Did Washington’s 1953 extra motor vehicle registration fee cover light trailers?

Plain-English summary

The Washington AG concluded that the ten-cent additional registration fee in a 1953 law did not apply to trailers weighing less than 4,000 pounds. The act assigned particular fees to trucks and heavier trailers, then imposed a catchall fee on other “motor vehicles.” Because the code defined a motor vehicle as a self-propelled unit, the AG said a light trailer fell outside that catchall.

The opinion states: “A trailer is not a self-propelled unit. Consequently the ten cent fee applicable to all other ‘motor vehicles’ does not apply to trailers under four thousand pounds.” (source).

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 1954. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Common questions

Q: Did a light trailer owe the extra ten-cent fee?
A: The AG said no for a trailer under 4,000 pounds under the 1953 act.

Q: Why did the “other motor vehicles” clause not cover trailers?
A: The code defined motor vehicles as self-propelled units, and a trailer did not meet that definition.

Q: Did the opinion eliminate every fee on trailers?
A: No. It addressed only the ten-cent catchall fee in that enactment and noted that heavier trailers had their own specific fee.

Background and statutory framework

The director of licenses asked whether a 1953 registration fee applied to lighter trailers. The AG read the act within the Motor Vehicle Code and applied the definition in RCW 46.04.320.

Source

• Landing page: https://www.atg.wa.gov/ago-opinions/motor-vehicle-fees-special-fee-motor-vehicles-not-applicable-trailers-under-four

Original opinion text

Attorney General Don Eastvold

MOTOR VEHICLE ‑- FEES ‑- SPECIAL FEE ON MOTOR VEHICLES NOT APPLICABLE TO TRAILERS UNDER FOUR THOUSAND POUNDS --LICENSES

The ten cent fee imposed for each motor vehicle not otherwise taxed herein by section 9, chapter 254, Laws of 1953, does not apply to trailers under four thousand pounds.

January 11, 1954

Honorable Della Urquhart
Director of Licenses
Transportation Building
Olympia, Washington Cite as: AGO 53-55 No. 191

Dear Mrs. Urquhart:

We acknowledge receipt of your letter dated January 7, 1954, requesting our opinion "relative to section 9, chapter 254, Laws of 1953, on trailers under four thousand pounds being subject to the special fee of ten cents as set forth in that section."

Our conclusion is that the ten cent fee does not apply to trailers under four thousand pounds.

ANALYSIS

Section 9, chapter 254, Laws of 1953, invokes additional fees upon the registration of motor vehicles and upon trailers over four thousand pounds. Each truck and each trailer is subjected to a specific fee set forth therein. There is no fee prescribed for trailers under four thousand pounds. The final provision of that section provides:

"For each motor vehicle not otherwise taxed herein!tr.10"

[[Orig. Op. Page 2]]

The question is whether or not trailers of less than four thousand pounds are subject to this fee.

This section is an amendment to chapter 269, Laws of 1951, which in turn was enacted to amend and become a part of the Motor Vehicle Code, Title 46 RCW of the Revised Code of Washington. Chapter 46.04 RCW defines all of the terms used in that title, which definitions apply to the 1953 act, and specifically to that portion of the act quoted above. "Motor vehicle" is defined therein as follows: (RCW 46.04.320)

"'Motor vehicle' includes every vehicle which is in itself a self-propelled unit."

Since the fee in section 9 applies only to motor vehicles, it is applicable only to those vehicles which fall within the definition quoted above. A trailer is not a self-propelled unit. Consequently the ten cent fee applicable to all other "motor vehicles" does not apply to trailers under four thousand pounds.

Very truly yours,

DON EASTVOLD
Attorney General

RALPH M. DAVIS
Assistant Attorney General