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Comment

The Gaslite Senior Community is a group of senior citizens residing in a quiet Springfield, IL neighborhood.
Gaslite residents are primarily retired seniors, on a fixed income of Social Security and/or a modest pension, who
have wisely chosen the benefits of living frugally in their own smaller home to help preserve financial resources.

In short, we are seniors who prefer staying in our own homes in a community which offers a degree of privacy and
independence not available in a high-rise or assisted living facility, and the heavier demands of maintaining a larger
home are minimized, especially for those residents who may also have an age related or other physical disability.

The property on which our homes are situated was purchased by an out-of-state company last year.
Until July 1 of this year, the lease rate for our lots was reasonable - an affordable and mutually acceptable rate
as evidenced by our continued occupancy.

However, the new owners suddenly decided to drastically increase the monthly lease rate by 45.7% per month.
Needless to say, this created a new level of shock and disbelief to residents, even in these trying economic times.

The last Social Security Cost of Living adjustment was a paltry 5.8%, while the actual cost of living for December
2020 to December 2021, as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, was 7%.

Incidentally, the home city of the out-of-state company (Englewood, NJ) has a 4% cap on rent increases.
Yet, that company now demands Gaslite Senior Community residents pay over 10 times that rate.
This is while property tax records in our county show the property was purchased for a mere 25% of the
previously recorded sales price. If the recorded price is accurate and complete as claimed, there is
certainly no justification for a rent increase based on rising costs.

To a reasonable person, it appears that greed and avarice may be at work here. Economics 101 teaches us that
inflation is primarily a function of supply, demand, and government fiscal and monetary policy.
The new owners apparently have deep pockets, hopefully not funded through some public financing source.
Creation or support of "Affordable Housing" is clearly outside the scope of their business objectives.
In this case, it feels to Gaslite seniors as though inflation may clearly driven by a more malevolent force.

We are actively seeking guidance and assistance from our Illinois Legislators, the Governor, the Attorney General
as well as local government authorities to help us, help ourselves, resolve this local economic crisis. We are also
considering seeking other funding that could enable us to become a 'resident owned community'.
A pro bono attorney and a wise investor would be a godsend to the Gaslite Senior Community just about now.

Our frugality and austerity as seniors (including military veterans) has helped stretch budgets, but an outrageous,
and unjustified rent increase tends to undermine and destroy our good faith efforts to cope economically.

Robert Brinkoetter
Senior Computer Systems Engineer (retired)
25 Gaslite Ct.
1618 W Jefferson St, Lot 25
Springfield, IL 62702
Email: robert.brinkoetter@yahoo.com
Phone: (217) 546-2131