MEMORANDUM

TO: Pete Sprague, Assembly President

Members, Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly

THRU: Dale Bagley, Mayor

FROM: John E. Simmons, Assistant Borough Attorney

Shane Horan, Assessor

DATE: October 16, 2003

SUBJECT: Ordinance 2003-44, to permit boats used as a primary residence and permanent place of abode to be included in the exemption provided by KPB 5.12.105

The Kenai Peninsula Borough (KPB) Department of Assessing received a request for a senior exemption on a boat used as primary residence and permanent place of abode that met the requirements of KPB 5.12.105. The department was not able to approve the request because the statute authorizing certain property to be classified as real property for tax purposes applies only if the property is not expressly classified as personal property by ordinance. KPB 1.08.040(P) classifies a boat as personal property.

The principal distinction between a boat and a mobile home used as a residence is primarily the fact that a boat normally rests upon water instead of land. Therefore, a boat used by a senior citizen as a primary residence and permanent place of abode, when all other requirements of KPB 5.12.105 are met, should receive the same exemption that would be given to a mobile home.