Worth County Tax Commissioner Tabetha DuPriest attended a meeting in Atlanta this fall in which tax officers from all over the United States convened to discuss the best means to effectively collect taxes on mobile homes. Due to Worth County’s unique situation with mobile homes, DuPriest was asked to speak to the conference on her methods of collection.
Many counties were passing discriminatory ordinances that sought to collect tax from mobile home park owners when a mobile home was abandoned on the property. The Worth tax commissioner explained what actions could and could not be taken. After discussing the matter with other tax commissioners, DuPriest realized that there are no clear laws in Georgia for handling abandoned mobile homes.
She spoke with the director of the Georgia Manufactured Housing Association, the State Assistant Fire Marshal, and Association County Commissioners of Georgia, and they all agreed support a new law concerning abandoned mobile homes. From there, the Worth tax commissioner researched mobile home legislation from various states throughout the country and created an outline for proposed methods of dealing with abandoned mobile homes.
“It’s going to help the counties to get rid of some of these derelict mobile homes. It’s going to help the land owners because these abandoned mobile homes make the property go down in value,” DuPriest explains.
She also says the legislation would help all counties in Georgia as one clear set of rules would be followed ensuring that every county treated the issue with a uniform code. Currently, the county governments cannot remove a derelict mobile home from a property. Likewise, the land owner has no legal right to remove the abandoned home.
DuPriest says all Worth County can do is sell the home on the courthouse steps. This has led to the county occasionally purchasing derelict homes just so they can be destroyed. However, the proposed legislation would set a time frame for filing an abandonment claim. Then, a county could determine whether the home could be sold or should be destroyed. This could also give the land owner the opportunity to gain the title and do with the abandoned home as he or she sees fit.
While the proposed bill is still being revised, the Worth tax commissioner says she expects the bill to pass in the next legislative session. According to DuPriest, “This will help the whole state, but this will really help Worth County.”
