Section 8655 Of Chapter 2. Imposition Of Tax From California Revenue And Taxation Code >> Division 2. >> Part 3. >> Chapter 2.
8655
. (a) This section shall be known and may be cited as the
Mills-Hayes Act.
(b) No tax shall be imposed upon fuel used by:
(1) Any transit district, transit authority, or city owning and
operating a local transit system itself or through a wholly owned
nonprofit corporation.
(2) Any private entity providing transportation services for the
transportation of people under contract or agreement, except general
franchise agreements, with a public agency authorized to provide
public transportation services, only for fuels consumed while
providing services under such contracts or agreements entered into
subsequent to the effective date of this act.
(3) Any passenger stage corporation subject to the jurisdiction of
the Public Utilities Commission when the motor vehicles of such
passenger stage corporation are exclusively operated in urban or
suburban areas or between cities in close proximity for the
transportation of persons for hire, compensation, or profit;
provided, however, that the exemption is not extended to any line or
lines operated by such passenger stage corporation which shall exceed
50 miles of one-way route mileage.
(4) Any common carrier of passengers operating exclusively on any
line or lines within the limits of a single city between fixed
termini or over a regular route, 98 percent of whose operations, as
measured by total route mileage operated, are exclusively within the
limits of a single city, and who by reason thereof is not a passenger
stage corporation subject to the jurisdiction of the Public
Utilities Commission.
(5) Any school district, community college district, or county
superintendent of schools owning, leasing, or operating buses for the
purpose of transporting pupils to and from school and for other
school or college activities involving pupils, including, but not
limited to, field trips and athletic contests.
(6) Any private entity providing transportation services for the
purposes specified in paragraph (5) under contract or agreement with
a school district, community college district, or county
superintendent of schools, only for fuels consumed while providing
services under those contracts or agreements entered into subsequent
to the effective date of the act adding this paragraph.
(c) Notwithstanding the exemption provided for by subdivision (b),
any system, corporation, or carrier using fuel exempt under the
provisions of subdivision (b) shall, for the privilege of operating
vehicles on state highways and freeways, make a payment equal to one
cent ($0.01) for each gallon of such exempt fuel used. The payments
required by this subdivision shall be paid to the State Board of
Equalization in the manner prescribed by the board, and such payments
shall be treated as a tax for all purposes of this part.
(d) The exemption provided for in subdivision (b) and the payments
provided for in subdivision (c) shall not be applicable to fuel used
by a charter-party carrier of passengers. The term "charter-party
carrier of passengers" has the same meaning as that specified in
Section 5360 of the Public Utilities Code and shall further include
those transportation services described in subdivisions (a) and (e)
of Section 5353 of the Public Utilities Code, if such transportation
service is rendered as contract carriage and not as common carriage
of passengers.
(e) There are in the State of California many local bus transit
operators in need of financial assistance from sources other than the
local property tax. These operators are performing essential public
transit service as a vital counterpart of the streets and highways.
It is the purpose of this section to provide relief from the payment
of use fuel tax for local transit operators and it is the intent of
the Legislature that the funds accruing to such operators shall be
used for the improvement of their transit operations and to aid in
providing better transit service to and from places of employment.
There are also in the State of California many private entities
providing public transportation services for the transportation of
people in vehicles other than buses under contract or agreement with
local government, transit districts or local bus transit operators.
It is the purpose of this section to provide relief from the payment
of use fuel taxes for diesel fuel for those private entities only for
fuel consumed while providing these services.