Anyone who has been paying attention to this county in the past five years must have noticed what has happened to the price of housing. Bare lots that were selling for twenty to thirty thousand dollars are now over one hundred. People selling these lots, think this a good thing, people buying, wish they got here earlier.
With the higher prices, comes a higher tax rate. With the increase in revenue come more government services, and a cleaner, safer place to live. If we are going to turn Clear Lake into the gem of northern California, it is going to cost more to live here. Money comes from investors; investors come here to make a profit. Take away the profit, lose the investors. Rent control, translates into urban blight. It takes profit to maintain a mobile home park. As the local cost of living goes up, so does the price of doing business. We had a building boom, which created a shortage in contractors and materials.
Prices to build and improve your property have sky rocked, much higher than the national cost of living. Maybe they will settle down, maybe not. In the meantime, it”s not up to private business to subsidize the less fortunate.
The reality of rent control is that it will cost the county millions of dollars in court costs to implement. In the end, what you have accomplished is another form of welfare at the small businessman”s expense. Think before you spend.
Karl Kohlruss, co-owner
Holiday Island
Mobile Home Park
