§ 406 Bus taxation proration agreement
VTL § 406
The bus taxation proration agreement is hereby enacted into law and entered into with all jurisdictions legally joining therein in the form substantially as follows:
ARTICLE I. Purposes and Principles.
Section 1. Purposes of Agreement. It is the purpose of this agreement to set up a system whereby any contracting state may permit owners of fleets of busses operating in two or more states to prorate the registration of the busses in such fleets in each state in which the fleets operate on the basis of the proportion of miles operated within such state to total fleet miles, as defined herein.
Section 2. Principle of Proration of Registration. It is hereby declared that in making this agreement the contracting states adhere to the principle that each state should have the freedom to develop the kind of highway user tax structure that it determines to be most appropriate to itself, that the method of taxation of interstate busses should not be a determining factor in developing its user tax structure, and that annual taxes or other taxes of the fixed fee type upon busses which are not imposed on a basis that reflects the amount of highway use should be apportioned among the states, within the limits of practicality, on the basis of vehicle miles traveled within each of the states.
ARTICLE II. Definitions.
(a)State. State shall include the states of the United States, the District of Columbia, the territories of the United States, the Provinces of Canada, and the States, Territories and Federal District of Mexico.
(b)Contracting State. Contracting state shall mean a state which is a party to this agreement.
(c)Administrator. Administrator shall mean the official or agency of a state administering the fee involved, or, in the case of proration of registration, the official or agency of a state administering the proration of registration in that state.
(d)Person. Person shall include any individual, firm, copartnership, joint venture, association, corporation, estate, trust, business trust, receiver, syndicate, or any other group or combination acting as a unit.
(e)Base State. Base state shall mean the state from or in which the bus is most frequently dispatched, garaged, serviced, maintained, operated, or otherwise controlled, or also in the case of a fleet bus the state to which it is allocated for registration under statutory requirements. In order that this section may not be used for the purpose of evasion of registration fees, the administrators of the contracting states may make the final decision as to the proper base state, in accordance with Article III (h) hereof, to prevent or avoid such evasion.
(f)Bus. Bus shall mean any motor vehicle of a bus type engaged in the interstate transportation of passengers and subject to the jurisdiction of the Interstate Commerce Commission, or any agency successor thereto, or one or more state regulatory agencies concerned with the regulation of passenger transport.
(g)Fleet. As to each contracting state, fleet shall include only those busses which actually travel a portion of their total miles in such state. A fleet must include three (3) or more busses.
(h)Registration. Registration shall mean the registration of a bus and the payment of annual fees and taxes as set forth in or pursuant to the laws of the respective contracting states.
(i)Proration of registration. Proration of registration shall mean registration of fleets of busses in accordance with Article IV of this agreement.
(j)Reciprocity. Reciprocity shall mean that each contracting state, to the extent provided in this agreement, exempts a bus from registration and registration fees.
ARTICLE III. General Provisions.
ARTICLE IV. Proration of Registration.
All fleet pro-rata registration fees shall be based upon the mileage proportions of the fleet during the period of twelve months ending on August thirty-first next preceding the commencement of the registration year for which registration is sought, except, that mileage proportions for a fleet not operated during such period in the state where application for registration is made will be determined by the administrator upon the sworn application of the applicant showing the operations during such period in other states and the estimated operations during the registration year for which registration is sought, in the state in which application is being made; or if no operations were conducted during such period a full statement of the proposed method of operation.
If any busses operate in two or more states which permit the proration of registration on the basis of a fleet of busses consisting of a lesser number of vehicles than provided in Article II (g), such fleet may be prorated as to registration in such states, in which event the busses in such fleet shall not be required to register in any other contracting states if each such vehicle is registered in some contracting state except to the extent it is exempt from registration as provided in Article III (b).
If the administrator of any state determines, based on his method of the operation thereof, that the inclusion of a bus or busses as a part of a fleet would adversely affect the proper fleet fee which should be paid to his state, having due regard for fairness and equity, he may refuse to permit any or all of such busses to be included in his state as a part of such fleet.
ARTICLE V. Reciprocity.
ARTICLE VI. Withdrawal or Revocation.
Any contracting state may withdraw from this agreement upon thirty days written notice to each other contracting state, which notice shall be given only after the repeal of this agreement by the legislature of such state, if adoption was by legislative act, or after renunciation by the appropriate administrative official of such contracting state if the laws thereof empower him so to renounce.
ARTICLE VII. Construction and Severability.
This compact shall be liberally construed so as to effectuate the purposes thereof. The provisions of this compact shall be severable and if any phrase, clause, sentence or provision of this compact is declared to be contrary to the constitution of any state or of the United States or the applicability thereof to any government, agency, person or circumstance is held invalid, the validity of the remainder of this compact and the applicability thereof to any government, agency, person or circumstance shall not be affected thereby. If this compact shall be held contrary to the constitution of any state participating herein, the compact shall remain in full force and effect as to the remaining party states and in full force and effect as to the state affected as to all severable matters.
