New Ill. law pushes 'fair' taxes on mobile homes

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-30/new-ill-law-pushes-fair-taxes-on-mobile-homes.html

By JIM SUHR - Dec 30, 2010 1:36 PM CT
By The Associated Press

FAIRVIEW HEIGHTS, Ill. (AP) — Larry and Carolyn Herrin bristle at chatter that a future highway construction project could cut through their one-acre spread, forcing them to move their mobile home along with its two covered porches and attached two-car garage.

A new state law could make them pay dearly for it.

The measure, scheduled to take effect Saturday along with nearly 200 other new Illinois laws, requires a factory-assembled home on private property and not part of a mobile home park to be assessed and taxed as real property. Gone would be the days of such affected properties being taxed by counties at 15 cents per square foot — a rate that drops over time as the home ages.

[notesdev]

1. I smell desperation

how much money do they really think they can squeeze out of people living in mobile homes?

[LiberalFighter]

2. After reading the article I am siding with the taxpayers who are paying

higher taxes because of mobile home owners not paying their fair share.

They do have a distinction between mobile homes that are in trailer parks vs owned land.

[lumberjack_jeff]

3. In Washington, mobile homes are taxed each year as personal property.

The land it sits on is taxed as unimproved property.

This seems to me to be a reasonable approach, as it's hard to rationalize something which could be towed away in about an hour as a permanent improvement. No bank would lend on the property on that basis.

[LiberalFighter]

4. I don't believe that the homes referenced can be towed away in an hour.

And these are not trailer park mobile homes.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

5. As I understand it, in Calif there are some parts of both

If you have a mobile home, with its wheels and license tag, its personal property and taxed accordingly. If its off its wheels and on a base, its a manufactured house and is treat like real property and taxed like it. The status also impacts what kind of load (and rate) you can get.

[AngryAmish]

6. Okay smarty: Jim Rockford - real or personal property?

[WinkyDink]

7. Aw, come on, DAD!