Former Citizen of Year forced to move from home she loves in Somersworth

Cameron said she was most recently paying $4,800 in taxes — a $1,000 increase from three years ago. In 2005, the city tax rate was $19.61. For 2008, the rate is $23.43.
"That's $400 a month in taxes alone," Cameron said.

Fosters Daily Democrat

November 14^th, 2008

By JENNIFER KEEFE
jkeefe@fosters.com

SOMERSWORTH — Nancy Cameron's new place has a bathroom attached to her bedroom. Her dog, a pug/dachshund mix named Dewey, has been enjoying the yard. And her utilities will likely cost less each month. 

But, she says, "it's not home anymore."
The place she's called home for the past 19 years on Jessica Court in Somersworth is nearly empty, with a for sale sign on the front lawn. Sitting on the lone couch in an otherwise bare living room, Cameron, 53, couldn't help but release a few tears as she recalled her decision to move.
She and her partner split up three years ago, and she was left trying to pay mounting costs by herself.  It seemed like everything stopped being possible.
"You factor in all those things — credit card payments, car payments. You're kind of robbing Peter to pay Paul," she said. "But still, providing that home life that was important to me. I held on as long as I could, but once it starts taking you under, you realize you're getting nowhere fast."
Cameron said she was most recently paying $4,800 in taxes — a $1,000 increase from three years ago.
In 2005, the city tax rate was $19.61. For 2008, the rate is $23.43.
"That's $400 a month in taxes alone," Cameron said.
She has also experienced the crunch of rising utility costs, with about $330 a month going to oil and $143 for electricity. She said she's always been on a budget plan but paying for those expenses on her own got harder and harder — and then impossible.
She tried to stay in Somersworth — where after more than 20 years in the city she had volunteered for nearly every organization and cause — but couldn't find an affordable place that would allow dogs.
And with all the changes she was going through in her life, there was no way she was moving without Dewey.
"Keeping the dog was stable," she said, laughing as she talked about how happy he is to see her when she comes home from work.
She also said she thought her sons were having trouble dealing with the possibility of giving Dewey away.
But it had been a real possibility for Cameron, just like having to move.
"You never dream of stuff like this," she said. "There's no relief out there. You can only refinance so many times. You can't do it on your own."
Today, her duplex in Rochester is more affordable and offers some "perks" that has her happy. But she said leaving Somersworth makes her feel "let down." She had been such a large part of the community for so long, only to find no one would rent her something she could afford as long as she had a dog.
"I cry a lot because I'm letting go of so much of myself in this community," she said. "You feel like an outsider because you don't live here. It's just a weird aspect of your life." Cameron boasts a long list of city activism, starting with being supervisor of the checklist for 15 years, a School Board member for eight years, high school class adviser, deacon at the First Parish Church, Winterfest board chairperson and 2005 Citizen of the Year.
She also spearheaded the project to bring lights to the high school's football field and serves on the International Children's Festival board.  "I've had quite a run," she said nostalgically. It's only been a week in her new place so she's expecting things will get easier down the road. Until then, she still has a lot to think about.
She said she doesn't think she'll see any real financial relief from her move for about a year. "I'm at a point now where I have to look for a second job," she said, wondering if juggling two jobs will be possible. She works as a department manager at the Wal-Mart in Newington and worries how more than 40 hours each week could affect her health.
She's not even sure she could find a second job right now.
Cameron's challenges don't end there. She's trying to put her son, Sean, 21, through college at St. Joseph's in Maine. She said two of his loans are in forbearance because she can't pay them but she pays consistently on a third loan. Her other son, Derek, 26, recently moved out.
"I'd be damned if I wasn't going to let (Sean) go to college," she said. "I was going to get him those loans he needed. He works, he does what he should do to earn money while he's home."
She's expecting a lot of debt.
She's also expecting to owe money when tax season rears its head again in April because she's doing a short sale on her home. A short sale prevents foreclosure by allowing the home to sell for less than the outstanding balance of the loan and the bank to assume the proceeds. Still, Cameron will have to claim on her taxes the difference between the home's list price and what it sells for.
"I tried to redeem myself a little bit," she said. "It looks better with the bank if you try to work something out."
But, she added, there has to be some good that can come out of the situation.
"Everything happens for a reason," she said.
"Either you're going to go under, or you're going to pull yourself out," she said. "You've got to do what you've got to do. Trying to do it yourself is impossible these days and every time I come in here, I cry. But in a year or so, I'll see it wasn't so bad to do what I did. I still need a place to call home."

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