SELMA – A relatively new rent stabilization ordinance was put to its first test as residents of Selma’s McCall Village protested a rent increase in front of the city council.
As outlined in the ordinance, the Selma City Council held a petition hearing on April 7 after more than half of the residents at McCall Village protested an increase in their monthly rent. The task at hand was for the council to determine if the increase, brought on by a capital expense, was permitted and reasonable according to the ordinance terms.
After hearing from both sides, the council ultimately voted 3-1 — with Councilmember John Trujillo in opposition — to deem the increase reasonable on the condition that McCall Village provide residents with final documentation of the expenses incurred. Councilmember Jim Avalos recused himself from the council chambers during the discussion and vote due to a conflict of interest as a McCall Village resident.
“Believe me, I would not be voting for an expense that couldn’t be justified, and we’re going to want to see the justification for that and look for more communication in the future and more transparency and a better relationship, so that we don’t have to go through this again,” Mayor Scott Robertson said.
The relationship Robertson was referring to was between the McCall Village owners and the residents.
In dispute was an expense McCall Village paid to install a backflow valve to its water connection, required by the California Water Service. According to information provided at the petition hearing, McCall Village received a notice from Cal Water last year that it would need to install a backflow valve to prevent sewage from flowing back into the clean water supply. This came from a newer mandate passed down by the State Water Resources Control Board.
The backflow valve was installed in September, and residents received a “heads up” notice of an upcoming capital expense rent increase that same month, according to a city staff report. Tenants sent an objection letter to the park owner in October, to which the park owner responded. Both parties then had a meeting in December.
Next, after receiving an official notice of rent increase for the expense in February, the McCall Village Residents’ Organization submitted a petition to the city objecting to the increase in March. Seventy-one percent of McCall Village residents signed the petition.
Based on the estimate of the cost to install the backflow valve spread out between all park tenants over a 10-year period, the capital expense would result in a monthly space rent increase of $0.84.
Robertson made the motion, seconded by Mayor pro tem Sarah Guerra, to find that the capital expense was reasonable. He said this would be on the condition that Joe McHenry, a part-owner of McCall Village, show the final bill for the work he had done within 30 days.
“It passes the reasonable test in terms of, he wouldn’t have put it in unless he was forced to by Cal Water, he doesn’t appear that he’s making money on it, doesn’t appear that it is an excuse to charge the residents more rent,” Mayor Scott Robertson said. “However, it still says just an estimate, and there was no meeting ahead of time.”
Rent stabilization
Residents of Selma’s McCall Village, a mobile home park for seniors, had been urging the city council to implement some form of rent control for mobile home parks since 2023. Considering many mobile home park residents are retired and living on fixed incomes, large rent increases year after year were starting to exceed what residents could afford, they said.
Selma city staff landed on a rent stabilization ordinance as the solution to this problem, and after six months of work, the ordinance went into effect in July 2024.
Under the ordinance, the expenses paid by mobile home park residents are divided into two categories: base rent and space rent. Base rent is the charge for allowing a mobile home to sit on the park’s property. Space rent is the charge for anything required for the use and occupancy of the mobile home space, such as amenities and utilities.
Park owners must follow guidelines for increases to base rent, including a limit to how much rent can be raised each year, a requirement to provide 100 days advance notice to tenants and other conditions. For space rent, the ordinance allows park owners to “pass through” the costs of capital expenses, such as improvements to the mobile home park amenities, under a few conditions.
For new capital expenses, the park owner can only pass through costs if approved in advance by a majority of the park’s tenants. The ordinance defines these expenses as anything that did not previously exist in the park, unless the park owner is required by law to make the addition.
In making its determination, the Selma City Council debated how to interpret the specific wording of the ordinance section concerning space rent for capital expenses.
Trujillo interpreted one line of the section to mean that the backflow valve should have been approved by residents before the cost was passed on. Another interpretation, however, would be that because the backflow valve is mandated by the state and noncompliance would result in a water shut-off, the expense was not required to be approved before being passed on.
City Attorney Neal Costanzo said the council could deal with its “very ambiguous ordinance later,” and should focus on determining if the expense was reasonable to pass on to residents.
