Montana Code 61-3-736. Assessment of proportionally registered interstate motor vehicle fleets — payment of fees required for registration
61-3-736. Assessment of proportionally registered interstate motor vehicle fleets — payment of fees required for registration. (1) (a) The department of transportation shall determine the fee for the purpose of imposing the fee in lieu of tax as provided in 61-3-529 on buses, trucks having a manufacturer‘s rated capacity of more than 1 ton, and truck tractors and the light vehicle registration fee under 61-3-321(2) on light vehicles in interstate motor vehicle fleets that are proportionally registered under the provisions of 61-3-711 through 61-3-733. The fee must be apportioned on the ratio of total miles traveled to in-state miles traveled as prescribed by 61-3-721. The fee in lieu of tax or registration fee on interstate motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, or pole trailer fleets is imposed upon application for proportional registration and must be paid by the persons who own or claim the fleet or in whose possession or control the fleet is at the time of the application.
Terms Used In Montana Code 61-3-736
- Department: means the department of justice acting directly or through its duly authorized officers or agents. See Montana Code 61-1-101
- Light vehicle: means a motor vehicle commonly referred to as an automobile, van, sport utility vehicle, or truck having a manufacturer's rated capacity of 1 ton or less. See Montana Code 61-1-101
- Manufacturer: includes any person engaged in the manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers, semitrailers, pole trailers, travel trailers, motorboats, sailboats, snowmobiles, or off-highway vehicles as a regular business. See Montana Code 61-1-101
- Motor vehicle: means :
(i)a vehicle propelled by its own power and designed or used to transport persons or property on the highways of the state;
(ii)a quadricycle if it is equipped for use on the highways as prescribed in chapter 9; or
(iii)a golf cart only if it is equipped for use on the highways as prescribed in chapter 9 and is operated pursuant to 61-8-391 or by a person with a low-speed restricted driver's license. See Montana Code 61-1-101
- Pole trailer: means a vehicle without power designed to be drawn by another vehicle and attached to the towing vehicle by means of a reach or pole or by being boomed or otherwise secured to the towing vehicle and ordinarily used for transporting long or irregularly shaped loads such as poles, pipes, or structural members capable generally of sustaining themselves as beams between the supporting connections. See Montana Code 61-1-101
- Precedent: A court decision in an earlier case with facts and law similar to a dispute currently before a court. Precedent will ordinarily govern the decision of a later similar case, unless a party can show that it was wrongly decided or that it differed in some significant way.
- Semitrailer: means a vehicle, with or without motive power, other than a pole trailer, designed for carrying property and for being drawn by a motor vehicle and constructed so that some part of its weight and that of its load rests on or is carried by another vehicle. See Montana Code 61-1-101
- Trailer: means a vehicle, with or without motive power, other than a pole trailer, designed for carrying property and for being drawn by a motor vehicle and constructed so that no part of its weight rests on the towing vehicle. See Montana Code 61-1-101
- Vehicle: means a device in, on, or by which any person or property may be transported or drawn on a public highway, except devices moved by animal power or used exclusively on stationary rails or tracks. See Montana Code 61-1-101
(b)With respect to an original application for a fleet that has a situs in Montana for the purpose of the fee in lieu of tax or registration fee under this part or any other provision of the laws of Montana, the fee in lieu of tax or registration fee on fleet motor vehicles, trailers, semitrailers, or pole trailers must be prorated according to the ratio that the remaining number of months in the year bears to the total number of months in the year.
(c)Motor vehicles subject to the light vehicle registration fee as part of a fleet under this subsection (1) are not subject to the local option motor vehicle tax or flat fee imposed under 61-3-537 or 61-3-570.
(2)With respect to a renewal application for a fleet, the fee in lieu of tax and the light vehicle registration fee are imposed for a full year. The department of transportation shall prorate the new fee in lieu of tax in 61-3-529 for motor vehicles, trailers, semitrailers, or pole trailers that are proportionally registered, as provided in 61-3-721, and whose annual registration period does not coincide with the calendar year.
(3)Motor vehicles, trailers, semitrailers, or pole trailers contained in a fleet for which current fees have been assessed and paid may not be assessed or charged fees under this section upon presentation to the department of proof of payment of fees for the current registration year. The payment of fleet motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, or pole trailer fees in lieu of tax, light vehicle registration fees, and license fees is a condition precedent to proportional registration or reregistration of an interstate motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, or pole trailer fleet.
(4)All fees collected on motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, or pole trailer fleets under this chapter must be deposited and distributed as provided in 61-3-738.