Aero Mayflower Transit Co. v. Board of Railroad Commissioners of Montana et al. (332 U.S. 495)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided December 8, 1947 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 332 U.S. 495 · 68 S. Ct. 167
- Decided
- December 8, 1947
- Term
- October Term 1947
- Vote
- 9–0
- Majority author
- Justice Rutledge
- Issue area
- Economic Activity
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Mr. Justice Rutledge delivered the opinion of the Court. Again we are asked to decide whether state taxes as applied to an interstate motor carrier run afoul of the commerce clause, Art. I, § 8, of the Federal Constitution. Two distinct Montana levies are questioned. Both are imposed by that state’s Motor Carriers Act, Rev. Codes Mont. (1935) §§ 3847.1-3847.28. One is a flat tax of $10 for each vehicle operated by a motor carrier over the state’s highways, payable on issuance of a certificate or permit, which must be secured before operations begin, and annually thereafter. § 3847.16 (a). The other is a quarterly fee of one-half of one per cent of the motor carrier’s “gross operating revenue,” but with a minimum annual fee of $15 per vehicle for class C carriers, in which group appellant falls. § 3847.27. Each tax is declared expressly to be laid “in consideration of the use of the highways of this state” and to be “in addition to all other licenses, fees and taxes imposed upon motor vehicles in this state . . . .” Prior to July 1, 1941, the fees collected pursuant to §§ 3847.16 (a) and 3847.27 were paid into the state treasury and credited to “the motor carrier fund.” After that date, by virtue of Mont. Laws, 1941, c. 14, § 2, they were allocated to the state’s general fund. Appellant is a Kentucky corporation, with its principal offices in Indianapolis, Indiana. Its…
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