January 24, 1985

Mr. John Steele 
Aurora County State's Attorney 
Aurora County Courthouse 
Plankinton, South Dakota 57368

OFFICIAL OPINION NO. 85-03

$10,000 agricultural exemption not applicable to mobile homes

Dear Mr. Steele:

You have requested an official opinion based on the following factual situation:

FACTS: 

A certain taxpayer in Aurora County owns a double-wide mobile home in which he lives, along with his wife and children.  The mobile home is affixed to a poured concrete foundation, the hitch and undercarriage have been removed, and in addition, has attached to it a built-on garage which is, in no sense, a mobile home. Accordingly, it appears that said mobile home is to be considered as real property for the purposes of taxation, as specified in SDCL 10-4-2. 

However, the land on which the mobile home is permanently affixed does not belong to the person who owns and occupies the mobile home.  The land belongs to that taxpayer's father with whom he is engaged in farming.  On the same farm site is a conventional dwelling house occupied by the taxpayer's father and mother, along with an extensive set of farm outbuildings, including barns, sheds, etc. SDCL 10-4-13.1 provides for a $10,000.00 exemption on agricultural buildings, 'for each normally occupied dwelling, other than mobile homes, which is located on agricultural land and classified as nonagricultural property under §  10-6-31.'

Concerning these facts, you have asked the following question:

QUESTION: 

Is the owner of the land in question entitled to a single $10,000.00 exemption for the house occupied by himself and his wife or is he entitled to an additional $10,000.00 exemption for the mobile home permanently affixed to his property and owned and occupied by his son and family?

The statute in question, SDCL 10-4-13.1, provides for a classification of agricultural buildings situated on agricultural land and then proceeds to grant an exemption of $10,000.00 from the value of such buildings which are used in connection with the taxpayer's agricultural pursuits.  A proviso is found in that section which in part provides that it applies to '. . . each normally occupied dwelling, other than mobile homes, which is located on agricultural and classified as nonagricultural property under §  10-6-31.'  (Emphasis added.)

Property for taxation purposes is denominated as either real or personal, §  10-4-1.  Real property, by definition, §  10-4-2, includes, 'the land itself, whether laid out in town lots or otherwise, and all buildings, structures, mobile homes as they are defined in subdivision (1) of §  34-34A-1 which are permanently affixed by foundation to the land upon which they are located, and improvements, including systems for the heating, air conditioning, ventilation, sanitation, lighting, and plumbing of such structures and buildings, and all rights and privileges thereto belonging or in anywise appertaining, . . .' (Emphasis added.)

Mobile homes as referred to in §  10-4-2, are more specifically identified in subsection 1 of §  34-34A-1 as 'manufactured home' or 'homes.' They are described as a 'structure, transportable in one or more sections, which is eight body feet or more in width or forty body feet or more in length in the traveling mode, or is three hundred twenty or more square feet when erected on a site; which is built on a permanent chassis and designed to be used as a dwelling, with or without a permanent foundation, when connected to the required utilities; and which contains the plumbing, heating, air conditioning and electrical systems therein.'  This definition, enacted in 1982, substituted 'manufactured homes' for 'mobile homes.'  Thus a mobile home or manufactured home, as contemplated by both §  10-4-2 and §  34‑34A‑1(1), may be permanently affixed to the real estate.  No problem arises with respect to the taxation of this structure since, by definition, it is real property and not a 'mobile home' of the nature contemplated and taxed under SDCL 10-9. (Emphasis added.)

The answer to your question then is that for the purposes contemplated in SDCL 10-4-13.1, this dwelling continues to be a mobile home.  The Legislature has not seen fit to exempt a permanently affixed mobile home from the limitation in §  10‑4‑13.1 as it did in the definition statute §  10-4-2, defining a mobile home as realty when permanently affixed by foundation to the land upon which it is located.  The same qualification is not found in  §  10-4-13.1.  It is clearly legislative intent to exclude any home of the nature as defined in §  34-34A-1 from qualifying for a $10,000.00 exemption. I cannot add words of exclusion to the limitation the Legislature has placed upon the $10,000.00 in §  10-4-13.1

Respectfully submitted,

Mark V. Meierhenry
Attorney General