Montana Attorney General Opinion 15-209

Opinion No. 209 l\[otol'Vehicies-Taxation-Segl'egation of Auromobile Taxes. HELD: It is tile duty of the county treasurer to segregate automobile taxes, to accept payment thereof, and to issue tax receipt therefor upon request of tile owner of the motor vehicle or a l)Urchaser. May 11, 1933. You ha "e requested my opinion on the following question: "1 Is it the 146 OPIXIOXS OF THI'J ATTORXEY GENERAL duty of the county treasurer to segre- gate the tax due on an automobile from taxes due on other personal property so as to permit payment of it separately and thus enable the owner to ohtain the tax receipt required in obtaining JI,}W license?" The question has heen passed upon by the Attorney General. See Vol. 12. page 171. I agree with the conclusion reached in tha t opinion and in support thereof, call attention to the rule of law stated in Gl C. J. 965: "But where the taxes are separable the rule against part payment does not apply, and the citi7-€n ahya~'s has the right to pay the amount of IUl~' one tax listed aga inst him, while refusing or omitting to pay others, or to pay the taxes for one year, and contest those assessed for other years, or to pay the tax on an~' one piece or item of his property which is separately assessed. without offering to pay the taxes on other parts; * * *" And id., 070: "In making a payment on account of taxes the owner has a right to di- rect its application to a particular tax or to a particular piece or item of property, and the receiving officer is bound by such direction. and the ef- fect of the paymen t will not be de- feated by the officer's misapplication thereof." I am unable to find any sta tute in ~lontana to the contran', 01' any good reason why the automobile tax should not be segregated by the county treas- urer when requested hy the owner thereof at the time of assessment, or by a purchaser.