By NICOLE CARTRETTE
Staff Writer

There will be no refund for a Columbus County taxpayer who had issues with his doublewide mobile home being taxed as real estate.
A June 12 letter from the N.C. Department of Revenue, in part defends Tax Administrator Richard Gore’s assertion that Mike Barnes is not entitled to a refund because he has an interest in the property where his home is located and because Barnes did not appeal when the Board of Equalization was in session.

Gore had pointed out Barnes’ lifetime right to the property his home is on — although not in his name — meant it could be listed as real property. He wouldn’t say if Barnes’ doublewide is real or personal property.

“If the owner does not appeal while the board is in session the assessment becomes final for that year and the taxes are due and payable and no further appeal is allowed,” wrote David Baker, director of the property tax division, at the N.C. Department of Revenue. “This opinion is based on the assumptions stated within and could change if the facts are different than I understand them at the time this is written.”

Baker explains that before Jan. 1, 2003 “the language was not clear” regarding which manufactured homes were to be taxed as real and which as personal property.

On July 1, 2003 when the law became effective, it clarified that homes that do not meet the definition must be listed as personal property, Baker explained.

“I have not been able to determine how Columbus County assesses manufactured homes currently or prior to 2003 from our conversation or the information,” Baker writes. “I recommend that all manufactured homes which do not meet the definition of real property under G.S. 105-273(13) be assessed as personal property.”

To tax a manufactured home as real property the mobile home must be:

•a residential structure with moving hitch wheels and axles removed;

•on a permanent foundation on the homeowner’s land;

•or on land with a leasehold interest with a primary term of at least 20 years.

“It’s a dead issue,” Barnes said Monday, but pointed out it did not change the fact that certain mobile homes cannot be taxed as real property under state law.

“If anything, people have become more aware that they’ve got options –they don’t have to go up there fighting but they can make an appeal,” Barnes said.

In April, Barnes, a Chadbourn resident, argued his home didn’t meet the criteria to be taxed as real property.

In 2004, Barnes’ doublewide was listed at $25,000, the same price he purchased it for 20 years earlier.

In 2007, Barnes believed his doublewide was still being taxed as real property although it was not permanently affixed to the property and not on property in his name, he said.

On May 15, days after referring Barnes to the tax administrator, County Attorney Steve Fowler wrote Barnes a letter telling him to contact the N.C. Department of Revenue and included the phone number.

On May 21, commissioners told Barnes he would have to take his case to the Equalization and Review Board. Commissioners asked Gore to contact the Equalization and Review Board.
Later, Barnes was told it would have to come before the Board of Commissioners because the Equalization and Review Board was not in session.

“I was just waiting to see if it ever got on the agenda,” Barnes said, pointing out he was never forwarded a copy of Baker’s letter or contacted about the issue.