STATE OF MICHIGAN

FRANK J. KELLEY, ATTORNEY GENERAL

Opinion No. 6178

August 23, 1983

MOTOR VEHICLES:

Registration plate--payment of increase in registration taxes by holders of a vehicle registration plate with amateur radio license call letters

A person who paid the vehicle registration tax on a vehicle registration plate containing the call letters of an amateur radio license of such person expiring March 31, 1983 must pay the increased registration tax on such registration plate as required by 1949 PA 300, Sec. 801, as amended by 1982 PA 439.

Honorable Jack Faxon

State Senator

The Capitol

Lansing, Michigan

You have requested my opinion whether a person who, prior to January 1, 1983, the effective date of the amendatory 1982 PA 439, paid the vehicle registration tax on his or her vehicle registration plate expiring on March 31, 1983, is obligated to pay the increase in the tax imposed by amendatory 1982 PA 439. Your question concerns persons who purchased a vehicle registration plate inscribing the official amateur radio call letters assigned to such persons by the Federal Communications Commission upon payment of a $2.00 fee in addition to the regular registration tax as provided in 1949 PA 300, Sec. 217a; MCLA 257.217a; MSA 9.2217a. This statute expressly provides that the expiration date for registration plates issued thereunder 'shall be March 31.'

Effective January 1, 1983, 1982 PA 439, amended, the Michigan Vehicle Code, 1949 PA 300, Sec. 801; MCLA 257.801; MSA 9.2501, to increase the motor vehicle registration taxes for persons whose registration plate expired on or after March 1, 1983. As so amended by 1982 PA 439, 1949 PA 300, Sec. 801(3) provides:

While a motor vehicle registration plate bearing the call letters assigned by the Federal Communications Commission expires on March 31, pursuant to 1949 PA 300, Sec. 217a(4), supra, and do not expire on the birth date of the owner or on a date assigned by the Secretary of State, nevertheless, the Legislature has in 1949 PA 300, Sec. 801(3), supra, manifested its intent that the increase in the tax on the registration of a motor vehicle contained in amendatory 1982 PA 439 shall apply to registrations expiring on or after March 1, 1983. Meaning and effect must be given to this intent. Dussia v Monroe County Employees Retirement System, 386 Mich 244; 191 NW2d 307 (1970).

It follows that those persons whose registration plate was due to expire on March 31, 1983, are now required to pay the increased registration tax provided for in 1949 PA 300, Sec. 801, as last amended by 1982 PA 439, supra. The fact that persons paid their registration tax based on invoices mailed to them by the Secretary of State prior to the enactment of amendatory 1982 PA 439 does not absolve the Secretary of State from charging such persons for the subsequent legislative increase in the registration tax.

In a letter opinion addressed to Secretary of State Richard Austin dated January 8, 1980, it was concluded that increases in the registration tax required by 1949 PA 300, Sec. 801, as amended by 1978 PA 427, were required to be paid by persons who prepaid the registration tax for a five year period.

It is noted that 1982 PA 439 also amended 1949 PA 300, Sec. 801d; MCLA 257.801d; MSA 9.2501(4), which authorizes the purchase of registration plates for certain vehicles, not in issue here, for a five year period; a new subsection d(3) provides:

It is thus seen that where the Legislature intended that the tax increase provisions not apply to registrations purchased prior to their expiration dates, it made express provision therefor. However, it did not do so for persons acquiring radio operator plates in accordance with 1949 PA 300, Sec. 217a, supra.

It is my opinion, therefore, that a person who paid a vehicle registration tax pursuant to 1949 PA 300, Sec. 217a, supra, prior to the effective date of amendatory 1982 PA 439, for a registration plate inscribed with the official amateur radio call number assigned to that person by appropriate federal authority, shall be charged the difference between the vehicle registration tax paid and the increased tax required by 1949 PA 300, Sec. 801, as last amended by 1982 PA 439, supra.

Frank J. Kelley