It turns out Lantzville mobile home owners have been paying the wrong amount of tax for years. The District of Lantzville has incorrectly charged parcel tax on those who lived in mobile or manufactured homes between 2003-15. Those who owned a mobile home had to pay a parcel tax despite not being the owners of the parcel of land they were living on. As a result of the error, the district is in the beginning phases of establishing a tax refund program.Fred Manson, the district’s interim chief administrative officer, said the district is now determining which residents were involved and calculating what the potential refund amount would be.“We are hoping to have some program in place by December or January. Once we have it in place, we will be in a position to advertise the requirements for somebody to prove previous ownership,” he said. At least 50 people have been impacted according to Manson, who said the district will need to track down former Lantzville residents that paid the tax.“Some of them we would know the owner because the ownership has not changed from 2003,” he said. “Others, the ownership may have changed in which case we will have to do some research and or put together a process as to what previous owners would have to do to prove that they were previous owners.”Manson said more details about the refund program will be announced in the coming months and he hopes to begin issuing refunds by the end of the year.

Nanaimo News Bulletin