Question 1: Article II, section 28 of the Tennessee Constitution declares that “[h]ouse trailers, mobile homes, and all other similar movable structures” are to be assessed as “real property” for taxation purposes. Tennessee Code Annotated § 67-5-501(7) defines “moveable structure” for the statutory scheme that implements this constitutional provision. Expressly excluded from that definition are certain moveable structures that contain less than three hundred square feet of enclosed space.

When an assessor of property does not assess as real property those moveable structures that are expressly excluded under the statutory definition of “moveable structure” is the assessor constitutionally applying the law in accordance with article II, section 28, and Williams v. Carr, 218 Tenn. 564, 404 S.W.2d 522 (1966)?

Opinion 1: Yes. The exclusion of “self-propelled vehicles, sleeping and camping facilities attached to, or designed to be attached to, or drawn by a pick-up truck or an automobile, [] that contain less than three hundred square feet (300 sq. ft.) of enclosed space” from the definition of “moveable structure” in Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-5-501(7) appears to be consistent with the plain language of article II, section 28 and reflective of the intent of the framers and the people who adopted that constitutional provision.

Question 2: If so, may the General Assembly authorize the assessor of property to assess the property to the owner of the excluded moveable structure instead of assessing it as real property as an improvement to the land on which it is located?

Opinion 2: Yes. Because the specified, excluded moveable structures with less than 300 square feet of enclosed space are not assessed as real property, they are assessed by statute to the owner as “tangible personal property.” See Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-5-501(8), (13). As a practical matter, however, all tangible personal property in Tennessee is exempt from property taxation unless it falls within the classifications of public utility property or commercial and industrial property, as explained in Tenn. Att’y Gen. Op. 00-062 (Apr. 3, 2000).