61-3-431. Special mobile equipment — exemption from registration and payment of fees and charges — identification decal — temporary registration permit — publicly owned special mobile equipment. (1) A person, firm, partnership, or corporation that owns, leases, or rents special mobile equipment, a motor vehicle or trailer designed and used to apply fertilizer to agricultural land, or a log loader and that occasionally moves that equipment on, over, or across the highways of the state is not subject to registration of that equipment or required to pay the fees and charges provided for in 61-4-301 through 61-4-308 or Title 61, chapter 10, part 2. Prior to movement on the highways:

Terms Used In Montana Code 61-3-431

  • Authorized agent: means a person who has executed a written agreement with the department and is specifically authorized by the department to electronically access and update the department's motor vehicle titling, registration, or driver records, using an approved automated interface, for specific functions or purposes on behalf of a third party. See Montana Code 61-1-101
  • Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
  • Dealer: means a person that, for commission or profit, engages in whole or in part in the business of buying, selling, exchanging, or accepting on consignment new or used motor vehicles, trailers, semitrailers, pole trailers, travel trailers, motorboats, sailboats, snowmobiles, off-highway vehicles, or special mobile equipment that is not registered in the name of the person. See Montana Code 61-1-101
  • Department: means the department of justice acting directly or through its duly authorized officers or agents. See Montana Code 61-1-101
  • Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). Source: OCC
  • 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

  • Owner: means each person who holds the legal title to a vehicle. See Montana Code 61-1-101
  • Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
  • person: means an individual, corporation, partnership, limited partnership, limited liability company, association, joint venture, state agency, local government unit, another state government, the United States, a political subdivision of this or another state, or any other legal or commercial entity. See Montana Code 61-1-101
  • Personal property: All property that is not real property.
  • Personal property: means money, goods, chattels, things in action, and evidences of debt. See Montana Code 1-1-205
  • Property: means real and personal property. See Montana Code 1-1-205
  • Special mobile equipment: means a vehicle not designed for the transportation of persons or property on the highways but incidentally operated or moved over the highways, including road construction or maintenance machinery, ditch-digging apparatus, and well-boring apparatus. See Montana Code 61-1-101
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201
  • Temporary registration permit: means a paper record:

    (a)issued by the department, an authorized agent, a county treasurer, or a person, using a department-approved electronic interface after an electronic record has been transmitted to the department, that contains:

    (i)required vehicle and owner information; and

    (ii)the purpose for which the record was generated; and

    (b)that, when placed in a durable license-plate style plastic pouch approved by the department and displayed as prescribed in 61-3-224, authorizes a person to operate the described motor vehicle, motorboat, sailboat that is 12 feet in length or longer, snowmobile, or off-highway vehicle for:

    (i)40 days from the date the record is issued or until the vehicle is registered under Title 23 or this title, whichever first occurs; or

    (ii)90 days from the date the record is issued for a permit issued pursuant to 61-3-303(4)(b). 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

(a)each piece of equipment must display an equipment identification decal or a dealer‘s license plate attached to the equipment, except for motor vehicles or trailers designed and used to apply fertilizer to agricultural land that are brought into Montana for demonstration purposes;

(b)each motor vehicle or trailer designed and used to apply fertilizer to agricultural land that is brought into Montana for demonstration purposes must have a temporary registration permit conspicuously displayed.

(2)(a) Annual application for the identification decal must be made to the county treasurer before any piece of equipment is moved on the highways. Application must be made on a form furnished by the department, together with the payment of a fee of $5. The equipment for which a special mobile equipment decal or for which a temporary registration permit is sought is subject to the assessment of personal property taxes. The person, firm, partnership, or corporation applying for the decal shall report the application for the identification decal to the department of revenue. For migratory personal property described in 15-24-301(1), the personal property taxes assessed against the special mobile equipment, a motor vehicle or trailer designed and used to apply fertilizer to agricultural land, or a log loader must be paid before an identification decal may be issued. The fees collected under this section must be deposited in the state general fund, except that $25 of the temporary registration permit fee must be remitted to the department of transportation.

(b)Application must be made for a temporary registration permit as provided in subsection (1)(b). The application must be made to the county treasurer or to an authorized agent before the piece of equipment is moved on Montana highways. Application for the temporary registration permit must be made on a form furnished by the department and must be accompanied by the payment of a fee of $50, in addition to the fee required under 61-3-224.

(3)The identification decal expires on December 31 of each year. If the expired identification decal is displayed, an owner of special mobile equipment, a motor vehicle or trailer designed and used to apply fertilizer to agricultural land, or a log loader registered under the provisions of this section is entitled to operate the equipment between January 1 and February 15 following expiration without displaying the identification decal or receipt of the current year.

(4)(a) The temporary registration permit expires 40 days after its issuance. Special mobile equipment, a motor vehicle or trailer designed and used to apply fertilizer to agricultural land, or a log loader that remains in the state past the expiration of the permit is subject to the assessment of personal property taxes, starting on the first day following expiration of the permit.

(b)If the holder of a temporary registration permit leases or sells the piece of equipment during the term that is covered by the permit, the permit is no longer valid and the special mobile equipment, motor vehicle or trailer designed and used to apply fertilizer to agricultural land, or log loader is subject to the assessment of personal property taxes, starting on the first day of the lease or the date of the sale.

(5)Publicly owned special mobile equipment, motor vehicles or trailers designed and used to apply fertilizer to agricultural land, or log loaders and implements of husbandry used exclusively by an owner in the conduct of the owner’s farming operations are exempt from this section.

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