the bill and in opposition to the proposed commission, questioning the need for the commission. Mr. Clark indicated that all problems between homeowners and park management get resolved at the company's regional level or lower.

03:48 PM

Wilma Cooper, Cooper Properties, spoke in opposition to the bill and expressed concern that the bill will result in the closing of mobile home parks, particularly in rural areas of the state. She also spoke to the degree to which mobile home parks have changed in character given the need for affordable housing, particularly in smaller communities. She indicated there is a company looking at building a new mobile home park in Durango and that the bill is a disincentive to building a new park.

03:58 PM

Micki Hackenberg, Colorado Association of Realtors, spoke in opposition to the bill. She expressed confusion between the roles of the park mediation board and the mobile home commission proposed in the bill. She also expressed concern over the bill's provision that establishes a first right of refusal procedure for homeowner associations to purchase a mobile home park before it is sold or converted to another use by management.

04:03 PM

Tom Trim, Stewart Mobile Home Company, spoke in opposition to the bill. He expressed concern over the motivation for the provisions outlining the circumstances under which a landlord may enter a mobile home without the permission of the home owner. He spoke to other issues with the bill. In response to a committee question, Mr. Trim indicated any provisions that allow for dispute resolution without litigation are worth considering.

04:09 PM

Larry Henderson, Green Acres Mobile Home Park, spoke in opposition to the bill. He spoke to the degree to which the bill would be detrimental to the management and existence of his mobile home park.

04:11 PM

Bill Vaughn, Mobile Home Park Association of Colorado, spoke in opposition to the bill. He spoke to the way issues are resolved currently, noted that residents may now purchase their units, and spoke against the first right of refusal provisions.

04:15 PM

Joey Villa spoke in support of the bill and he spoke to abandoned properties in the mobile home park in which he resides. He made a distinction between smaller mobile home park communities and larger mobile home parks like the one in which he lives. In response to a committee question, Mr. Villa indicated that while local ordinances do cover mobile home parks with regard to homeowner yard maintenance, his local government referred him back to the mobile home park management when he complained about yard conditions in his mobile home park.

04:23 PM

Vera Marie Jones spoke in support of the bill as a resident of a mobile home for more than half of her life. She spoke to the changes over time in her living expenses and to the changes in ownership of larger mobile home parks and the resulting changes in park management. She indicated that after her mobile home park was purchased by a larger company, there initially was no on-site management. She spoke in support of the bill's provisions regarding the mediation board, the mobile home commission, and the right of first refusal all as helpful to mobile home owners.

04:36 PM

Heidi Lewis spoke in support of the bill.

04:38 PM

Deborah Turner spoke in support of the bill and spoke to problems homeowners have had in resolving issues in her mobile home park. She made the distinction between smaller parks owned by individuals and larger parks owned by companies, like the park in which she lives. In response to committee questions, Ms. Turner elaborated on the differences between the management of smaller independent parks and larger parks like the one in which she resides that has over 800 lots. She also spoke to difficulties in selling property and to how park owners will not lease the land to any new owner.

04:46 PM

Janet Bach, Mobile Home Owners Tenant Association, spoke in support of the bill. She spoke to problems homeowners have faced over the last five years since large companies have purchased mobile home parks. She indicted that some problems have required the involvement of District Attorney Don Quick and Sheriff Doug Darr. Ms. Bach responded to prior committee questions regarding rules and regulations promulgated by park owners and the powers of local governments to address homeowner issues.

04:58 PM

Robin Clark spoke in support of the bill. She spoke to unresponsive management in dealing with issues and to problems she has had with the management of her mobile home park.

05:02 PM

Paula Pellerin spoke in support of the bill. She spoke to the housing market for mobile homes and to the reasons people live in mobile homes versus "stick" homes. She indicated that mobile homes are increasingly less affordable housing and she spoke to management problems at her park. Her park is a smaller park with a husband and wife management team on-site. She spoke in support of the dispute resolution provisions and in support of the first right of refusal provisions. Ms. Pellerin responded to committee questions regarding current statutory provisions and the mediation provisions indicating that no one knows what the mediation provisions are or how to implement them. She also responded to a committee question indicating that six other states appear to have mobile home commissions similar to the one proposed in this bill.

Committee members posed questions and made statements regarding the bill.

05:28 PM

Mary Jane Perry spoke in support of the bill. She spoke to her experience in a mobile home park and explained why she sold her mobile home to live in a senior citizens community.

05:35 PM

Charles Lindquest spoke in support of the bill and he spoke to problems with the management of his mobile home park.


BILL:	HB06-1168
TIME:	05:40:17 PM
MOVED:	Soper
MOTION:	Prepared amendment L.001 (Attachment C). The motion carried without objection.
SECONDED:	Lindstrom
		VOTE
	Berens
	Cerbo
	Curry
	Decker
	Massey
	May M.
	Merrifield
	Soper
	Stafford
	Lindstrom
	Hodge
Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection

05:43 PM

Representative Soper provided closing comments on the bill.


BILL:	HB06-1168
TIME:	05:43:49 PM
MOVED:	Soper
MOTION:	Refer the bill to the Committee on Appropriations. The motion failed on a 2-8 roll call vote.
SECONDED:	Merrifield
		VOTE
	Berens	No
	Cerbo	Yes
	Curry	No
	Decker	No
	Massey	No
	May M.	No
	Merrifield	No
	Soper	Yes
	Stafford	Excused
	Lindstrom	No
	Hodge	No
Not Final YES: 2 NO: 8 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: FAIL


BILL:	HB06-1168
TIME:	05:48:24 PM
MOVED:	May M.
MOTION:	Postpone the bill indefinitely. The motion carried on a 7-3-1 roll call vote.
SECONDED:	Lindstrom
		VOTE
	Berens	Yes
	Cerbo	No
	Curry	Yes
	Decker	Yes
	Massey	Yes
	May M.	Yes
	Merrifield	No
	Soper	No
	Stafford	Excused
	Lindstrom	Yes
	Hodge	Yes
Final YES: 7 NO: 3 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

05:49 PM

The committee adjourned.