Decision Clarifies
Meaning of "Set Upon Foundation" for Mobile Homes
Caption: Taxation 1018;
Mobile Homes 46
Other Captions: Taxation;
Mobile Homes
(001) For property tax purposes, mobile
homes, as defined by §66.058 (1)(d), Stats.1,
are classified into two categories: improvements to real property and personal
property.
(002) Under §70.043(1). Stats., a mobile home is an improvement to real
property if it is connected to utilities and is set upon a foundation upon land
owned by the mobile home owner.
(003) The statute provides that a mobile
home is "set upon a foundation" if it is off its wheels and is set
upon some other support.
(004) Under §70.043(2); a mobile borne is personal property if the
land upon which it is located is not owned by the mobile home owner or if the
mobile home is not set upon a foundation or connected to utilities.
(005) Mobile homes that are classified as
personal property are exempt from taxation under §70.111(19)(b), Stats ., if the home is no larger than 400 square feet and is used primarily as temporary living quarters for
recreational, camping, travel or seasonal purposes.
(006) A large group of persons who each
own a mobile home located on an individually-owned lot in a real estate
development known as Wisconsin's Rock River Leisure Estates joined together to
appeal the Town of Fulton's classification of their mobile homes as
improvements to real property.
(007) The owners claimed that their mobile
homes were not "set upon a foundation" under 70.043(1), Stats.
(008) Twenty owners were selected as being
representative of all the owners and stipulated to the following facts.
(009) Each owner had, on his or her lot,
a "basic unit" which met the definition of "mobile home"
under Wis. Stats. 66.058(1)(d).
(010) The
floor areas of the basic units ranged from 372
to 420 square feet.
(011) Each
basic unit still had its wheels attached and was connected to utilities.
(012) All but four (4) of the units had their weight at least
partially on their wheels and partially on some form of stabilizer, such as
cement blocks, cinder blocks, or screw jacks.
(013) Three
units had their weight completely supported by stabilizers.
(014) One
unit had no stabilizers and was supported only by its wheels.
(015) Each owner also had additional
structures including decks, screen rooms, porches and sheds on their lot that
were either attached to the basic unit or freestanding.
(016) The
amount of time the owners spent in the homes varied.
(017) Two of the owners resided in their
homes for 12 months, three for seven months, three for six months, one for five
and one-half months, one for three months, and the rest for two months of the
year or less.
(018) The circuit court had interpreted
"set upon a foundation" as requiring that a majority of the weight of
the mobile home be off its wheels before it could be classified as real
property.
(019) The court of appeals held that a
mobile borne is "set upon a foundation" when any part of its weight
is off its wheels and set upon some other support.
(020) The Wisconsin Supreme Court rejected
that conclusion because state law2 requires that at least some portion of every
mobile home's weight be supported by something other than its wheels.
(021) The Court held that the key was not
how much weight was supported by something other than the wheels, but whether
the support was temporary in nature.
(022) The Court stated: We hold that a
mobile home is "'set upon a foundation" when the home is resting for
more than a temporary time, in whole or in part, on some other means of support
than its wheels.
(023) This definition rests on a
distinction between temporary and permanent, recognizing that the legislature
intended that the permanency of the mobile home was important in making a
distinction between real and personal property.
(024) We conclude that the legislature
intended that anything more than a transient location would be permanent and,
accordingly, an improvement to real property.
(025) Ahrens v. Town of Fulton, 2002 WI 29,
Case No. 99-2466
(March 26,2002),
affirming 2000 WI App
268.
(026) The Court declined to define
"temporary" in terms of a specific number of days, concluding that
such a responsibility is better left to the legislature or the state Department
of Revenue.
(027) The Court called upon the
legislature to fix the various statutes, calling them "nearly
irreconcilable" in their current form.
(028) The Court concluded that all of the
mobile homes in question were resting for more than a temporary time on some
other means of support than its wheels and had all been properly classified as
real property.
(029) With regard to the mobile home that
was said to be resting only on its wheels, the Court noted that under the
definition of mobile home, additions or attachments are considered as part of
the mobile home itself and stated that as a result, if that part of the mobile
home is resting on some other means of support than the wheels of the basic
unit, the mobile home itself is being supported by means other than the wheels.
Caption: Taxation 1018;
Mobile Homes 46
Other Captions: Taxation;
Mobile Homes
(030) Section 66.058(1)(d) was renumbered as § 66.0435(1)(d) when ch.66
was recodified but the court's decision is based on the statutes as they
existed before the recodification.
(031) The court noted Judge Dykman's
dissent in 2000 WI App 268, 240 Wis.2d 131, 621
10/28/03