Municipalities tend to pursue property owners who fail to pay their taxes, but in the case of three mobile homes, the Township of Langley is making an exception.
Council voted to write off $5,600 in uncollected taxes for three mobile homes after a staff report said the homes were gone and the owners could not be located.
As far as Township staff can tell, the mobile homes in question “have been removed, or burnt down and demolished” said the written report from Darlene Foxgord, the municipal manager of revenue and tax collection.
Unlike taxes on other types of homes, the Township cannot recover mobile home property taxes through the annual property tax sale, Foxgord explained.
“Our only recourse is to find the mobile home owners and collect ourselves through collection agency which is a challenge since usually they cannot be found.”
It doesn’t happen that often, council was told.
On Monday, March 11, council voted to seek permission from the provincial minister of finance to declare the $5,600 in taxes ( including $1,100 collected on behalf of other government agencies) a write-off.
The Township estimates it has 35 to 40 per cent of all manufactured homes in the region in Metro Vancouver.