CHAPTER 275
AN ACT PROVIDING FOR THE IMPOSITION OF A PROPERTY TAX ON MOBILE HOMES BASED ON THEIR ACTUAL VALUE AND REQUIRING THE OWNER THEREOF TO OBTAIN A PLACEMENT PERMIT, THE PARK OPERATOR TO MAKE ANNUAL REPORTS CONCERNING SAID HOMES AND PROVIDING PENALTIES AGAINST BOTH THE OWNER AND COURT OPERATOR FOR THEIR FAILURE TO DO SO.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Delaware:
Section 1. Sub-chapter 2, Chapter 19, Title 14, Delaware Code, is hereby repealed.
Section 2. Chapter 19, Title 14, Delaware Code, is amended by adding a new Sub-chapter at the end thereof, with sections 1930 through 1938, as follows:
SUBCHAPTER II. TAX ON MOBILE HOMES
Section 1930. On and after the passage of this Act, mobile homes in Delaware shall be subject to a property tax based on their actual value. Said mobile homes shall be assessed at the same tax rate as real property is assessed in the County and in the School District in which the said mobile home is located.
Section 1931. It shall be the duty of the owner of a mobile home to apply for a placement permit from the Board of Assessment for each mobile home owned by him within thirty (30) days after the owner acquires the said vehicle or moves the same into Delaware, whichever is the sooner.
Section 1932. To notify owners of their obligation in this regard and to assist owners in applying for placement permits, each mobile home park operator, if furnished copies of this law and applications for the said placement permits by the Board of Assessment of his County, must give a copy of the law and the permit application to said owner within ten (10) days after the said mobile home has been moved into his Park.
Section 1933. All mobile home park operators, which shall mean every person who leases land to two or more persons for the purpose of allowing such persons to locate a mobile home thereon, shall maintain a record of such leases which shall be open for inspection at all times by one or more of the County Tax Assessors. On or before April 1 of each year the mobile home court operator shall send a report to the Board of Assessment in the County in which his park is located of the names and addresses of all persons having mobile homes on his land.
Section 1934. All mobile homes shall be assessed in the names of the owner or owners of such mobile homes who shall be the persons named in the titles of such mobile homes, irrespective of whether the titles are issued by the State of Delaware or by another state.
Section 1935. Whoever being the titled owner of a mobile home which is subject to a property tax, as herein provided, and having received an official tax notice levying a property tax thereon, thereafter for the purpose of evading the payment of such tax removes such mobile home from the County levying such tax, shall upon conviction thereof, be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than $50.00 or shall be imprisoned not more than ten (10) days.
Section 1936. Whoever being an operator of a mobile home park, shall fail to submit to the Board of Assessment of the County in which such court is located, on or before April 1 of each year, after written notice to do so, the report herein required shall be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than fifty ($50.00) dollars.
Section 1937. The tax imposed by this sub-chapter shall not apply:
(a) To unoccupied mobile homes located on a dealer's display lot; and
(b) To mobile homes bearing a current license tag of the State of Delaware.
Section 1938. All statutes of the State of Delaware, or parts thereof, in conflict with this Act are hereby repealed to the extent of such inconsistency.
Approved December 22, 1965.