MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

1997 Regular Session

To: Local and Private; Environment Prot, Cons and Water Res

By: Senator(s) Furniss

Senate Bill 3230

AN ACT TO AUTHORIZE THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF QUITMAN COUNTY TO ENFORCE THE COLLECTION OF SOLID WASTE DISPOSALS BY TREATING DELINQUENT FEES AS ASSESSMENTS AGAINST THE PROPERTY OF THE RECIPIENT OF DISPOSAL SERVICES AND BY AUTHORIZING THE FILING OF A LIEN AGAINST SUCH PROPERTY; TO AUTHORIZE THE SALE OF SUCH PROPERTY TO SATISFY A LIEN; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.  

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. (1) Any fees or charges imposed by the Board of Supervisors of Quitman County, Mississippi, pursuant to authority granted in Chapter 5, Title 19, Mississippi Code of 1972, for the collection and disposal of solid waste, shall become an assessment against the taxable real property of the person receiving such services. Failure to pay any such fees or charges shall result in a lien against the taxable real property of the person. The lien may be enrolled in the office of the Circuit Clerk of Quitman County as other judgments are enrolled, and the tax collector of the county shall, upon order of the board of supervisors, proceed to sell the property subject to the lien as now provided by law for the sale of lands for delinquent county taxes.

(2) Upon the filing of any lien hereunder the county shall mail a notice of such filing to the person setting forth the procedure for satisfying the lien and other methods of collection which the county may exercise if the fees are not paid.

(3) The lien created by this act shall continue from the date of filing until satisfied, except that no action to enforce it may be brought more than ten (10) years after the date on which service was furnished or more than three (3) years after the date of the person's death. Failure to bring action within such times shall be a complete bar against recovery and shall extinguish the lien. A lien shall be valid only from the time of filing in the office of the circuit clerk. No lien under this act shall be valid unless filed in accordance with this act not more than ninety (90) days after the end of the fiscal year of the county.

(4) Liens created by this act may be discharged as follows:

(a) By filing with the circuit clerk a receipt or acknowledgment, signed by the county, that the lien has been paid or discharged;

(b) By depositing with the clerk money equal to the amount of the claim, which money shall be held for the benefit of the claimant; or

(c) By an entry in the lien docket that the action on the part of the lien claimant to enforce the lien has been dismissed.

(5) The authority granted in this section shall be additional, cumulative and supplemental to any other authority granted to counties by general law for the collection and enforcement of delinquent fees for garbage or rubbish collection or disposal.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage.