The phantom airplanes may not exist, but the tax case involving them just won't disappear.

Last month, Circuit Judge Jack Berry ruled that pilot and mechanic Martin Lowe had made his case at a Sept. 20 tax appeal hearing and that there was no evidence that two antique planes on which the Culpeper resident paid taxes actually existed. He ordered a refund.

Lowe maintained that he owned the tail numbers, which are registered with the Federal Aviation Agency, and the factory specifications for the 1920s-vintage planes, but that the actual aircraft had been destroyed seven decades ago.

Commissioner of Revenue Terry Yowell, using the FAA registrations as her basis, assessed Lowe personal-property taxes on the planes, which he reluctantly paid.

Per the judge's December order, Culpeper County Treasurer David DeJarnette on Jan. 3 refunded Lowe $1,457.17 he had sought.

Yowell, however, still maintains that the planes do exist and has not abated the assessments for 2008-10 from her books. She would not say yesterday whether Lowe will be assessed again this year for planes that the judge has ruled don't exist.

"I have got until September to make my 2012 assessment," Yowell said.

If she assesses the planes for 2012, that could present a bookkeeping problem for DeJarnette and could affect Lowe's credit rating--if he doesn't pay and the assessments show up as delinquent.

The latest development became public Tuesday when Lowe's attorney, Kris Spitler, came before the court asking Berry to amend his original order to stipulate that no further taxes could be assessed.

Berry balked, saying that at some point Lowe might actually build the planes and then they would be taxable. The judge told Spitler and County Attorney Roy Thorpe, who represents Yowell, that it seemed a simple matter for Yowell and DeJarnette to get the bookkeeping straight.

He also hinted that Yowell could be cited for contempt of court if the situation is not cleared up.

DeJarnette said that he cannot, by law, abate the assessments because that is the commissioner's job. Yowell says that she won't abate the records because she still believes the planes exist.

"The record needs to show exactly what happened," she said.

She called Judge Berry's ruling "unprecedented" because he said that, by law, a physical property must be proved to exist before it can be taxed.