Who pays property tax on the land in a land-lease community, the resident or the park owner?

Generally, the operator, since they own the land. Property tax on the underlying land in a land-lease or mobile home community is assessed against the operator as the registered owner, and it's the operator's obligation to pay it to the municipality, not something residents are billed for directly by the municipality the way a homeowner on their own lot would be.

That doesn't mean residents are unaffected by property tax costs. Because the operator factors overall operating costs, including property tax on the land, into what they charge, residents typically bear these costs indirectly through their site fees, and a significant increase in the land's property tax assessment is often one of the reasons an operator points to when proposing a larger-than-usual site fee increase. Whether and how the home itself is separately assessed for tax purposes can also vary depending on how the home is classified and installed, which is a separate question from tax on the land. A resident who wants to understand exactly how property tax factors into their site fees, or how their home is assessed, should ask the operator and, if needed, check directly with the municipality, rather than assuming the two are unrelated.