Opinion
No. 37071
Decided January 17, 1962.
Taxation — Motor vehicle fuel tax — Refund of tax — Fuel not used for propulsion of vehicles on highways — Section 5735.14, Revised Code — Ohio Turnpike a "highway."
APPEAL from the Board of Tax Appeals.
The Sentle Trucking Corporation, appellant herein, is a corporation engaged in business as a common carrier of freight by motor vehicles. It made application to the Department of Taxation for a refund of Ohio taxes paid on motor vehicle fuel consumed by appellant in the operation of motor vehicles over the Ohio Turnpike, contending that the Ohio Turnpike is not a highway within the meaning of Section 5735.14, Revised Code, which provides in part that "any person who uses any motor vehicle fuel, on which the tax imposed by Section 5735.05 of the Revised Code has been paid, for * * * any purpose other than the propulsion of motor vehicles upon highways shall be reimbursed in the amount of the tax so paid on such motor vehicle fuel as provided in this section."
The Tax Commissioner denied the application.
The Board of Tax Appeals, on appeal, affirmed the order of the Tax Commissioner.
An appeal from the decision of the Board of Tax Appeals brings the cause to this court for review.
Messrs. Dargusch, Saxbe Dargusch and Mr. Gerald A. Donahue, for appellant.
Mr. Mark McElroy, attorney general, and Mr. John J. Lokos, for appellee.
The issue presented is whether the Ohio Turnpike is a highway within the meaning of the term, "highways," as used in the above-quoted portion of Section 5735.14, Revised Code.
Section 5735.01, Revised Code, defining terms used in the chapter relative to the motor vehicle fuel tax, provides in part that "`public highways' means lands and lots over which the public, either as user or owner, generally has a right to pass."
Section 5537.01, Revised Code, defining terms used in the Ohio Turnpike Act, provides in part:
"(B) `Project' or `turnpike project' means any express highway, super highway or motor way constructed * * * [under that act].
"* * *
"(F) `Public roads' includes all public highways, roads and streets in the state * * *." (Emphasis added.)
Webster's New International Dictionary (3 Ed.) defines highway as "a road or way on land or water that is open to public use as a matter of right."
In the opinion in State, ex rel. Kauer, Dir., v. Defenbacher, Dir., 153 Ohio St. 268, at page 274, it is stated that "a capital outlay for a turnpike project is a capital outlay for additions and betterments for highway improvement."
Clearly, the Ohio Turnpike is a "highway" within the meaning of Section 5735.14, Revised Code.
The decision of the Board of Tax Appeals is affirmed.
Decision affirmed.
WEYGANDT, C.J., ZIMMERMAN, TAFT, MATTHIAS, BELL, HERBERT and O'NEILL, JJ., concur.