Montana Attorney General Opinion 16-138

Opinion No. 138. Motor Vehicles-Licenses-Payment To Wrong County--Counties- County Treasurer. HELD: 1. The owner of a motor vehicle who pays the registration fee to the County Treasurer of a county other than that in which the motor vehicle is owned or properly subject to general taxes. does so at his own risk. 2. The obligation to pay the motor vehicle registration fee to the proper county is the obligation of the owners of the automobiles in question and not that of the county to which pay- ment was wrongfully made. Mr. Eugene L. Murphy County Attorney Choteau, Montana July 13, 1935. Your letter to us, requesting an opinion upon the question of law in- volved, is in part as follows: "The Board of County Commis- sioners of this county have author- ized me to make collection of motor vehicle registration fees which were collected in Cascade County upon automobiles owned by residents of Teton County. "The County Clerk presented a bill to Cascade County for such re- gistration fees and this bill was re- fused payment by the Board of County Commissioners of Cascade County. "It would seem that the only way of establishing this claim against Cascade County is either by suit against them or by a directory opin- ion from your office." Section 1759, Revised Codes 1921, as amended by Section 1, Chapter 158, Laws of 1933, provides that every owner of a motor vehicle operated or driven upon the public highways of the state shall on or before the first day of February of each year file in the office of the County Treasurer of the county wherein such motor ve- OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL 139 hicle is owned or taxable a verified application for registration thereof, and shall upon the filing of said ap- plication pay to said County Treasur- er the registration fee prescribed by Section 1760, Revised Codes 1921, as amended by Chapter 38 of the Extra- ordinary Session, 1933-34. The owner of a motor vehicle who pays the registration fee to the Coun- ty Treasurer of a county other than that in which the motor vehicle is owned or properly subject to general taxes, does so at his own risk. Be- cause he fails to obey the mandate of the law, such payment does not ex- cuse payment to the right county treasurer. (37 C. J. 251; Fremont, E. & M. V. R. Co. v. County of Brown, 26 N. W. 194.) Where taxes are involved, payment thereof must be made to the officer authorized to receive the same or his deputy. Payment to the wrong offi- cer does not protect the taxpayer where such officer misappropriates the money. (61 C. J. 958; 3 Cooley on Taxation, sec. 1224.) There is no distinction in principle between license fees and taxes so far as payment is concerned. Each, when due, must be paid to the proper offi- cer. It is our view, therefore, that the obligation to pay is that of the own- ers of the automobiles in question and not that of Cascade C:ounty.