New Jersey § 54:4-1

§ 54:4-1.

The Legislature finds and determines that: a. It is in the public interest that the Legislature address the difficult questions

raised in litigation over the tax status of manufactured homes; b. Manufactured homes located in mobile home parks receive fewer public services than

manufactured homes or other single family dwelling units located on privately owned

lots, and thus the former homes occasion a lower level of public expenditures than

the latter homes; c. With respect to purchaser financing, manufactured homes located in mobile home

parks are not treated in the same manner as manufactured homes located on private

lots owned by the homeowner or other residential property, and thus are not typically

financed through mortgage arrangements, but are typically financed through installment

credit; d. Because of the differences in siting between manufactured homes in mobile home

parks and manufactured homes otherwise located, it is difficult to equate the two

for property title purposes, and thus for the purposes of property tax enforcement; e. The Legislature has provided that certain property owned by public utilities which

would otherwise constitute real property for the purposes of taxation is not real

property for such purposes, and has provided an alternate means of ensuring that the

owner of such property is responsible for reasonable payment for public services which

that owner receives; f. The factors which distinguish manufactured homes in mobile home parks from other

dwelling units warrants a distinction between the former and the latter which is analogous

to the distinction drawn in the case of public utilities property; g. It is necessary to draw that distinction in a fair and equitable manner, which

will not penalize the owners of the manufactured homes located in mobile home parks,

nor absolve them of their responsibility to pay for the public services they receive; h. It is further necessary to ensure parity, where taxation is concerned, between

manufactured homes situated outside mobile home parks and other similar dwelling units; i. The land and improvements thereto which together constitute a mobile home park,

including those improvements added as part of the private provision of otherwise public

services, are subject to taxation as real property, and the revenues derived from

the assessment and levy of these real property taxes contribute to the defrayal of

the costs of public services provided the owner of the park and lessees of sites in

that park; and j. It is appropriate and necessary to provide a method by which a municipality may

receive reasonable payment for services provided the owners of manufactured homes

in mobile home parks, the cost of which services is not defrayed by real property

tax revenues.