Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 79.djvu/101

 79 STAT. ]

PUBLIC LAW 89-11-APR. 14, 1965

"BUS TAXATION PKORATION AND RECIPROCITY AGREEMENT "ARTICLE I—PURPOSES AND PRINCIPLES

"SEC. 1. Purposes of agreement: I t is the purpose of this agreement to set up a system whereby any contracting State may permit owners of fleets of buses operating in two or more States to prorate the registration of the buses 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. "SEC. 2. Principle of proration of registration: I t 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 buses 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 buses 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 I l l (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 buses which actually travel a portion of their total miles in such State. A fleet must include three or more buses.

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