March 29, 2024

Out of Sight: County orders tax abatement on mobile home in Hwy 14 park

The Jasper County Board of Supervisors has approved a $3,230 tax abatement on a mobile home north of Newton, whose owners have not paid the county in more than 10 years.

The abatement was issued for the Goodman mobile home in the park at 3044 Highway 14 N, but according to Jasper County Treasurer Doug Bishop, owners of at least three of the 16 trailers have not paid property taxes since 2008 and one he could not find on the rolls.

Bishop told the Supervisors during the board’s regular meeting Jan. 15, after the treasurer’s office was first made the board aware of the issue, he and Jasper County Community Development Director Nick Fratzke took a fact-finding trip to the trailer court.

“Nick (Fratzke) and I took a little field trip out to the (trailer) court in question. It’s challenging. We’ll leave it at that. It’s challenging,” Bishop said.

Supervisors board chair Denny Carpenter remarked how difficult the mobile home court is to find. The court is barely visible from the road, and Bishop said that’s likely why the tax issues have gone unnoticed for so long.

“I think that’s probably been part of the problem,” Bishop said. “… It’s back there far enough that no body really knows it’s there until somebody brings it to your attention that it needed to be addressed.”

According to the treasure, Fratzke will be moving forward with more fact-finding and possible action on one or more of the properties in the park, but did not detail what actions, if any, will be taken.

Contact Mike Mendenhall at 641-792-3121 ext. 6530 or mmendenhall@newtondailynews.com