MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2023 Regular Session
To: Conservation and Water Resources
By: Representative Yancey
AN ACT TO CREATE THE WATER QUALITY ACCOUNTABILITY ACT; TO DEFINE CERTAIN TERMS RELATING TO WATER AND WASTEWATER UTILITIES; TO PROVIDE THAT A WATER OR WASTEWATER UTILITY IS SUBJECT TO THE JURISDICTION OF THE PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION WITH RESPECT TO RATES, CHARGES, CERTAIN EVIDENCE OF INDEBTEDNESS, RULES AND ANNUAL REPORT FILINGS; TO PROVIDE CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS REGARDING WATER OR WASTEWATER UTILITIES THAT REQUEST A LOAN OR FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE; TO PROVIDE CERTAIN PERMIT AND PERMIT APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS; TO BRING FORWARD SECTIONS 19-5-151, 19-5-153, 19-5-155, 19-5-157, 19-5-159, 19-5-161, 19-5-163, 19-5-164, 19-5-165, 19-5-167, 19-5-169, 19-5-171, 19-5-173, 19-5-175, 19-5-177, 19-5-179, 19-5-181, 19-5-183, 19-5-185, 19-5-187, 19-5-189, 19-5-191, 19-5-193, 19-5-195, 19-5-197, 19-5-199, 19-5-201, 19-5-203, 19-5-204, 19-5-205 AND 19-5-207, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH RELATE TO WATER, SEWER, GARBAGE DISPOSAL AND FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICTS, FOR PURPOSES OF POSSIBLE AMENDMENT; TO BRING FORWARD SECTIONS 21-27-11, 21-27-13, 21-27-15, 21-27-17, 21-27-19, 21-27-21, 21-27-23, 21-27-25, 21-27-27, 21-27-29, 21-27-31, 21-27-33, 21-27-35, 21-27-37, 21-27-39, 21-27-41, 21-27-43, 21-27-45, 21-27-47, 21-27-49, 21-27-51, 21-27-53, 21-27-55, 21-27-57, 21-27-59, 21-27-61, 21-27-63, 21-27-65, 21-27-67, 21-27-69, 21-27-71, 21-27-73, 21-27-75 AND 21-27-77, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH RELATE TO MUNICIPALLY-OWNED UTILITIES, FOR PURPOSES OF POSSIBLE AMENDMENT; TO BRING FORWARD SECTIONS 21-27-161, 21-27-163, 21-27-165, 21-27-167, 21-27-169, 21-27-171, 21-27-173, 21-27-175, 21-27-177, 21-27-179, 21-27-181, 21-27-183, 21-27-185, 21-27-187, 21-27-189 AND 21-27-191, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH RELATE TO METROPOLITAN AREA WASTE DISPOSAL, FOR PURPOSES OF POSSIBLE AMENDMENT; TO BRING FORWARD SECTIONS 41-67-1, 41-67-2, 41-67-3, 41-67-4, 41-67-5, 41-67-6, 41-67-7, 41-67-9, 41-67-10, 41-67-11, 41-67-12, 41-67-15, 41-67-19, 41-67-21, 41-67-23, 41-67-25, 41-67-27, 41-67-28, 41-67-29, 41-67-31, 41-67-33, 41-67-37, 41-67-39, 41-67-41 AND 41-67-101, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH RELATE TO THE MISSISSIPPI INDIVIDUAL ON-SITE WASTEWATER DISPOSAL SYSTEM LAW, FOR PURPOSES OF POSSIBLE AMENDMENT; TO BRING FORWARD SECTIONS 49-17-81, 49-17-83, 49-17-85, 49-17-86, 49-17-87 AND 49-17-89, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH RELATE TO THE WATER POLLUTION CONTROL REVOLVING FUND, FOR PURPOSES OF POSSIBLE AMENDMENT; TO BRING FORWARD SECTIONS 51-41-1, 51-41-3, 51-41-5, 51-41-7, 51-41-9, 51-41-11, 51-41-13, 51-41-15, 51-41-17, 51-41-19, 51-41-21, 51-41-23, 51-41-25, 51-41-27, 51-41-29, 51-41-31 AND 51-41-33, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH RELATE TO PUBLIC WATER AUTHORITIES, FOR PURPOSES OF POSSIBLE AMENDMENT; TO BRING FORWARD SECTIONS 77-3-1, 77-3-5 AND 77-3-97, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH RELATE TO THE PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION, FOR PURPOSES OF POSSIBLE AMENDMENT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. As used in this act, the following words have the meanings as defined in this section, unless the context clearly requires otherwise:
(a) "Commission" means Public Service Commission.
(b) "Public utility" has the same meaning as the term "public utility" as defined in Section 77-3-3.
(c) "Water or wastewater utility" means a public utility that provides water service, wastewater service, or both water service and wastewater service to the public.
SECTION 2. (1) A water or wastewater utility that is organized as a legal entity is subject to the jurisdiction of the Public Service Commission with respect to:
(a) Rates and charges;
(b) Stocks, bonds, notes, or other evidence of indebtedness;
(c) Rules; and
(d) The annual report filing requirement;
for the period of ten (10) years beginning on the day on which the water or wastewater utility is organized as a legal entity.
(2) This section shall not apply to:
(a) Any statutes requiring or permitting a water or wastewater utility to petition the commission before providing service to the public; or
(b) The commission's jurisdiction regarding provisions of law and petitions referred to in subsection (2)(a) of this section.
SECTION 3. (1) If a water or wastewater utility requests a loan or other financial assistance from the commission, such request must be accompanied by the following:
(a) All papers and opinions required by the commission.
(b) Unless otherwise provided by the guidelines of the commission, the following:
(i) An approving opinion of a nationally recognized bond counsel.
(ii) A certification and guarantee of signatures.
(iii) A certification that, as of the date of the loan or other financial assistance:
1. No litigation is pending challenging the validity of or entry into the loan or other financial assistance or any security for the loan or other financial assistance; or
2. If litigation is pending, the litigation will not have a material adverse effect on the validity of the loan or other financial assistance or any security for the loan or other financial assistance.
(iv) If litigation is pending, as an alternative to the certification as described in subparagraph (iii), an opinion of legal counsel that the litigation will not have a material adverse effect on the validity of the loan or other financial assistance.
(v) Documentation demonstrating that the water or wastewater utility has the financial, managerial, technical, and legal capability of operating and maintaining its wastewater collection and treatment system.
(2) Each water or wastewater utility to which, or for the benefit of which, a loan would be made or other financial assistance would be provided under this act, must demonstrate that it has developed, or is in the process of developing, an asset management program as set forth by the commission.
SECTION 4. (1) A permit for the operation of a water treatment plant or a wastewater treatment plant that is issued, or
amended for the purposes of the inclusion of a newly constructed or newly acquired plant, or the expansion of an existing plant,
after the effective date of this act is subject to the requirements set forth in Sections 5 through 9 of this act.
(2) This act does not apply to the renewal of a permit for the operation of a water treatment plant or wastewater treatment plant.
SECTION 5. A permit described in Section 4, subsection (1) of this act may not be issued unless the applicant submits, along with the permit application, a certification that all of the following documents have been prepared and are complete under the requirements of this act:
(a) A life cycle cost-benefit analysis, as described in Section 6 of this act.
(b) A capital asset management plan, as described in Section 7 of this act.
(c) A cybersecurity plan, as described in Section 8 of this act.
SECTION 6. A water or wastewater utility's life cycle cost-benefit analysis shall include a comparison of:
(a) Meeting the water supply or wastewater service needs of the community or area served or proposed to be served through the operation of the water and wastewater treatment plant, as owned and operated, or proposed to be owned and operated
according to the terms of the permit application; and
(b) Meeting the water supply or wastewater service needs of the community or area served or proposed to be served through one (1) or more other potential means.
SECTION 7. A water or wastewater utility's capital asset management plan shall include all of the following:
(a) A plan to annually review infrastructure needs of the water or wastewater treatment plant.
(b) A detailed engineering analysis of asset conditions and useful life, to be used to develop an infrastructure inspection, repair and maintenance plan.
(c) An analysis of customer rates necessary to support the capital asset management plan, including emergency repairs.
(d) A certification that the water or wastewater treatment plant that has:
(i) A certified operator;
(ii) A corporate officer or system manager; and
(iii) Access to an engineer, either on staff or by contract.
(e) A detailed map of the geographic location of each major component of the water or wastewater system, including, but not limited to, each valve and fire hydrant in the system, using a global positioning system based on satellite or other location technology.
SECTION 8. A water or wastewater utility's cybersecurity plan shall provide for the protection of the water or wastewater treatment plant from unauthorized use, alteration, or destruction of electronic data.
SECTION 9. (1) The water or wastewater utility's analysis and plans as provided in Sections 6, 7, and 8 of this act shall be:
(a) Complete under the requirements of this act at the time an application for a permit, as described in Section 4, subsection (1) of this act, is submitted;
(b) Reviewed and revised at least once every five (5) years, for as long as the permit holder operates the water treatment plant or wastewater treatment plant; and
(c) Made publicly available.
(2) A certification that the analysis and plans as provided in Sections 6, 7, and 8 of this act are complete under the requirements of this act shall be submitted to the commission:
(a) Under Section 5 of this act at the time an application for a permit described in Section 4, subsection (1) of this act is submitted; and
(b) At least once every five (5) years after an application for a permit described in Section 4, subsection (1) of this act is submitted, when the analysis and plans are reviewed and revised under subsection (1)(b) of this Section 9.
(3) A certification submitted to the commission under this act shall be notarized. Failure to include a notarized certification with an application for a permit as provided in Section 4, subsection (1) of this act constitutes grounds for denial of the permit application.
SECTION 10. Section 19-5-151, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
19-5-151. (1) Any contiguous area situated within any county of the state, and not being situated within the corporate boundaries of any existing municipality, and having no adequate water system, sewer system, garbage and waste collection and disposal system, or fire protection facilities serving such area, may become incorporated as a water district, as a sewer district, as a garbage and waste collection and disposal district, as a fire protection district, as a combined water and sewer district, as a combined water and garbage and waste collection and disposal district, as a combined water and fire protection district, or as a combined water, sewer, garbage and waste collection and disposal and fire protection district, in the manner set forth in the following sections.
(2) If the certificated area of a nonprofit, nonshare corporation chartered under the Mississippi Nonprofit Corporation Act for the purpose of owning and operating rural waterworks lies in one (1) county, the corporation may become incorporated as a water district in the manner set forth in Section 19-5-153(3). If the nonprofit, nonshare corporation's certificated area lies in more than one (1) county, the procedure in Section 19-5-164 shall be used.
SECTION 11. Section 19-5-153, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
19-5-153. (1) A petition for the incorporation of a district may be submitted to the board of supervisors of a county, signed by not less than twenty-five (25) owners of real property residing within the boundaries of the proposed district. The petition shall include: (a) a statement of the necessity for the service or services to be supplied by the proposed district; (b) the proposed corporate name for the district; (c) the proposed boundaries of the district; (d) an estimate of the cost of the acquisition or construction of any facilities to be operated by the district, which estimate, however, shall not serve as a limitation upon the financing of improvements or extensions to the facilities; (e) a statement of whether or not the board of supervisors of the county shall exercise the authority to levy the tax outlined in section 19-5-189, Mississippi Code of 1972; and (f) a statement of whether or not the board of supervisors of the county shall exercise the authority to make assessments as outlined in section 19-5-191, Mississippi Code of 1972. The petition shall be signed in person by the petitioners, with their respective residence addresses. The petition shall be accompanied by a sworn statement of the person or persons circulating the petition, who shall state under oath that the person or persons witnessed the signature of each petitioner, that each signature is the signature of the person it purports to be, and that, to the best of the person's or persons' knowledge, each petitioner was at the time of signing an owner of real property within and a resident of the proposed district. No individual tract of land containing one hundred sixty (160) acres or more shall be included in any such district unless the owner or owners of said tract is a signer under oath of the petition for the incorporation of such district.
(2) The board of supervisors of a county, in its discretion, may initiate the incorporation of a district under Sections 19-5-151 through 19-5-207 by resolution of the board and presentation of a petition signed by at least twenty-five (25) property owners of the area to be incorporated if at least forty (40) property owners reside within the district. However, no individual tract of land containing one hundred sixty (160) acres or more shall be included in any such district unless the owner or owners of the tract gives written consent for the inclusion of the lands in such district.
(3) The board of directors of a nonprofit, nonshare rural waterworks corporation may petition the board of supervisors of a county in which the corporation's certificated area lies to become a water district under Sections 19-5-151 through 19-5-207. The board of directors shall adopt a resolution at a special meeting of the board. The meeting shall be open to any subscriber provided water service by the corporation. The board shall mail a notice of the meeting to each subscriber provided water service. The resolution shall provide that information required of the petition under subsection (1) of this section. The resolution shall be adopted by a three-fifths (3/5) majority vote of the board of directors.
(4) With respect to the incorporation and operation of a fire protection district pursuant to Sections 19-5-151 through 19-5-207, the word "owners" shall include any lessees of real property of a water supply district the term of whose original lease is not less than sixty (60) years and shall also include sublessees if the original lease of which they are subletting is not less than sixty (60) years.
SECTION 12. Section 19-5-155, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
19-5-155. Upon the filing of such petition, or upon the adoption of a resolution declaring the intent of the board of supervisors to incorporate such district, it shall then be the duty of the board of supervisors of such county to fix a time and place for a public hearing upon the question of the public convenience and necessity of the incorporation of the proposed district. The date fixed for such hearing shall be not more than thirty (30) days after the filing of the petition, and the date of the hearing, the place at which it shall be held, the proposed boundaries of said district, and the purpose of the hearing, shall be set forth in a notice to be signed by the clerk of the board of supervisors of such county. Such notice shall be published in a newspaper having general circulation within such proposed district once a week for at least three (3) consecutive weeks prior to the date of such hearing. The first such publication shall be made not less than twenty-one (21) days prior to the date of such hearing and the last such publication shall be made not more than fourteen (14) days prior to the date of such hearing.
If, at such public hearing, the board of supervisors finds (1) that the public convenience and necessity require the creation of the district, and (2) that the creation of the district is economically sound and desirable, the board of supervisors shall adopt a resolution making the aforesaid findings and declaring its intention to create the district on a date to be specified in such resolution. Such resolution shall also designate the name of the proposed district, define its territorial limits which shall be fixed by said board pursuant to such hearing, and state whether or not the board of supervisors shall levy the tax authorized in Section 19-5-189, Mississippi Code of 1972, and whether or not the board of supervisors proposes to assess benefited properties as outlined in Section 19-5-191, Mississippi Code of 1972.
SECTION 13. Section 19-5-157, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
19-5-157. A certified copy of the resolution so adopted shall be published in a newspaper having a general circulation within such proposed district once a week for at least three (3) consecutive weeks prior to the date specified in such resolution as the date upon which such board intends to create such district. The first such publication shall be made not less than twenty-one (21) days prior to the date specified, and the last such publication shall be made not more than fourteen (14) days prior to such date.
If twenty percent (20%) or one hundred fifty (150), whichever is the lesser, of the qualified electors of such proposed district file written petition with such board of supervisors on or before the date specified aforesaid, protesting against the creation of such district, the board of supervisors shall call an election on the question of the creation of such district. Such election shall be held and conducted by the election commissioners of the county as nearly as may be in accordance with the general laws governing elections, and such election commissioners shall determine which of the qualified electors of such county reside within the proposed district, and only such qualified electors as reside within such proposed district shall be entitled to vote in such election. Notice of such election setting forth the time, place or places, and purpose of such election shall be published by the clerk of the board of supervisors, and such notice shall be published for the time and the manner provided in Section 19-5-155 for the publication of the resolution of intention. The ballots to be prepared for and used at said election shall be in substantially the following form:
"FOR CREATION OF ________ DISTRICT ( )
AGAINST CREATION OF ________ DISTRICT ( )"
and voters shall vote by placing a cross mark (x) or check mark (√) opposite their choice.
SECTION 14. Section 19-5-159, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
19-5-159. If no petition requiring an election be filed or if three-fifths (3/5) of those voting in said election provided in Section 19-5-157 vote in favor of the creation of such district, the board of supervisors shall adopt a resolution creating the district as described in the resolution of intention.
SECTION 15. Section 19-5-161, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
19-5-161. All costs incident to the publication of the notices and all other costs incident to the public hearing and election provided in Sections 19-5-153 through 19-5-157 may be paid by the board of supervisors, in its discretion, or shall be borne by the parties filing the petition, detailed in Section 19-5-153. The board of supervisors, in its discretion, may require the execution of a cost bond by the parties filing the petition. Such bond shall be in an amount and with good sureties to guarantee the payment of such costs.
SECTION 16. Section 19-5-163, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
19-5-163. Any party having an interest in the subject matter and aggrieved or prejudiced by the findings and adjudication of the board of supervisors may appeal to the circuit court of the county in the manner provided by law for appeals from orders of the board of supervisors. However, if no such appeal be taken within a period of fifteen (15) days from and after the date of the adoption of the resolution creating any such district, the creation of such district shall be final and conclusive and shall not thereafter be subject to attack in any court.
SECTION 17. Section 19-5-164, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
19-5-164. A district embracing lands in more than one (1) county may be created under the provision of Sections 19-5-151 through 19-5-207 by the following procedure if the portion of such district located in each county includes twenty percent (20%) or more of all of the lands to be embraced in a district:
(1) The portion of a proposed district containing the largest area of land shall be first created into a district by the board of supervisors of the county in which such largest portion is situated, such county to be known as the "incorporating county."
(2) The resolution first creating such district shall include the exact boundaries of the lands situated in the incorporating county and shall include the exact boundaries of the contiguous area in other counties to be included in the district.
(3) The resolution by the incorporating county shall designate the official name of the district and shall delineate the procedure by which appointment of the five (5) commissioners authorized by Section 19-5-167, Mississippi Code of 1972, shall be apportioned among the counties in which portions of such districts are located.
(4) The resolution adopted by the board of supervisors of any county desiring to include contiguous lands into a district initially created as outlined above shall contain exact and identical provisions to those in the resolution by the board of supervisors of the incorporating county.
(5) The board of supervisors of the incorporating county shall, within sixty (60) days after the adoption of a resolution or resolutions by the board of supervisors of adjoining counties to enter lands into the district, enter an order on its minutes acknowledging, affirming and adjudicating the incorporation of the district.
(6) Any contiguous lands in an adjoining county, but not amounting to twenty percent (20%) or more of the total land area included in a district, may be served by a district created under the provisions of Sections 19-5-151 through 19-5-207 if a certificate of convenience and necessity to do so is issued by the Mississippi Public Service Commission. Provided, however, the provisions of Sections 19-5-189 and 19-5-191, Mississippi Code of 1972, shall not be applicable to any lands not a part of a district.
SECTION 18. Section 19-5-165, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
19-5-165. (1) Beginning on the date of the adoption of the resolution creating any district, the district shall be a public corporation in perpetuity under its corporate name and shall, in that name, be a body politic and corporate with power of perpetual succession.
(2) If the creation of the district is initiated in accordance with Section 19-5-153(3), all assets and liabilities of the nonprofit, nonshare corporation shall become the assets and liabilities of the newly organized district without any further meetings, voting, notice to creditors or actions by members of the board beginning on the date of adoption of the resolution of the board of supervisors creating the district.
SECTION 19. Section 19-5-167, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
19-5-167. (1) Except as otherwise provided in this section, the powers of each district shall be vested in and exercised by a board of commissioners consisting of five (5) members to be appointed by the board of supervisors. Upon their initial appointment, one (1) of the commissioners shall be appointed for a term of one (1) year; one (1) for a term of two (2) years; one (1) for a term of three (3) years; one (1) for a term of four (4) years; and one (1) for a term of five (5) years; thereafter, each commissioner shall be appointed and shall hold office for a term of five (5) years. Any vacancy occurring on a board of commissioners shall be filled by the board of supervisors at any regular meeting of the board of supervisors, and the board of supervisors shall have the authority to fill all unexpired terms of any commissioner or commissioners. Notwithstanding the appointive authority herein granted to the board of supervisors, its legal and actual responsibilities, authority and function, subsequent to the creation of any district, shall be specifically limited to the appointive function and responsibilities outlined in Sections 19-5-179, 19-5-189 and 19-5-191, except that with fire protection districts, the board of supervisors shall have authority for dissolving, redefining and reconfiguring of such districts as may be appropriate to ensure the most appropriate and efficient fire protection coverage for the county's citizens. The operation, management, abolition or dissolution of such district, and all other matters in connection therewith, shall be vested solely and only in the board of commissioners to the specific exclusion of the board of supervisors, and the abolition, dissolution or termination of any district shall be accomplished only by unanimous resolution of the board of commissioners, except that with fire protection districts, the board of supervisors shall have authority for the dissolving, redefining and reconfiguring of such districts when determined appropriate. However, if any area within the boundaries of a fire protection district created under Section 19-5-151 et seq., is annexed by a municipality, a reduction of the boundaries of the district to exclude such annexed area may be accomplished by the adoption of a resolution by a majority vote of the board of commissioners of that fire protection district. The county board of supervisors which has a fire protection district created under Section 19-5-151 et seq., may dissolve, redefine and reconfigure such district and, under Section 19-5-215 et seq., may create a fire protection grading district consisting of the same boundaries as the previously existing fire protection district or having amended boundaries as determined appropriate by the board of supervisors. Petition and election requirements of Sections 19-5-217 through 19-5-227 shall not apply where the board of supervisors dissolves a fire protection district and creates a fire protection grading district under this section. Except as otherwise provided herein, such board of supervisors or commissioners shall have no power, jurisdiction or authority to abolish, dissolve or terminate any district while the district has any outstanding indebtedness of any kind or character, unless arrangements are made for the assumption of any outstanding indebtedness by the subsequent district or by the county. If a fire protection district is dissolved in accordance with this subsection, the board of supervisors may continue to levy the same millage as was being levied within the boundaries of the previous fire protection district before its dissolution provided that a fire protection grading district is created, in accordance with Section 19-5-215 et seq.
(2) The board of supervisors of the incorporating county may consolidate such fire protection districts for administrative purposes. The board of supervisors shall conduct a public hearing to determine the public's interest. Following such a hearing, the board may create a consolidated commission consisting of the participating districts for administrative purposes. Such districts then shall dissolve their respective boards of commissioners, transferring all records to the consolidated board of commissioners. A consolidated board of commissioners consisting of not less than five (5) members shall be appointed with equal representation from each participating district. Any commissioners appointed to a consolidated fire protection district commission must comply with eligibility requirements as authorized in Section 19-5-171. In the event that a consolidated fire protection district commission consists of an even number of members, the chairman elected as authorized by Section 19-5-169 shall vote only in the event of a tie. General powers and duties of commissioners and commissions and other related matters as defined in Sections 19-5-151 through 19-5-207 shall apply to the entire area contained in the consolidating fire protection districts as described in the resolutions incorporating the fire protection districts as well as to subsequent annexations.
(3) If the creation of the district is initiated in accordance with Section 19-5-153(3), the powers of the district shall be vested in and exercised by a board of commissioners selected in the following manner:
(a) Upon creation of the district, the board of directors of the former nonprofit, nonshare corporation shall serve as the board of commissioners of the newly created water district for a period not to exceed sixty (60) days. The initial commissioners shall be subject to the requirements of Section 19-5-171, except the requirement for executing a bond. If an initial commissioner fails to meet a requirement of Section 19-5-171 as provided in this section, the board of supervisors shall appoint a member to fill that vacancy on the board of commissioners.
(b) In the resolution creating a district initiated in accordance with Section 19-5-153(3), the board of supervisors shall direct the existing board of directors of the rural water association to create within the district five (5) posts from which commissioners shall be elected. The board of supervisors shall designate the positions to be elected from each post as Post 1, Post 2, Post 3, Post 4 and Post 5. Post 5 shall be an at-large post composed of the entire district. Within sixty (60) days following creation of the district, the board of supervisors shall call an election. Such election shall be held and conducted by the election commissioners in accordance with the general laws governing elections. The election commissioners shall determine which of the qualified electors of the county reside within the district and only those electors shall be entitled to vote in the election. Notice of the election setting forth the time, place or places and the purpose of the election shall be published by the clerk of the board of supervisors in the manner provided in Section 19-5-155.
The initial elected commissioners shall be elected to a term of office expiring on December 31 of the year in which the next succeeding general election for statewide officials is held. After the initial term of office, commissioners shall be elected to four-year terms. Vacancies shall be filled by the procedure set forth in Section 23-15-839.
(4) For any water and sewer district located within the corporate limits of a municipality that was incorporated on or after January 2012, the powers of the district shall be vested in and exercised by a board of commissioners consisting of five (5) members, each to be appointed by the governing authority of such municipality, one (1) member to be appointed from each municipal ward in the city. Each commissioner shall be appointed and shall hold office for a term of five (5) years. Any vacancy occurring on the board of commissioners shall be filled by the governing authority of the municipality at any regular meeting. Appointments to fill vacancies in unexpired terms of office shall be for the remaining unexpired term of office for such position.
SECTION 20. Section 19-5-169, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
19-5-169. The board of commissioners shall organize by electing one of its members as chairman and another as vice-chairman. It shall be the duty of the chairman to preside at all meetings of the board and to act as the chief executive officer of the board and of the district. The vice-chairman shall act in the absence or disability of the chairman. The board also shall elect and fix the compensation of a secretary-treasurer who may or may not be a member of the board. It shall be the duty of the secretary-treasurer to keep all minutes and records of the board and to safely keep all funds of the district. The secretary-treasurer shall be required to execute a bond, payable to the district, in a sum and with such security as shall be fixed and approved by the board of commissioners. The terms of all officers of the board shall be for one year from and after the date of election, and shall run until their respective successors are appointed or elected and qualified.
Each board of commissioners shall adopt an official seal with which to attest the official acts and records of the board and district.
SECTION 21. Section 19-5-171, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
19-5-171. (1) Every resident citizen of the county in which is located any district created under Sections 19-5-151 through 19-5-207, of good reputation, being the owner of land or the conductor of a business situated within the district and being over twenty-five (25) years of age and of sound mind and judgment, shall be eligible to hold the office of commissioner.
(2) Except as provided in Section 19-5-164(3), each person appointed or elected as a commissioner, before entering upon the discharge of the duties of the person's office, shall be required to execute a bond payable to the State of Mississippi in the penal sum of not less than Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000.00) conditioned that the person will faithfully discharge the duties of the office. Each bond shall be approved by the clerk of the board of supervisors and filed with the clerk.
(3) Each commissioner shall take and subscribe to an oath of office prescribed in Section 268, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, before the clerk of the board of supervisors that the person will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of commissioner, which oath shall also be filed with the clerk and preserved with the official bond.
(4) Except as provided in subsection (5), the commissioners so appointed or elected and qualified shall be compensated for their services for each meeting of the board of commissioners attended, either regular or special, at a rate to be fixed by the board of supervisors, not to exceed the rate established in Section 25-3-69 for officers of state boards, commissions and agencies, and shall be reimbursed for all expenses necessarily incurred in the discharge of their official duties in accordance with Section 25-3-41. However, in no one (1) calendar year shall any commissioner be compensated for more than twenty-four (24) meetings.
(5) (a) The commissioners of the Hancock County Water and Sewer District shall be compensated for their services at a rate up to Eighty-four Dollars ($84.00) per day for each meeting of the board of commissioners attended, either regular or special, and shall be reimbursed for all expenses necessarily incurred in the discharge of their official duties in accordance with Section 25-3-41.
(b) The commissioners of the Kiln Utility and Fire District of Hancock County shall be compensated for their services at a rate up to Eighty-four Dollars ($84.00) per day for each meeting of the board of commissioners attended, either regular or special, and shall be reimbursed for all expenses necessarily incurred in the discharge of their official duties in accordance with Section 25-3-41.
(c) The commissioners of the Pearlington Water and Sewer District of Hancock County shall be compensated for their services at a rate up to Eighty-four Dollars ($84.00) per day for each meeting of the board of commissioners attended, either regular or special, and shall be reimbursed for all expenses necessarily incurred in the discharge of their official duties in accordance with Section 25-3-41.
(d) The commissioners of the Diamondhead Water and Sewer District of Hancock County shall be compensated for their services at a rate up to the Eighty-four Dollars ($84.00) per day for each meeting of the board of commissioners attended, either regular or special, and shall be reimbursed for all expenses necessarily incurred in the discharge of their official duties in accordance with Section 25-3-41.
(e) The commissioners of the Hancock County Solid Waste Authority shall be compensated for their services at a rate up to the Eighty-four Dollars ($84.00) per day for each meeting of the board of commissioners attended, either regular or special, and shall be reimbursed for all expenses necessarily incurred in the discharge of their official duties in accordance with Section 25-3-41.
(f) The commissioners of the Standard Dedeaux Water District shall be compensated for their services at a rate up to the Eighty-four Dollars ($84.00) per day for each meeting of the board of commissioners attended, either regular or special, and shall be reimbursed for all expenses necessarily incurred in the discharge of their official duties in accordance with Section 25-3-41.
SECTION 22. Section 19-5-173, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
19-5-173. The board of commissioners shall have the power to make regulations to secure the general health of those residing in the district; to prevent, remove and abate nuisances; to regulate or prohibit the construction of privy-vaults and cesspools, and to regulate or suppress those already constructed; and to compel and regulate the connection of all property with sewers.
SECTION 23. Section 19-5-175, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
19-5-175. Districts created under the provisions of Sections 19-5-151 through 19-5-207 shall have the powers enumerated in the resolution of the board of supervisors creating such districts but shall be limited to the conducting and operating of a water supply system, a sewer system, a garbage and waste collection and disposal system, a fire protection system, a combined water and fire protection system, a combined water and sewer system, a combined water and garbage and waste collection and disposal system, or a combined water, sewer, garbage and waste collection and disposal and fire protection system; and to carry out such purpose or purposes, such districts shall have the power and authority to acquire, construct, reconstruct, improve, better, extend, consolidate, maintain and operate such system or systems, and to contract with any municipality, person, firm or corporation for such services and for a supply and distribution of water, for collection, transportation, treatment and/or disposal of sewage and for services required incident to the operation and maintenance of such systems. As long as any such district continues to furnish any of the services which it was authorized to furnish in and by the resolution by which it was created, it shall be the sole public corporation empowered to furnish such services within such district. However, if the board of commissioners of such district and the board of supervisors unanimously agree, the county may contract directly with any fire protection services provider, in which case the board of supervisors may distribute directly to the fire protection services provider any or all of the funds that otherwise would be distributed to the fire protection district.
Any district created pursuant to the provisions of Sections 19-5-151 through 19-5-207 shall be vested with all the powers necessary and requisite for the accomplishment of the purpose for which such district is created. No enumeration of powers herein shall be construed to impair or limit any general grant of power herein contained nor to limit any such grant to a power or powers of the same class or classes as those enumerated. Such districts are empowered to do all acts necessary, proper or convenient in the exercise of the powers granted under such sections.
SECTION 24. Section 19-5-177, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
19-5-177. (1) Any district created under Sections 19-5-151 through 19-5-207, acting by and through the board of commissioners of such district as its governing authority, shall have the following, among other, powers:
(a) To sue and be sued;
(b) To acquire by purchase, gift, devise and lease or any other mode of acquisition, other than by eminent domain, hold and dispose of real and personal property of every kind within or without the district;
(c) To make and enter into contracts, conveyances, mortgages, deeds of trust, bonds, leases or contracts for financial advisory services;
(d) To incur debts, to borrow money, to issue negotiable bonds, and to provide for the rights of the holders thereof;
(e) To fix, maintain, collect and revise rates and charges for services rendered by or through the facilities of such district, which rates and charges shall not be subject to review or regulation by the Mississippi Public Service Commission except in those instances where a city operating similar services would be subject to regulation and review; however, the district may furnish services, including connection to the facilities of the district, free of charge to the county or any agency or department of the county and to volunteer fire departments located within the service area of the district. The district shall obtain a certificate of convenience and necessity from the Mississippi Public Service Commission for operating of water and/or sewer systems. Notwithstanding the provisions of this paragraph, if the board of supervisors of a county has levied a special tax for a fire protection district as authorized under Section 19-5-189(2) and such district has volunteer firefighters, then the fire protection district shall not fix, maintain or collect rates and charges for services rendered;
(f) To pledge all or any part of its revenues to the payment of its obligations;
(g) To make such covenants in connection with the issuance of bonds or to secure the payment of bonds that a private business corporation can make under the general laws of the state;
(h) To use any right-of-way, public right-of-way, easement, or other similar property or property rights necessary or convenient in connection with the acquisition, improvement, operation or maintenance of the facilities of such district held by the state or any political subdivision thereof; however, the governing body of such political subdivision shall consent to such use;
(i) To enter into agreements with state and federal agencies for loans, grants, grants-in-aid, and other forms of assistance including, but not limited to, participation in the sale and purchase of bonds;
(j) To acquire by purchase any existing works and facilities providing services for which it was created, and any lands, rights, easements, franchises and other property, real and personal necessary to the completion and operation of such system upon such terms and conditions as may be agreed upon, and if necessary as part of the purchase price to assume the payment of outstanding notes, bonds or other obligations upon such system;
(k) To extend its services to areas beyond but within one (1) mile of the boundaries of such district; however, no such extension shall be made to areas already occupied by another corporate agency rendering the same service so long as such corporate agency desires to continue to serve such areas. Areas outside of the district desiring to be served which are beyond the one (1) mile limit must be brought into the district by annexation proceedings;
(l) To be deemed to have the same status as counties and municipalities with respect to payment of sales taxes on purchases made by such districts;
(m) To borrow funds for interim financing subject to receipt of funds as outlined in Section 19-5-181;
(n) To provide group life insurance coverage for all or specified groups of employees of the district and group hospitalization benefits for those employees and their dependents, and to pay the total cost of these benefits. For purposes of this paragraph, the term "employees" does not include any person who is a commissioner of a district created under Sections 19-5-151 through 19-5-207, and such commissioners are not eligible to receive any insurance coverage or benefits made available to district employees under this paragraph.
(2) Any district which is incorporated under Sections 19-5-151 through 19-5-207 to provide sewer services may install or provide for the installation of sewage holding tanks at residential properties within the district, if funding for municipal or community sewers has been awarded to the district. The district shall maintain or provide for the maintenance of the sewage holding tank systems. The district may assess and collect from each resident using a sewage holding tank a fee covering the costs of providing the services authorized under this section. When municipal or community sewers are available and ready for use, residences with sewage holding tanks shall be connected to the sewer system.
SECTION 25. Section 19-5-179, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
19-5-179. The board of supervisors of such county may, upon petition by the board of commissioners of the district, exercise the power of eminent domain on behalf of the district wherever and whenever public necessity and convenience so requires.
SECTION 26. Section 19-5-181, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
19-5-181. (1) Any such district shall have the power to provide funds for the purpose of constructing, acquiring, reconstructing, improving, bettering or extending the facilities of such district or for the purpose of buying, leasing, or otherwise acquiring the assets and facilities of any nonprofit corporation organized pursuant to the provisions of Sections 79-11-101 through 79-11-399, or any other utility district by the issuance of revenue bonds. Such bonds shall be payable solely and only from the revenues of such facilities, and such revenues may be pledged from a portion of the service area of the district to the support of debt service for a specific series or issue of bonds if such apportionment is economically feasible.
(2) Any such district shall have the power to provide funds, in addition to or in conjunction with the funds authorized in subsection (1) above, for water supply or pollution abatement projects by issuing special improvement pollution abatement bonds, special improvement water bonds, or combinations of special improvement water and sewer bonds, if the resolution creating the district authorized the board of supervisors to make assessments against benefited properties as outlined in Section 19-5-191. Such bonds shall be payable solely and only from charges assessed to benefited properties as outlined in said Section 19-5-191.
(3) If the board of supervisors of the county should levy a special tax, as provided in Section 19-5-189, and consent to the pledge of any part thereof, then that part of such tax levy may be pledged in addition to the revenues of such facilities to the payment of such bonds, and upon the pledge thereof such part of said levy so pledged shall not be reduced while such bonds are outstanding and unpaid. If the board of supervisors of the county should provide for special improvement bonds as outlined in Section 19-5-191, the funds received from the charges assessed to the properties being benefited shall be pledged, separately or in conjunction with the revenues and the avails of taxes described above, for payment of such bonds, and such assessments shall not be reduced while such bonds are outstanding and unpaid.
SECTION 27. Section 19-5-183, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
19-5-183. (1) The board of commissioners of any district created pursuant to Sections 19-5-151 through 19-5-207 may issue bonds of such district by resolution spread upon the minutes of such board. Bonds may be issued from time to time without an election being held upon the question of their issuance unless the board of commissioners of the district is presented with a petition for an election upon the question of issuance signed by twenty percent (20%) or one hundred fifty (150), whichever is the lesser, of the qualified electors residing within the district. The resolution authorizing any issue of bonds other than the initial issue shall be published in a manner similar to the publication of the resolution, as outlined in Section 19-5-157. If an election is required, it shall be held in substantial accord with the election outlined in Section 19-5-157. The cost of this election shall be borne by the district.
(2) All bonds shall be lithographed or engraved and printed in two (2) or more colors to prevent counterfeiting. They shall be in denominations of not less than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) nor more than Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00), and may be registered as issued, and shall be numbered in a regular series from one (1) upward. Each such bond shall specify on its face the purpose for which it was issued, the total amount authorized to be issued, the interest on the bond, that it is payable to bearer and that the interest to accrue thereon is evidenced by proper coupons attached thereto.
(3) Such bonds shall contain such covenants and provisions; shall be executed; shall be in such form, format, type, denomination or denominations; shall be payable as to principal and interest, at such place or places; and shall mature at such time or times, all as shall be determined by such board of commissioners and set forth in the resolution pursuant to which such bonds shall be issued. The date of maturity of such bonds shall not exceed forty (40) years from the date of the bond, except that on special improvement pollution abatement bonds, special improvement water bonds, or special improvement water and sewer bonds the date of maturity shall not exceed twenty-five (25) years from their date.
(4) All bonds shall bear interest at such rate or rates not to exceed a greater net interest cost to maturity than that allowed in Section 75-17-103, no bond shall bear more than one (1) rate of interest; each bond shall bear interest from its date to its stated maturity date at the interest rate specified in the bid; all bonds of the same maturity shall bear the same rate of interest. All interest accruing on such bonds so issued shall be payable semiannually, or annually, except that the first interest coupon attached to any such bonds may be for any period not exceeding one (1) year. No interest payment shall be evidenced by more than one (1) coupon and supplemental coupons, cancelled coupons and zero interest coupons will not be permitted; no interest coupon shall vary more than twenty-five percent (25%) in interest rate from any other interest coupon in the same bond issue; and the interest rate on any one (1) interest coupon shall not exceed that allowed in Section 75-17-103.
(5) Such bonds shall be signed by the chairman and secretary-treasurer of the commission with the seal of the commission affixed thereto; however, the coupons may bear only the facsimile signatures of such chairman and secretary-treasurer.
(6) Any provisions of the general laws to the contrary notwithstanding, any bonds and interest coupons issued pursuant to the authority of Sections 19-5-151 through 19-5-207 shall be securities within the meaning of Article 8 of the Uniform Commercial Code, being Sections 75-8-101 et seq., Mississippi Code of 1972.
(7) Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this section, bonds referred to hereinabove may be issued pursuant to the supplemental powers and authorizations conferred by the provisions of the Registered Bond Act, being Sections 31-21-1 through 31-21-7.
SECTION 28. Section 19-5-185, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
19-5-185. The bonds issued under Sections 19-5-151 through 19-5-207 shall be sold upon sealed bids in the manner provided for in Section 31-19-25, Mississippi Code of 1972, in conformity with the provisions of Sections 19-5-151 through 19-5-207; however, bonds may be sold to the United States of America or an agency or instrumentality thereof at private sale.
Each interest rate specified in any bid must be in a multiple of one-tenth of one percent (1/10 of 1%) or in multiples of one-eighth of one percent (1/8 of 1%), and a zero rate of interest cannot be named. Any premium must be paid in bank funds as a part of the purchase price, and bids shall not contemplate the cancellation of any interest coupon or the waiver of interest or other concession by the bidder as a substitute for bank funds.
Any bonds issued under the provisions of Sections 19-5-151 through 19-5-207 may be refunded in like manner as revenue bonds of municipalities shall be refunded.
Any bonds issued under the provisions of Sections 19-5-151 through 19-5-207 shall be submitted to validation under the provisions of Sections 31-13-1 through 31-13-11, inclusive, Mississippi Code of 1972.
SECTION 29. Section 19-5-187, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
19-5-187. There is hereby created a statutory lien to the nature of a mortgage lien upon any system or systems acquired or constructed in accordance with Sections 19-5-151 through 19-5-207, including all extensions and improvements thereof or combinations thereof subsequently made, which lien shall be in favor of the holder or holders of any bonds issued pursuant to said sections, and all such property shall remain subject to such statutory lien until the payment in full of the principal of and interest on said bonds. Any holder of said bonds or any of the coupons representing interest thereon may, either at law or in equity, by suit, action, mandamus or other proceedings, in any court of competent jurisdiction, protect and enforce such statutory lien and compel the performance of all duties required by said sections, including the making and collection of sufficient rates for the service or services, the proper accounting thereof, and the performance of any duties required by covenants with the holders of any bonds issued in accordance herewith.
If any default is made in the payment of the principal of or interest on such bonds, any court having jurisdiction of the action may appoint a receiver to administer said district and said system or systems, with power to charge and collect rates sufficient to provide for the payment of all bonds and obligations outstanding against said system or systems, and for payment of operating expenses, and to apply the income and revenues thereof in conformity with the provisions of Sections 19-5-151 through 19-5-207 and any covenants with bondholders.
SECTION 30. Section 19-5-189, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
19-5-189. (1) (a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (2) of this section for levies for fire protection purposes and subsection (3) of this section for certain districts providing water service, the board of supervisors of the county in which any such district exists may, according to the terms of the resolution, levy a special tax, not to exceed four (4) mills annually, on all of the taxable real property in such district, the avails of which shall be paid over to the board of commissioners of the district to be used either for the operation, support and maintenance of the district or for the retirement of any bonds issued by the district, or for both.
(b) The proceeds derived from two (2) mills of the levy authorized herein shall be included in the ten percent (10%) increase limitation under Section 27-39-321, and the proceeds derived from any additional millage levied under this subsection in excess of two (2) mills shall be excluded from such limitation for the first year of such additional levy and shall be included within such limitation in any year thereafter.
(2) (a) In respect to fire protection purposes, the board of supervisors of the county in which any such district exists on July 1, 1987, may levy a special tax annually, not to exceed the tax levied for such purposes for the 1987 fiscal year on all of the taxable real property in such district, the avails of which shall be paid over to the board of commissioners of the district to be used either for the operation, support and maintenance of the fire protection district or for the retirement of any bonds issued by the district for fire protection purposes, or for both. Any such district for which no taxes have been levied for the 1987 fiscal year may be treated as having been created after July 1, 1987, for the purposes of this subsection.
(b) In respect to fire protection purposes, the board of supervisors of the county in which any such district is created after July 1, 1987, may, according to the terms of the resolution of intent to incorporate the district, levy a special tax not to exceed two (2) mills annually on all of the taxable real property in such district, the avails of which shall be paid over to the board of commissioners of the district to be used either for the operation, support and maintenance of the fire protection district or for the retirement of any bonds issued by the district for fire protection purposes, or for both; however, the board of supervisors may increase the tax levy under this subsection as provided for in paragraph (c) of this subsection.
(c) The tax levy under this subsection may be increased only when the board of supervisors has determined the need for additional revenues. Prior to levying a tax increase under this paragraph, the board of supervisors shall adopt a resolution declaring its intention to levy the tax. The resolution shall describe the amount of the increase in the tax levy and the purposes for which the proceeds of the additional tax will be used. The board of supervisors shall have a copy of the resolution published once a week for three (3) consecutive weeks in at least one (1) newspaper published in the county and having a general circulation therein. If no newspaper is published in the county, then notice shall be given by publishing the resolution for the required time in some newspaper having a general circulation in the county. A copy of the resolution shall also be posted at three (3) public places in the county for a period of at least twenty-one (21) days during the time of its publication in a newspaper. If more than twenty percent (20%) of the qualified electors of the district shall file with the clerk of the board of supervisors, within twenty-one (21) days after adoption of the resolution of intent to increase the tax levy, a petition requesting an election on the question of the increase in tax levy, then and in that event such increase shall not be made unless authorized by a majority of the votes cast at an election to be called and held for that purpose within the district. Notice of such election shall be given, the election shall be held and the result thereof determined, as far as is practicable, in the same manner as other elections are held in the county. If an election results in favor of the increase in the tax levy or if no election is required, the board of supervisors may increase the tax levy. The board of supervisors, in its discretion, may call an election on such question, in which event it shall not be necessary to publish the resolution declaring its intention to have the tax imposed.
(d) Notwithstanding any provisions of this subsection to the contrary, in any county bordering on the Gulf of Mexico and the State of Louisiana, the board of supervisors may levy not to exceed four (4) mills annually on all the taxable real property within any fire protection district, the avails of which shall be paid over to the board of commissioners of the district to be used either for the operation, support and maintenance of the fire protection district or for the retirement of any bonds issued by the district for fire protection purposes, or for both. Prior to levying the tax under this paragraph, the board of supervisors shall adopt a resolution declaring its intention to levy the tax. The resolution shall describe the amount of the tax levy and the purposes for which the proceeds of the tax will be used. The board of supervisors shall have a copy of the resolution published once a week for three (3) consecutive weeks in at least one (1) newspaper published in the county and having a general circulation therein. If no newspaper is published in the county, then notice shall be given by publishing the resolution for the required time in some newspaper having a general circulation in the county. A copy of the resolution shall also be posted at three (3) public places in the county for a period of at least twenty-one (21) days during the time of its publication in a newspaper. If more than twenty percent (20%) of the qualified electors of the district shall file with the clerk of the board of supervisors, within twenty-one (21) days after adoption of the resolution of intent to levy the tax, a petition requesting an election on the question of the levy of such tax, then and in that event such tax levy shall not be made unless authorized by a majority of the votes cast at an election to be called and held for that purpose within the district. Notice of such election shall be given, the election shall be held and the result thereof determined, as far as is practicable, in the same manner as other elections are held in the county. If an election results in favor of the tax levy or if no election is required, the board of supervisors may levy such tax. The board of supervisors, in its discretion, may call an election on such question, in which event it shall not be necessary to publish the resolution declaring its intention to have the tax imposed.
(e) Notwithstanding any provisions of this subsection to the contrary, in any county bordering on the Mississippi River in which legal gaming is conducted and in which U.S. Highway 61 intersects with Highway 4, the board of supervisors may levy a special tax not to exceed five (5) mills annually on all the taxable real and personal property within any fire protection district, except for utilities as defined in Section 77-3-3(d)(i) and (iii), the avails of which shall be paid over to the board of commissioners of the district to be used either for the operation, support and maintenance of the fire protection district or for the retirement of any bonds issued by the district for fire protection purposes, or for both. Before levying the tax under this paragraph, the board of supervisors shall adopt a resolution declaring its intention to levy the tax. The resolution shall describe the amount of the tax levy and the purposes for which the proceeds of the tax will be used. The board of supervisors shall have a copy of the resolution published once a week for three (3) consecutive weeks in at least one (1) newspaper published in the county and having a general circulation therein. If no newspaper is published in the county, then notice shall be given by publishing the resolution for the required time in some newspaper having general circulation in the county. A copy of the resolution shall also be posted at three (3) public places in the county for a period of at least twenty-one (21) days during the time of its publication in a newspaper. If more than twenty percent (20%) of the qualified electors of the district shall file with the clerk of the board of supervisors, within twenty-one (21) days after adoption of the resolution of intent to levy the tax, a petition requesting an election of the questions of the levy of such tax, then and in that event such tax levy shall not be made unless authorized by a majority of the votes cast at an election to be called and held for that purpose within the district. Notice of such election shall be given, the election shall be held and the result thereof determined, as far as is practicable, in the same manner as other elections are held in the county. If an election results in favor of the tax levy or if no election is required, the board of supervisors may levy such tax. The board of supervisors, in its discretion, may call an election on such question, in which event it shall not be necessary to publish the resolution declaring its intention to have the tax imposed.
(f) Any taxes levied under this subsection shall be excluded from the ten percent (10%) increase limitation under Section 27-39-321.
(3) For any district authorized under Section 19-5-151(2), the board of supervisors shall not levy the special tax authorized in this section.
SECTION 31. Section 19-5-191, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
19-5-191. (a) Funds for debt service for special improvement pollution abatement bonds, special improvement water bonds, or special improvement water and sewer bonds issued in lieu of or in conjunction with revenue bonds and/or tax-supported bonds shall be provided by charges upon the properties benefited according to procedures set forth in this section.
(b) So long as any special improvement bond authorized by Sections 19-5-151 through 19-5-207 shall remain outstanding, it shall be the duty of the board of supervisors, at the time annual county tax levies are made, to levy such assessments as are certified to them by the district as being due and payable at a stated time. It shall be the duty of the tax collector of the county in which the district lies to collect such charges and pay the funds collected to the board of commissioners of the district for payment to interest and principal and to the retirement of bonds issued by the district in accord with the maturities schedule pertaining thereto.
(c) One of the following procedures may be utilized in providing funds as authorized by this section:
(1) Funds for debt service may be provided by charges assessed against the property abutting upon the sewer, or abutting upon the railroad and/or utility right-of-way, street, road, highway, easement or alley in which such sewer mains or water mains are installed according to the frontage thereof.
The board of commissioners of the district, after giving notice and hearing protests in the manner prescribed by Sections 21-41-5 and 21-41-7, Mississippi Code of 1972, shall by resolution spread upon its minutes define the services to be offered and the entire area to be benefited by each improvement; each such improvement may be designated as a project, or all such improvements may be designated as one project. However, if forty percent (40%) of the property owners or the owners of more than forty percent (40%) of the front footage of the property involved and actually residing on property owned by them and included within that part of any street, avenue, etc., ordered to be specially improved, or otherwise actually occupying property owned by them and included within that area designated as a project, shall file a protest, then the improvement shall not be made and the assessment shall not be made.
The resolution shall direct that the cost to be assessed against each lot or parcel of land shall be determined by dividing the entire assessable cost of the project by the total number of front feet fronting on the street, easement or other right-of-way in which all of the mains embraced within the project are installed and multiplying the quotient by the total number of front feet in any particular lot or parcel of land fronting on the street, easement or other right-of-way in which sewer mains or water mains are installed. The result thereof shall be delivered by governing authorities of the district to the county board of supervisors as the amount of special tax to be assessed against each lot or piece of ground for the owner's part of the total cost of the improvements.
The resolution, at the discretion of the governing authorities of the district, may provide for the district to pay the assessment against any property abutting a sewer or water improvement, if the property whose assessment is being paid by the district is occupied by a contributor or consumer connected to the sewer or water system who is, or will be, paying service charges at the time the assessment roll maintained by the district is confirmed; provided, however, such payment shall not exceed an amount equal to that assessed against any one hundred twenty-five (125) feet of frontage of abutting property in a project.
The resolution may, at the discretion of the governing authorities of the district, provide for the district to pay the assessment against any property abutting a section of sewer main or water main designated as necessary and essential to the overall operation of such system or systems; provided, however, no service shall be provided to any such abutting property until and unless all such payments made by the district are repaid to the district by the owners of such benefited property.
(2) Funds for debt service may be provided by charges assessed against a lot or block in a recorded subdivision of land or by other appropriately designated parcel or tract of land in accord with the following procedure:
The board of commissioners of the district, after giving notice and hearing protests in the manner prescribed by Sections 21-41-5 and 21-41-7, Mississippi Code of 1972, shall by resolution spread upon its minutes define the services to be offered and the entire area to be benefited by each improvement; each such improvement may be designated as a project, or all such improvements may be designated as one (1) project. However, if forty percent (40%) of the property owners or the owners of more than forty percent (40%) of the front footage of the property involved and actually residing on property owned by them and included within that part of any street, avenue, etc., ordered to be specially improved, or otherwise actually occupying property owned by them and included within that area designated as a project, shall file a protest, then the improvement shall not be made and the assessment shall not be made.
Charges shall be assessed in accord with the provisions of Sections 21-41-9 through 21-41-21, 21-41-25 to 21-41-39, Mississippi Code of 1972.
The resolution providing for assessments under the provisions of subsection (c)(2) of this section, at the discretion of the governing authorities of the district, may provide for the district to pay the assessment against any lot or parcel of ground not exceeding one (1) acre in size, if such property is occupied by a contributor or consumer connected to the sewer or water system who is, or will be, paying service charges at the time the assessment roll maintained by the district is confirmed.
The resolution providing for assessment of benefited properties under this procedure shall provide for appropriate payment to debt service accounts by property owners not included in the original assessment roll but benefited by facilities installed with funds provided by such assessments at, or prior to, the time at which a nonassessed but benefited property is actually served by said facilities.
SECTION 32. Section 19-5-193, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
19-5-193. No holder or holders of any bonds issued pursuant to Sections 19-5-151 through 19-5-207 shall ever have the right to compel the levy of any tax to pay said bonds or the interest thereon except where the board of supervisors of the county has made a levy of a special tax and consented to the pledge thereof, all as is provided in Sections 19-5-181 and 19-5-189.
SECTION 33. Section 19-5-195, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
19-5-195. Except as provided in Section 19-5-177(1)(e), the board of commissioners of the district issuing bonds pursuant to Sections 19-5-151 through 19-5-207 shall prescribe and collect reasonable rates, fees, tolls or charges for the services, facilities and commodities of its system or systems; shall prescribe penalties for the nonpayment thereof; and shall revise such rates, fees, tolls or charges from time to time whenever necessary to insure the economic operation of such system or systems. The rates, fees, tolls or charges prescribed shall be, as nearly as possible, such as will always produce revenue at least sufficient to: (a) provide for all expenses of operation and maintenance of the system or systems, including reserves therefor, (b) pay when due all bonds and interest thereon for the payment of which such revenues are or shall have been pledged, charged or otherwise encumbered, including reserves therefor, and (c) provide funds for reasonable expansions, extensions and improvements of service.
SECTION 34. Section 19-5-197, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
19-5-197. The property and revenue of such district shall be exempt from all state, county and municipal taxation. Bonds issued pursuant to Sections 19-5-151 through 19-5-207 and the income therefrom shall be exempt from all state, county and municipal taxation, except inheritance, transfer and estate taxes, and it may be so stated on the face of said bonds.
SECTION 35. Section 19-5-199, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
19-5-199. All construction contracts by the district where the amount of the contract shall exceed Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00) shall, and construction contracts of less than Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00) may, be made upon at least three (3) weeks' public notice. Such notice shall be published once a week for at least three (3) consecutive weeks in at least one (1) newspaper published in such county or having general circulation therein. The first publication of such notice shall be made not less than twenty-one (21) days prior to the date fixed in such notice for the receipt of bids, and the last publication shall be made not more than seven (7) days prior to such date. The notice shall state the thing to be done and invite sealed proposals, to be filed with the secretary of the district, to do the work. In all such cases, before the notice shall be published, plans and specifications for the work shall be prepared by a registered professional engineer and shall be filed with the secretary of the district and there remain. The board of commissioners of the district shall award the contract to the lowest responsible bidder who will comply with the terms imposed by such commissioners and enter into bond with sufficient sureties to be approved by the commissioners in such penalty as shall be fixed by the commissioners; however, in no case shall such bond be less than the contract price, conditioned for the prompt, proper efficient performance of the contract. Contracts of less than Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00) may be negotiated; however, the board of commissioners shall invite and receive written proposals for the work from at least three (3) contractors regularly engaged in the type of work involved.
SECTION 36. Section 19-5-201, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
19-5-201. Any area adjacent to any district created pursuant to Sections 19-5-151 through 19-5-207 and situated within the same county as the district, and not being situated within the corporate boundaries of any existing municipality, may be annexed to and become a part of such district by the same procedure prescribed in Sections 19-5-153 through 19-5-159 for the original creation of the district. All costs incident to the publication of notice and all other costs incident to the hearings, election and proceedings shall be paid by the district.
The district shall have the exclusive right to provide any of the services for which it was created in the annexed territory; however, if any part of the annexed territory is then being served by another corporate agency with any such service, the district shall, at the option of the other corporate agency, either relinquish its prior right to serve the area occupied by the corporate agency or acquire by purchase the facilities of such corporate agency, together with its franchise rights to serve such area. If the annexation affects only a portion of the corporate agency's facility, the cash consideration for such purchase shall not be less than:
(a) The present-day reproduction cost, new, of the facilities being acquired, less depreciation computed on a straight-line basis; plus
(b) An amount equal to the cost of constructing any necessary facilities to reintegrate the system of the corporate agency outside the annexed area after detaching the portion to be acquired by the district; plus
(c) An annual amount payable each year for a period of ten (10) years equal to the sum of twenty-five percent (25%) of the revenues received from sales to consumers within the annexed area during the last twelve (12) months.
If the option is for the district to purchase, upon notification thereof, the district shall be obligated to buy and pay for, and the corporate agency shall be obligated to convey to the district, all its service facilities and franchise rights in the annexed area, free and clear of all mortgage liens and encumbrances for the aforesaid cash consideration.
If the annexed territory affects all of the properties and facilities of such other corporate agency, then all of such property constituting the entire system or facility of the corporate agency shall be acquired by the district in accordance with such terms and conditions as may be agreed upon, and the district shall have the authority to assume the operation of such entire system or facility and to assume and become liable for the payment of any notes, bonds or other obligations that are outstanding against said system or facility and payable from the revenues therefrom.
If the district is notified to relinquish its prior right to serve the annexed area, the district shall grant the corporate agency a franchise to serve within the annexed territory; however, the corporate agency shall be entitled to serve only such customers or locations within the annexed area as it served on the date that such annexation became effective.
The annexed territory shall become liable for any existing indebtedness of the district and be subject to any taxes levied by the board of supervisors under Section 19-5-189 in payment of the district's indebtedness.
SECTION 37. Section 19-5-203, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
19-5-203. The board of commissioners of any district created pursuant to the provisions of Sections 19-5-151 through 19-5-207 shall have the authority to enter into cooperative agreements with the state or federal government, or both; to obtain financial assistance in the form of loans or grants as may be available from the state or federal government, or both; and to execute and deliver at private sale notes or bonds as evidence of such indebtedness in the form and subject to the terms and conditions as may be imposed by the state or federal government, or both; and to pledge the income and revenues of the district, or the income and revenues from any part of the area embraced in the district, in payment thereof. It is the purpose and intention of this section to authorize districts to do any and all things necessary to secure the financial aid or cooperation of the state or federal government, or both, in the planning, construction, maintenance or operation of project facilities.
SECTION 38. Section 19-5-204, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
19-5-204. When any board of supervisors creates a district within three (3) miles of the corporate boundaries of any existing municipality, the municipality is empowered to require such district to construct and maintain all facilities, whether purchased or constructed, to standards commensurate with those of the adjoining municipality; provided, however, the governing authorities of the municipalities may specifically waive compliance with any or all of such requirements.
SECTION 39. Section 19-5-205, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
19-5-205. Sections 19-5-151 through 19-5-207, without reference to any other statute, shall be deemed to be full and complete authority for the creation of such districts and for the issuance of such bonds. No proceedings shall be required for the creation of such districts or for the issuance of such bonds other than those provided for and required herein. All the necessary powers to be exercised by the board of supervisors of such county and by the board of commissioners of any such district, in order to carry out the provisions of such sections, are hereby conferred.
SECTION 40. Section 19-5-207, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
19-5-207. Within ninety (90) days after the close of each fiscal year, the board of commissioners shall publish in a newspaper of general circulation in the county a sworn statement showing the financial condition of the district, the earnings for the fiscal year just ended, a statement of the water and sewer rates being charged, and a brief statement of the method used in arriving at such rates. Such statement shall also be filed with the board of supervisors creating the district.
SECTION 41. Section 21-27-11, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
21-27-11. Whenever used in Sections 21-27-11 through 21-27-69:
(a) The term "municipality" includes any incorporated city, town or village of the State of Mississippi, whether incorporated under a special charter or under the general laws of the State of Mississippi governing municipalities, and operating under any form of municipal government. However, for the purpose of establishing a motor vehicle transportation system for the transportation of passengers within the boundaries of the governmental unit or units concerned, and within three (3) miles thereof, the word "municipality" is defined to include counties and groups of municipalities and shall allow those governmental units to establish a commission as provided in Section 21-27-13 and exercise the powers granted in Sections 21-27-11 through 21-27-69. Each county or municipality joining together shall be allowed at least one (1) commissioner representing that governing authority. For the purpose of establishing a railroad transportation system for passengers and freight, the term "municipality" includes any county bordering the Mississippi River and in which Highways 49 and 61 intersect, and such county may exercise the powers granted in Sections 21-27-11 through 21-27-69;
(b) The term "system" includes waterworks system, water supply system, sewage system, sewage disposal system, or any combination thereof, including any combined waterworks and sewage system, consisting of an existing waterworks system or water supply system or both, combined with an existing sewage system or sewage disposal system or both, or consisting of an existing waterworks system or water supply system or both, combined with a sewage system or sewage disposal system or both, to be acquired, (as defined herein), or consisting of an existing sewage system or sewage disposal system or both, combined with a waterworks system or water supply system or both, to be acquired, (as defined herein), gas producing system, gas generating system, gas transmission system or gas distribution system, or any one (1) or all thereof, electric generating, transmission, or distribution system, garbage disposal system, rubbish disposal system, and incinerators, and all parts and appurtenances thereof. The term "system" also includes a motor vehicle transportation system for the transportation of passengers within the city limits and within three (3) miles thereof. The term "system" also includes a railroad transportation system of any municipality located within a county bordering the Mississippi River and in which Highways 49 and 61 intersect for the transportation of passengers and freight regardless of the amount of area outside the jurisdictional limits of such municipality for which the system provides service; the railroad transportation system may be located partially outside the boundaries of the county. The term "system" also includes a motor vehicle transportation system for the transportation of passengers of any municipality with a population of more than forty-five thousand (45,000) but less than forty-five thousand one hundred (45,100) according to the 1970 federal decennial census regardless of the amount of area outside the city limits of such municipality for which the system provides service. Wherever in Sections 21-27-11 through 21-27-69 any one or more of the systems authorized under this section are referred to, the same shall include motor vehicle transportation systems. The term "system" also includes any franchise held by the owner thereof and shall also include operations within the capabilities of any component facility within the system which reasonably utilize the public resources;
(c) The term "improvement" includes repair, betterment, enlargement, extension and other improvements to a system;
(d) The term "acquire" includes construct, purchase, gift, exercise of power of eminent domain and other methods by which a municipality may acquire a system;
(e) The term "improve" includes repair, better, enlarge, extend and other methods of improving a system;
(f) The term "ordinance" includes ordinance, resolution or other appropriate legislative enactment of the governing authorities of any municipality.
SECTION 42. Section 21-27-13, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
21-27-13. The governing authorities of any municipality which now owns and operates, or hereafter shall own and operate, any system or systems shall have the power and authority to create a commission to control, manage and operate such systems, or any one or more of them, which said commission shall consist of not less than three (3) nor more than five (5) commissioners, to be elected by the governing authorities of such municipality. In any municipality operating under the council-manager plan of government, such commissioners shall be selected by, and shall be under the control of, the mayor and councilmen of the municipality, and not the city or town manager. Such commissioners shall have the power, authority and duty to manage and control said system or systems and the supply of the facilities and services thereof, both within and without the limits of the municipality. Such commissioners shall be qualified electors of the municipality and shall not hold any other municipal office for honor or profit. Such commissioners shall receive such compensation as may be specified and provided by the governing authorities of said municipality; provided, however, that any commission formed for the purpose of establishing a motor vehicle transportation system for the transportation of passengers within the boundaries of the governmental unit or units concerned, and within three (3) miles thereof, may pay its commissioners from the operating budget of such commission per diem compensation in the amount provided by Section 25-3-69 for each day or fraction of a day engaged in attendance of meetings of the commission or engaged in other official duties of the commission, not to exceed forty-five (45) days in any one (1) year. The governing authorities of the municipality are hereby authorized and empowered to require such commissioners to furnish bonds for the faithful performance of their duties, in the amount as may be deemed proper, and to pay the premiums thereon from the municipal treasury or the available funds of the said system or systems. Where there are three (3) members of such commission, the term of office shall be for a period of three (3) years, and where there are four (4) members the term of office shall be for a period of four (4) years, and where there are five (5) members the term of office shall be for a period of five (5) years. However, in making the first appointment of commissioners, one (1) shall be appointed for a term of one (1) year, one (1) for a term of two (2) years, one (1) for a term of three (3) years and, where necessary, one (1) for a term of four (4) years, and one (1) for a term of five (5) years, so that thereafter the term of office of one (1) commissioner shall expire each year. Where the governing authorities of the municipality do not elect to create a commission as herein provided, then any system or systems owned and operated by the municipality shall be controlled and managed by the governing authorities of the municipality, who shall have all the power and authority conferred upon such commission.
SECTION 43. Section 21-27-15, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
21-27-15. The governing authorities of such municipality shall have the power to remove any member of said commission for inefficiency or incompetency or any other cause, but the governing authority of any municipality which has created a commission under the terms of Section 21-27-13, shall not have authority to abolish the commission, or to diminish its powers, except by a vote of a majority of the qualified electors of such municipality at a special election, duly called and held for that purpose. However, nothing herein shall limit, alter, impair or in any way change the procedure prescribed for the sale or lease of a public utility system under Section 21-27-33.
SECTION 44. Section 21-27-17, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
21-27-17. The commission provided for by Section 21-27-13 is authorized to make such bylaws for the holding and conduct of its meetings and such other regulations as it may deem necessary for the safe, economic and efficient management and protection of the system or systems, and such bylaws and regulations shall have the same validity as an ordinance duly passed by the governing authorities of any municipality.
It is authorized to elect such officers and appoint such employees as may be necessary to operate the system or systems efficiently, and it shall have the entire control and management of such system or systems, together with all property connected or appertaining in any manner to such system or systems. The commission shall have the authority to employ a superintendent or manager of the systems, who shall have actual charge of the management and operation thereof and of the enforcement and execution of all the rules, regulations, programs, plans and decisions made and adopted by the commission in making purchases for materials and supplies to be used in the operation of the systems. In addition to any other purchasing authority granted by law, the commission may purchase electric transmission line materials, electric distribution system substation equipment, transformer equipment, and all other appliances, apparatus, machinery, equipment and appurtenances necessary for the sale of electricity, such as utility vehicles and fencing, from the surplus inventory of the Tennessee Valley Authority or any other similar agency of the federal government and electric power associations. These purchases shall be exempt from the public bid requirements prescribed in Sections 31-7-12 and 31-7-13. However, for all other purchases, the commission shall advertise for competitive bids in the manner and form as is required in accordance with Section 31-7-13. The superintendent or manager shall make and keep full and proper books and records of all purchases and shall submit them to the commission for its approval and ratification before payment thereof is authorized to be made. The commission may authorize the superintendent or manager to immediately refund to a customer of the municipally owned utility his or her deposit for municipal utility services after the superintendent or manager has determined that payment for all services and any other obligations which the customer may have incurred in regard to the municipal utility has been made. It shall have the right to fix the salaries and term of office of all employees and to direct them in the discharge of their duties. It shall have the right to require good and sufficient bonds from all officers and employees in such amounts as it may deem proper. It shall have the right to discharge employees when found inefficient or for other good cause. It shall have the power to make and collect rates for services and facilities, and appropriate funds for the maintenance and improvements of such systems. It is authorized to borrow from the Mississippi Development Bank in order to fund advance purchases of energy for gas producing, generating, transmission or distribution system or its electric generating, transmission or distribution system. It is authorized to insure all property used in the operation of such systems, including buildings, furniture, books and records, against loss by fire and tornado, and to carry sufficient amount of employers liability, steam boiler, plate glass and other miscellaneous casualty insurance, as in the discretion of the commission may be deemed proper, and to pay premiums therefor out of the funds derived from the operation of the systems. It shall report quarterly to the governing authorities of the municipality of all its doings and transactions of every kind whatsoever and shall make a complete statement of the financial condition of the systems at the end of each quarter, and shall annually make a detailed statement covering the entire management and operation of the systems, with any recommendations which it may have for the further development of the systems. At any time, the commission, by order or resolution, may authorize the expansion of activities of any component facility to include processing of materials on a custom basis or the processing and marketing of materials acquired to fully and efficiently utilize existing plant capacity. It shall also provide copies of all such quarterly and annual reports and statements to the Public Service Commission when so directed under Section 77-3-6.
The commission provided for by Section 21-27-13 is also authorized to allow a municipally owned utility to prepay the utility's bills to those electricity suppliers which offer early payment discounts to the municipally owned utility.
SECTION 45. Section 21-27-19, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
21-27-19. The commission shall devote all monies, derived from any source other than the issuance of bonds for purposes authorized by the laws of the State of Mississippi, to or for the payment of all operating expenses, including such items as are normally required of utilities for sales development; to or for the payment of all bonds and interest on outstanding revenue bonds, if any, of such systems; to or for the acquisition and improvement of the system contingencies; to or for the payment of all other obligations incurred in the operation and maintenance of the systems and the furnishing of service; to or for the creation and maintenance of a cash working fund or a surplus fund to be used for replacement, extension of systems, and emergencies. The balance of the revenues of said systems, if any, may be used for any other lawful municipal purpose and may be paid to the governing authorities of the municipality for distribution to the various municipal funds, or may be disbursed for said purpose by the said commission at the direction and request of the governing authorities of such municipality.
SECTION 46. Section 21-27-21, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
21-27-21. The commission shall keep an accurate account and record of power, current, water, or other services furnished to all departments of the municipality.
SECTION 47. Section 21-27-23, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
21-27-23. Any municipality may:
(a) Borrow money and issue revenue bonds therefor solely for the purposes specified in this section and by the procedure provided in Sections 21-27-41 through 21-27-69.
Money may be borrowed and bonds issued by any municipality of the State of Mississippi, as defined in Section 21-27-11, to acquire or improve any waterworks system, water supply system, sewerage system, sewage disposal system, garbage disposal system, rubbish disposal system or incinerators, gas producing system, gas generating system, gas transmission system, or gas distribution system, electric generating, transmission or distribution system, railroad transportation system for passengers and freight, or motor vehicle transportation system, including any combination of any or all of those systems into one (1) system, within or without the corporate limits thereof, for the purpose of supplying the municipality and the persons and corporations, both public and private, whether within or without its corporate limits, with the services and facilities afforded by the system, provided that water, electric energy, or gas afforded by any system or systems may be supplied to such ultimate consumers thereof by sale thereof to the owners or operators of a distribution system for resale to the public. Any municipality which shall borrow money and issue revenue bonds to provide funds with which to acquire a gas transmission system, if necessary in order to reach and obtain a source of supply of gas for the municipality, may extend or construct its gas transmission line into an adjoining state, and may use and expend part of the proceeds of such issue of revenue bonds for the purpose.
(b) To assume all indebtedness for any system or systems which may be acquired under the provisions of this section as all or part of the consideration for the acquisition of such system or systems and to issue its revenue bonds in exchange for the bonds or notes evidencing the indebtedness.
(c) To acquire or improve any system which it is authorized to borrow money and issue revenue bonds under subsection (a) of this section to acquire or improve; and to make contracts in furtherance thereof or in connection therewith.
(d) To own, operate and maintain any such system or combination of any and all of said systems into one (1) system.
(e) To establish, maintain and collect rates for the facilities and services offered by any such system; provided that if there is a combination of systems into one or more systems, the municipality establishing the same shall be and is empowered to establish, maintain and collect rates for any and all of the services or for any combination thereof, and the municipality may discontinue any or all of the services upon any failure to promptly pay the charges fixed for the services. The rates so fixed for services rendered by any system or combination thereof may be charged for all services rendered thereby, regardless of whether the services may have been previously rendered without rates or charges therefor by the previously existing waterworks system, water supply system, sewerage system, sewage disposal system, garbage disposal system, rubbish disposal system or incinerators, gas producing system, gas generating system, gas transmission system, or gas distribution system, electric generating, transmission or distribution system, which shall have been merged into the combined system. Any such municipality may pledge for the payment of any bonds issued to acquire or improve any such combined system, or to refund any bonds previously issued to acquire or improve any such combined system or to acquire or improve any system merged with such combined system, the revenues to be derived from the operation of such combined system, including the charges authorized to be imposed by this section.
A municipality may authorize a municipally owned utility to make early payment of the utility's bills to its electricity suppliers which offer early payment discounts to the municipally owned utility. The municipality may immediately refund to a customer of the municipally owned utility his or her deposit for municipal utility services after the municipal utility has determined that payment for all services and any other obligations which the customer may have incurred in regard to the municipal utility has been made.
If the revenues of any previously existing system being merged into a combined system are subject to a prior lien, the revenues and the expenses of any previously existing system shall be accounted for separately to the extent necessary to satisfy the covenants relating to the prior lien for so long as the indebtedness secured by the revenues shall remain outstanding. Only surplus revenues remaining after the satisfaction of all covenants relating to the outstanding indebtedness may be pledged to the retirement of any indebtedness to be secured by the revenues of a combined system. The existence of the outstanding indebtedness shall not, in and of itself, prevent the combining of systems as herein provided, so long as the prior lien on the revenues of any previously existing system is fully satisfied from the revenues of the previously existing system.
(f) To acquire property, real or personal, which may be necessary to effectuate the powers conferred by this section. The municipality may purchase electric transmission line materials, electric distribution system substation equipment, transformer equipment, and all other appliances, apparatus, machinery, equipment and appurtenances necessary for the sale of electricity, such as utility vehicles and fencing, from the surplus inventory of the Tennessee Valley Authority or any other similar agency of the federal government and electric power associations. These purchases by the municipality shall be exempt from the public bid requirements prescribed in Sections 31-7-12 and 31-7-13. If the power of eminent domain is exercised, it shall be exercised in the manner provided by Sections 11-27-1 through 11-27-51.
(g) To enter into contract with the United States of America or any agency thereof, under the provisions of acts of the Congress of the United States, to aid or encourage public works and the regulations made in pursuance thereof, for the sale of bonds issued in accordance with the provisions of Sections 21-27-41 through 21-27-69 or for the acceptance of a grant to aid such municipality in acquiring or improving any such system; and the contracts may contain terms and conditions as may be agreed upon by and between the municipality and the United States of America or any agency thereof, or any purchaser of the bonds.
(h) To adopt the ordinances and resolutions and to do all things and perform all acts necessary, proper or desirable to effectuate the full intent and purpose of Sections 21-27-11 through 21-27-69, including processing, marketing, custom processing, sale and resale of materials processed through any facility under its jurisdiction.
(i) To borrow from the Mississippi Development Bank in order to fund the advance purchase of energy for its gas producing, generating, transmission or distribution system or its electric generating, transmission or distribution system.
(j) Enter into an interlocal agreement in accordance with Section 21-27-75.
SECTION 48. Section 21-27-25, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
21-27-25. Any municipality which owns or operates any system, shall have the power and authority through its utilities commission to borrow money and issue its negotiable notes or certificates of indebtedness therefor, in an amount not to exceed ten percent (10%) of the gross revenues of the system in the last preceding fiscal year, in any calendar year, for the purpose of improving, repairing or extending any such system, or of stockpiling fuel for any such system, or systems, without the necessity of calling and holding an election upon such question or otherwise obtaining the consent of the qualified electors of the municipality, or giving any notice thereof. However, the utilities commission shall secure approval of the governing authorities of the municipality. In all cases where money is borrowed under the provisions of this section, the same shall be repaid within three (3) years and at no time shall the amount of money borrowed under this section exceed thirty percent (30%) of the gross revenues of the system for the last preceding fiscal year.
SECTION 49. Section 21-27-27, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
21-27-27. No free service shall be furnished by any such system, or combined system, to any private person, firm, corporation, or association. The municipality may, however, furnish such service, free of charge, to the municipality or any agency or department thereof, to any public school, or to any hospital or benevolent institution located within such municipality, including county, city, and community fairs.
SECTION 50. Section 21-27-29, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
21-27-29. Rates charged for services furnished by any system or combined system purchased, constructed, improved, enlarged, extended or repaired under the provisions of Sections 21-27-11 to 21-27-69 shall not be subject to supervision or regulation by any state bureau, board, commission, or other like instrumentality or agency thereof. It shall not be necessary for any municipality operating under the provisions of said sections to obtain any franchise or other permit from any state bureau, board, commission or other instrumentality thereof, in order to construct, improve, enlarge, extend or repair any system or combined system. However, billing and service disputes between the system and its customers shall be subject to review and arbitration by the Public Service Commission as provided under Section 77-3-6.
SECTION 51. Section 21-27-31, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
21-27-31. Any municipality issuing revenue bonds pursuant to the authority granted in Section 21-27-23 shall install and maintain proper books of record and account (separate entirely from other records and accounts of such municipality), in which correct entries shall be made of all dealings or transactions of or in relation to the properties, business and affairs of the system or combined system. The governing authorities of such municipality, not later than three months after the close of any calendar, operating or fiscal year, shall cause to be prepared a balance sheet and an income and operating and surplus account showing, respectively, in reasonable detail, the financial condition of the system or combined system at the close of such preceding calendar, operating or fiscal year, and the financial operations thereof during such year. Said balance sheet and the income and operating and surplus account shall at all times during the usual business hours be open to examination and inspection by any taxpayer, user of the services furnished by the system, or any holder of bonds issued pursuant to the authority granted in Section 21-27-23, or any one acting for or on behalf of such taxpayer, user of the services of the system, or bondholder.
SECTION 52. Section 21-27-33, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
21-27-33. All municipalities of the state are hereby empowered and authorized, if they so desire, to sell, lease, or otherwise dispose of any or all electric, water, gas or other municipally-owned public utility systems or properties on such terms and conditions, and with such safeguards as will best promote and protect the public interest. Said municipal corporations are empowered and authorized to transfer title to said public utility properties by warranty deed, bill of sale, contract, or lease, in the manner provided by law. However, notice of intention to make such sale, lease, or disposition of any such system, setting out the price and other general terms and conditions of such proposed sale, lease, or disposition shall be given by publication, once a week for three consecutive weeks in a legal newspaper published in such municipality, and if no such newspaper be published in said municipality, then in some newspaper having a general circulation in such municipality. After ten days from the last publication of such notice, the system may be disposed of, unless within ten days after the last publication of such notice a petition signed by not less than twenty per centum of the qualified voters of such municipality be filed, objecting to and protesting against such sale, lease, or disposition, in which event the same shall not be made unless submitted to a special election ordered for the purpose of determining whether a majority of those voting in such election shall vote for or against such sale, lease, or other disposition. Such election shall be ordered to be held not less than forty days after the date of the last notice of the proposed sale, lease or disposition. Notice of such election, stating the purpose of election, shall be published once each week for three consecutive weeks next preceding the time set for holding said election in such newspaper as herein provided. The laws governing special municipal elections shall govern the ordering and conduct of said election.
The ballots provided shall have plainly written or printed thereon the words "shall the waterworks, electric, or gas (as the case may be) system be sold, leased, or disposed of (as the case may be)" and below said words shall be suitably placed on separate lines, the words "yes" and "no," so that the voter may indicate the way he desires to vote on the question submitted.
If a majority of those voting in said election shall vote in favor of such sale, lease, or disposition, then the proper officer of the municipality may proceed to sell, lease or dispose of such system in accordance with the terms and conditions set out in the notice of proposed intention to sell, lease or dispose of such system, as herein provided. If such election is determined against such sale, lease or disposition of such system, then such system shall not be sold, leased or disposed of, but shall remain the property of the municipality.
SECTION 53. Section 21-27-35, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
21-27-35. The governing authorities of any municipality which have sold or which may hereafter sell any utility system owned by such municipality, may use the proceeds of the sale of such system, or any part thereof, for the purpose of retiring and paying off any of the public debt of the municipality, and they may purchase the outstanding bonds or other obligations of the said municipality at such price, whether above or below par, as they may consider fair and reasonable. The said governing authorities may, in their discretion, invest the said funds, or any part thereof, derived from the sale of the said system or systems in any of the securities now eligible for purchase by public sinking funds of municipalities, at such price, whether above or below par, as they may determine to be fair and reasonable.
SECTION 54. Section 21-27-37, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
21-27-37. The governing authorities of every municipality shall have power to inspect or cause to be inspected the machinery, appliances and premises of all persons, copartnerships or corporations owning or operating any system within their corporate limits, in order to ascertain whether or not the said machinery, appliances and premises are kept in a sanitary condition and in condition to comply with the terms and requirements of the franchise or franchises under which the said system or systems are operated.
If any person, copartnership or corporation, or any employee thereof, shall refuse to permit the municipal governing authorities to make such inspection immediately when requested so to do, they shall, for each such refusal, forfeit the sum of one thousand dollars, to be recovered in an action in the name of said municipality.
SECTION 55. Section 21-27-39, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
21-27-39. All municipalities owning or operating any system or systems may supply consumers residing outside of and within five (5) miles of the corporate limits of the municipality. In any county traversed by two (2) or more natural gas transmission lines and having therein two (2) or more natural gas compressor stations engaged in rendering service in interstate commerce, and wherein a natural gas transmission line of a municipality can be laid wholly in alluvial soil, where it is necessary for any municipality having a population of less than one thousand (1,000), according to the federal census of 1950, to construct a gas transmission line for a distance of more than five (5) miles but not more than eleven (11) miles from its corporate limits to the nearest point at which an adequate supply of natural gas can be obtained, and where there are not less than two hundred (200) prospective gas customers residing outside the corporate limits of such municipality but along and within one-half (1/2) mile of the gas transmission line so constructed by the municipality, then and in that event, the municipality may supply natural gas to such customers. Any municipality having its own natural gas transmission system in any county bordering the State of Alabama, in which U.S. Highway No. 78 and State Highway No. 25 intersect, and in which there is a publicly supported junior college, may extend its transmission lines and supply customers within the county for a distance of fifteen (15) miles from the corporate limits. Any municipality having a population of less than one thousand (1,000) people, according to the federal census of 1960, and being located in the county in which U.S. Highway 51 and U.S. Highway 82 intersect, and in the county where the main line of Illinois Central Railroad and Columbus and Greenville Railroad intersect, may construct a gas transmission line and supply customers within a four-county area for a distance of forty-five (45) miles from the corporate limits of the municipality. Any municipality having its own water distribution system, the construction or expansion of which has been financed in whole or in part by an agency of the United States government, and having a population of less than five hundred (500) persons, and located in a county in which Mississippi State Highways Number 12 and Number 429 intersect, may construct, expand and operate its water distribution system within the county or adjoining counties for a distance of fifteen (15) miles from the corporate limits. Any municipality having its own water distribution system, the construction or expansion of which has been financed in whole or in part by an agency of the United States government, and having a population of less than fifteen hundred (1500) persons, and located in a county in which Highway 15 and Highway 32 intersect and has a national forest, may construct, expand and operate its water distribution system within the county or adjoining counties for a distance of fifteen (15) miles from the corporate limits.
Any municipality having its own water distribution system and located in a county having two (2) judicial districts, and in which Mississippi Highways 17 and 35 intersect, may construct, expand and operate its water distribution system within the county or adjoining counties for a distance of fifteen (15) miles from the corporate limits. Any municipality having its own water distribution system, wherein U.S. Highway 51 and Mississippi Highway 35 intersect, and located in a county in which U.S. Highway 82 and Mississippi Highway 17 intersect, may construct, expand and operate its water distribution system within the county or adjoining counties for a distance of fifteen (15) miles from the corporate limits. Whenever such service shall be furnished to any consumer residing outside the corporate limits thereof, such consumer may not be charged at a rate greater than twice the rate charged for such services within the municipality.
Any municipality located within a county bordering the Mississippi River and in which Highways 49 and 61 intersect may acquire, construct, expand and operate its railroad transportation system for the transportation of passengers and freight for more than five (5) miles outside its corporate limits and outside the boundaries of the county in which it is located. Any municipality having a population of more than forty-five thousand (45,000) but less than forty-five thousand one hundred (45,100) according to the 1970 federal decennial census, may expand its motor vehicle transportation system for the transportation of passengers for more than five (5) miles outside its corporate limits.
Any municipality having a population of less than five hundred (500) according to the 1980 federal decennial census, being located north of U.S. Highway 82 in a county in which is located a United States Air Force base and a state-supported institution of higher learning established primarily for women, which criteria the Legislature finds to be conducive to the expansion of natural gas service to support contiguous areas of such Air Force base, may construct, own and/or operate a public utility or natural gas system and supply customers within the county for a distance of eleven (11) miles from the corporate limits.
SECTION 56. Section 21-27-41, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
21-27-41. Whenever the governing authorities of any municipality shall determine to issue bonds pursuant to the authority granted in Section 21-27-23 to acquire or improve a system, it shall cause an estimate to be made of the cost of such system or improvement, and the fact that such estimate has been made shall appear in the ordinance authorizing the issuance of such bonds, which ordinance shall set forth a brief description in general terms of the contemplated system or improvement, the estimated life thereof, the said estimated cost thereof, the amount, date, denominations, rate of interest, times and places of payment and other details in connection with the issuance of the bonds, and such covenants and restrictions as may be necessary or desirable to safeguard the interests of the holders of the bonds.
SECTION 57. Section 21-27-43, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
21-27-43. Except as hereinafter provided, no bonds shall be issued pursuant to the authority granted in Section 21-27-23 until and unless a majority of those qualified electors of the municipality, voting on a proposition stating in general terms the maximum amount and purposes of the bonds, have approved the issuance at a special election called thereon according to law.
However, the requirement for an election to be held before the issuance of the bonds shall not apply to the issuance of the revenue bonds for the purpose of improving, repairing or extending any waterworks system, water supply system, sewage system, sewage disposal system (or the addition of a sewage disposal system to a sewage system), gas producing system, gas generating, transmission, or distribution system, electric generating, transmission, or distribution system, garbage disposal system, rubbish disposal or incinerator system, or motor vehicle transportation system, which is now, or hereafter, owned or operated by any municipality, or railroad transportation system owned or operated by any municipality located in a county bordering the Mississippi River and in which Highways 49 and 61 intersect. The revenue bonds may be issued for such purposes in the following manner: notice of intention to issue the revenue bonds, setting out the amount and other terms or conditions of the proposed issue, shall be given by publication once a week for three (3) consecutive weeks in a local newspaper published in the municipality, and if a newspaper is not published in the municipality, then in some newspaper having a general circulation in the municipality. After ten (10) days from the last publication of the notice, the bonds may be sold under the regular procedure for selling the bonds unless, within ten (10) days after the last publication of the notice, a petition signed by not less than twenty percent (20%) of the qualified voters of such municipality be filed objecting to and protesting against such revenue bond issue, in which event the same shall not be made unless submitted to a special election ordered for the purpose of determining whether or not a majority of those voting in the election shall vote for or against the revenue bond issue. The election shall be ordered to be held not later than forty (40) days after the date of the last notice of the proposed revenue bond issue. Notice of the election, stating the purpose of the election, shall be published once each week for three (3) consecutive weeks next preceding the time set for holding the election in the newspaper, provided in this section. The laws governing municipal elections shall govern the order and conduct of the election. However, nothing in this section shall prevent the governing authorities from calling an election, whether required by petition of twenty percent (20%) of the qualified voters or not. This section shall not have application to and it shall not affect the authority granted public utilities commissions under Section 21-27-25.
SECTION 58. Section 21-27-45, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
21-27-45. Such bonds as may be issued pursuant to the authority granted in Section 21-27-23 may be serial or term; redeemable, with or without premium, or nonredeemable; registered or coupon bonds with registration privileges as to either principal and interest, principal only or both. They shall bear interest at a rate to be determined pursuant to the sale of the bonds, and shall be payable at such time or times as shall be prescribed in the ordinance authorizing them. They shall mature at such time or times, not exceeding the said estimated life of the contemplated system or improvement, and in no event longer than thirty (30) years from their date, and at such place or places as shall be prescribed in the ordinance authorizing their issuance. Any provisions of the general laws to the contrary notwithstanding, any bonds and interest coupons issued pursuant to the authority granted in Section 2l-27-23 shall possess all the qualities of negotiable instruments. The bonds and the interest coupons shall be executed in such manner and shall be substantially in the form prescribed in the authorizing ordinance. In case any of the officers whose signatures or countersignatures appear on the bonds or interest coupons shall cease to be such officers before delivery of such bonds, such signatures or countersignatures shall nevertheless be valid and sufficient for all purposes the same as if they had remained in office until such delivery. No bond shall bear more than one (l) rate of interest. Each bond shall bear interest from its date to its stated maturity date at the interest rate specified in the bid. All bonds of the same maturity shall bear the same rate of interest from date to maturity. All interest accruing on such bonds so issued shall be payable semiannually or annually, except that the first interest coupon attached to any such bond may be for any period not exceeding one (l) year.
No interest payment shall be evidenced by more than one (l) coupon and neither cancelled nor supplemental coupons shall be permitted. The lowest interest rate specified for any bonds issued shall not be less than seventy percent (70%) of the highest interest rate specified for the same bond issue. Such bonds shall be sold in such manner and upon such terms as the governing authorities of the municipality shall determine, provided that such bonds shall not bear a greater overall maximum interest rate to maturity than that allowed in Section 75-17-103, Mississippi Code of 1972, and the interest rate on any one (1) interest maturity shall not exceed the maximum interest rate allowed on such bonds. Each interest rate specified in any bid must be in multiples of one-eighth of one percent (1/8 of 1%) or in multiples of one-tenth of one percent (1/10 of 1%). If serial bonds, such bonds shall mature annually, and the first maturity date thereof shall not be more than five (5) years from the date of such bonds. Such bonds shall be legal investments for trustees and other fiduciaries, and for savings banks, trust companies and insurance companies organized under the laws of the State of Mississippi. The bonds and interest coupons shall be exempt from all state, county, municipal and other taxation under the laws of the State of Mississippi. The principal of and interest upon such bonds shall be payable solely from the revenues derived from the operation of the system acquired or improved with proceeds of the sale of such bonds. No bond issued pursuant to the authority granted in Section 21-27-23 shall constitute an indebtedness of a municipality within the meaning of any statutory or charter restriction, limitation or provision. It shall be plainly stated on the face of each such bond in substance that the same has been issued pursuant to the authority granted in Section 21-27-23 and that the taxing power of the municipality issuing the same is not pledged to the payment of such bond or interest thereon, and that such bond and the interest thereon are payable solely from the revenues of the system to acquire or improve which such bond is issued.
Such bonds shall be sold on sealed bids at public sale in the manner provided by Section 31-19-25. In the event the issuing municipality shall have received a commitment from any agency of the United States of America for the purchase of all or any portion of an issue of such bonds prior to the sale thereof or for financial assistance in providing debt service on such bonds, then, and in such event, said issue or any part thereof may be sold to the United States of America or any agency thereof at private sale. Provided, however, no bonds issued under the authority of Section 21-27-23 shall bear an overall maximum interest rate greater than that allowed in Section 75-17-103, Mississippi Code of 1972.
It is specifically provided that any bond issue to be awarded and sold to the United States of America or any agency thereof shall mature at such time or times, not to exceed thirty-five (35) years, as shall be prescribed in the ordinance of the municipality authorizing their issuance.
It is specifically provided that any bond issue to be awarded and sold to the United States of America or any agency thereof may be issued as one or more amortized bonds without coupons, may be dated the date of delivery thereof, and the purchase price for such bond or bonds may be delivered in multiple advances, with interest to accrue on the principal advanced from the date of each such advance. The amount of each such advance and the date thereof shall be registered on the reverse of each such bond and attested by the manual signature of the clerk of the municipality.
On issues of Five Million Dollars ($5,000,000.00) or more, the governing authorities of a municipality may retain the services of a fiscal advisor to assist in the sale of bonds hereunder and pay to such fiscal advisor a fee not to exceed the following amount: Twenty-five Thousand Dollars ($25,000.00) plus one-quarter of one percent (1/4 of 1%) of the amount of the issue in excess of Five Million Dollars ($5,000,000.00). No such fiscal advisor shall be eligible to bid for or participate in the underwriting of the bonds for which he acted as advisor.
Before a person can qualify as a fiscal advisor under the terms of this section, he shall have been actively engaged in the business of fiscal counseling for municipalities, or the underwriting of municipal bonds, for a period of five (5) years prior to qualifying under this section. A partnership or corporation may become a fiscal advisor hereunder with the same qualifications. Such person, corporation, or partnership shall have had prior experience as a fiscal advisor or been involved in the underwriting or investing in bonds of the State of Mississippi, or one or more of the subdivisions thereof, and such person, partnership or corporation shall be recognized in the fiscal community as a reputable and qualified fiscal advisor.
SECTION 59. Section 21-27-47, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
21-27-47. Any municipality having outstanding bonds issued pursuant to the authority granted in Section 21-27-23 shall maintain rates for all the services and facilities afforded by any system, the revenues of which are pledged to the payment of such bonds, which rates shall be sufficient at all times to maintain an interest and bond redemption fund sufficient to pay the interest on and principal of such bonds as and when the same become due and payable and, if so provided in the ordinance authorizing such bonds, to accumulate a reserve in such fund, and to provide for the payment of such cost of operation and maintenance as may be necessary to keep such system at all times in good repair and working order. Such rates shall be fixed by separate ordinance precedent to or at the time of the issuance of such bonds and shall be revised from time to time so as to produce the amounts necessary to provide for the foregoing. Bonds issued pursuant to the authority granted in Section 21-27-23 to acquire or improve a system shall be secured by a pledge of an amount of the gross revenues of such system sufficient to maintain such an interest and bond redemption fund. However, if there are then outstanding bonds to the payment of which the revenues of a system have been previously pledged, then, until said outstanding bonds have been retired, bonds issued to improve such system shall be secured by a pledge of the revenues of the system in such an amount only after deductions have been made for servicing the said outstanding bonds and for maintaining and operating the system. Notwithstanding the above provisions, all revenue bonds issued for a specific utility may be issued on an equivalent basis, provided that each and every ordinance authorizing each and every bond issued shall clearly state the basis on which future revenue bond issues shall be provided for in order to place them on an equivalent basis with prior issues.
SECTION 60. Section 21-27-49, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
21-27-49. Whenever any municipality shall issue any bonds or other evidence of indebtedness which are payable solely from revenues to be derived from any system, the governing authorities of such municipality may, by appropriate provision in the ordinance or resolution authorizing the issuance of such bonds, or by separate resolution or ordinance passed at or prior to the actual sale of such bonds, bind and obligate such municipality to take, for a period not exceeding the full term of such bonds, at least a stated minimum of the services to be afforded by such system and to pay, out of its corporate funds, a least a stated minimum price therefor. Such provision, resolution or ordinance shall constitute a contract between such municipality and all the holders of such bonds.
All such agreements heretofore entered into by any such municipality, whether such bonds have actually been delivered and paid for or not, are hereby ratified, approved and validated.
SECTION 61. Section 21-27-51, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
21-27-51. Any municipality which shall have issued bonds pursuant to the authority granted in Section 21-27-23, all or any portion of which shall at any time hereafter remain outstanding and unpaid, is hereby authorized, in connection with the issuance of additional bonds hereunder, to issue refunding bonds for the purpose of taking up, paying and redeeming all such outstanding and unpaid bonds. Such refunding bonds and such additional bonds may be authorized and issued separately or may be consolidated into one issue. Such outstanding and unpaid bonds may be refunded without notice and without an election thereon, and such additional bonds may be refunded without notice and without an election except as provided in Section 21-27-43. The proceeds of any such consolidated bonds shall be used to take up, pay and redeem all of such outstanding and unpaid bonds, at their redemption price, and the balance of such proceeds shall be used and expended for the purposes for which the additional bonds were authorized to be issued. In the event any such outstanding bonds, by the terms thereof, shall be redeemable prior to maturity at the option of such municipality, then such option of redemption shall be exercised in the manner provided in such bonds, and the refunding bonds shall not be issued or delivered more than two calendar months in advance of the date upon which such outstanding bonds shall have been called for redemption. In the event that such outstanding bonds, by the terms thereof, be not so redeemable prior to maturity, then the refunding bonds shall not be issued, except concurrently with the surrender and cancellation of a like amount of the bonds to be refunded thereby. All bonds issued under the provisions of this section shall have like incidents and shall be payable from the same source or sources and the payment thereof shall be secured in like manner as are bonds issued pursuant to the authority granted in Section 21-27-23. In lieu of selling such portion of such consolidated bonds, as may be required to provide for the redemption of such outstanding bonds, such consolidated bonds may be issued and delivered in exchange for and upon surrender and cancellation of a like amount of the bonds to be refunded thereby.
SECTION 62. Section 21-27-53, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
21-27-53. The holder of any bond or any interest coupon issued pursuant to the authority granted in Sections 21-27-23 and 21-27-51 may, by suit, action, mandamus or other proceedings at law or in equity, enforce and compel performance by the appropriate official or officials of the municipality of any or all acts and duties to be performed by such municipality under the provisions of Sections 21-27-11 through 21-27-69 and the ordinance authorizing the issuance of such bond or interest coupon. If there be any default in the payment of the interest on and principal of any of said bonds, any court having jurisdiction in the proper action may, upon petition of the holder of any of such bonds, appoint a receiver to administer and operate the system with power to fix rates and collect charges sufficient to provide for the payment of all bonds outstanding to the payment of which the revenues of such system are pledged and to pay the expenses of operating and maintaining such system and to apply the revenues of such system, all in conformity with the provisions of Sections 21-27-11 through 21-27-69 and of the ordinance authorizing the issuance of such bonds.
SECTION 63. Section 21-27-55, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
21-27-55. The governing authorities of any municipality authorizing revenue bonds pursuant to the authority granted in Sections 21-27-23 and 21-27-51, may make provisions for any of such revenue bonds to be called for payment at any interest payment date before maturity, provided the municipality shall have on hand in its bond and interest fund sufficient moneys, not otherwise appropriated or pledged, in excess of the interest and principal requirements within the next two succeeding calendar, operating or fiscal years.
SECTION 64. Section 21-27-57, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
21-27-57. In the authorizing order or ordinance, the governing authorities of the municipality shall set aside monthly and shall pledge the revenues of the system or combined system, in separate and special funds as follows: (1) operation and maintenance fund; (2) depreciation fund; (3) bond and interest fund; (4) contingent fund. A sufficient amount shall be set aside each year for the retirement of the bonds and interest. Any surplus revenue remaining shall be disposed of by the governing authorities of the municipality as they may determine from time to time for the best interest of the municipality. However, in the segregation into the several funds the governing authorities may prescribe a reasonable excess amount to be placed in the revenue bond and interest fund from time to time during the earlier years of maturity of such bonds so as to thereby provide and produce a cushion fund to meet any possible deficiencies therein in future years. In the event such excess amounts are provided in the earlier years, the same would be available for such purposes. Bonds pursuant to the authority granted in Sections 21-27-23 and 21-27-51, shall be payable solely from revenues of said project and out of the bond and interest fund.
SECTION 65. Section 21-27-59, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
21-27-59. Nothing in Sections 21-27-11 through 21-27-69 shall be construed to prohibit the municipality from appropriating and using any part of its available income or revenues derived from any source other than from the operation of such system or combined system in paying any immediate expenses of operation and/or maintenance of any such system or combined system. Nothing in Sections 21-27-11 through 21-27-69 shall be construed, however, to require the municipality to do so.
SECTION 66. Section 21-27-61, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
21-27-61. The governing authorities of any municipality shall devote all monies of the system derived from any source other than the issuance of bonds for purposes authorized by the laws of the State of Mississippi, to or for the payment of all operating expenses, including such items as are normally required of utilities for sales development; to or for the payment of all bonds and interest on outstanding revenue bonds, if any, of such system; to or for the acquisition and improvement of the system contingencies; to or for the payment of all other obligations incurred in the operation and maintenance of the system and the furnishing of service; and to or for the creation and maintenance of a cash working fund or a surplus fund to be used for replacement, extension of systems and emergencies. The balance of any monies, including but not limited to, any which have heretofore been classified as revenues or surplus of such system, if any, may be used for any lawful, municipal purpose and may be paid to the governing authorities of the municipality for distribution to the various municipal funds or may be disbursed for such purpose by the governing authorities at their direction. The purpose of any allocation or expenditure of money made pursuant to this section shall be spread upon the minutes of the municipal governing authorities.
SECTION 67. Section 21-27-63, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
21-27-63. Nothing in Sections 21-27-11 through 21-27-69 shall be construed as authorizing any municipality to impair or commit a breach of the obligation of any valid lien or contract created or entered into by it, the intention hereof being to authorize the pledging, setting aside and segregation of gross revenue only where consistent with outstanding obligations of such municipality.
SECTION 68. Section 21-27-65, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
21-27-65. If, after the governing authorities of any municipality have issued revenue bonds pursuant to the authority granted in Sections 21-27-23 and 21-27-51, said governing authorities fail or refuse to carry out their duties with reference to setting aside the trust funds, said officers shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon trial and conviction, shall be removed from office.
SECTION 69. Section 21-27-67, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
21-27-67. Sections 21-27-11 through 21-27-69, being necessary for and to secure the public health, safety, convenience and welfare of the municipalities of the State of Mississippi, shall be liberally construed to effect the purposes hereof.
The powers conferred by Sections 21-27-11 through 21-27-69 shall be in addition to the powers conferred by any other law, general, special or local, and such sections shall, without reference to any other statute or to any charter, be deemed full authority to purchase or improve and to own and operate the authorized revenue producing systems, to fix, maintain, and to collect rates for the facilities afforded by such systems, to issue and to sell the authorized bonds, and shall be construed as an additional and alternative method therefor, any provisions of the general laws of the state or of any charter to the contrary notwithstanding.
SECTION 70. Section 21-27-69, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
21-27-69. The repeal heretofore of any law authorizing a municipality to borrow money and issue bonds to acquire or improve any system shall not affect the validity of any bonds issued or contracts entered into under the provisions of any such repealed laws.
SECTION 71. Section 21-27-71, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
21-27-71. Whenever the governing authorities of any municipality of more than one hundred thousand (100,000) population shall determine to issue bonds under the provisions of Sections 21-27-11 to 21-27-69, to acquire or improve a system, it shall cause an estimate to be made of the cost of such system or improvement, and the fact that such estimate has been made shall appear in the ordinance authorizing the issuance of such bonds, which ordinance shall set forth a brief description in general terms of the contemplated system or improvement, the estimated life thereof, the said estimated cost thereof, the amount, date, denominations, rate of interest, times and places of payment and other details in connection with the issuance of the bonds, and such covenants and restrictions as may be necessary or desirable to safeguard the interests of the holders of the bonds. Such bonds may be serial or term; redeemable, with or without premium, or nonredeemable; registered or coupon bonds with registration privileges as to either principal and interest, principal only or both. They shall bear interest at a rate to be determined pursuant to the sale of the bonds, and shall be payable at such time or times as shall be prescribed in the ordinance authorizing them. They shall mature at such time or times, not exceeding the said estimated life of the contemplated system or improvement, and in no event exceeding thirty (30) years from their date, and at such place or places as shall be prescribed in the ordinance authorizing their issuance; provided, however, that any bond issue to be awarded and sold to the United States of America or any agency thereof shall mature at such time or times, not to exceed thirty-five (35) years, as shall be prescribed in the ordinance authorizing their issuance. Any provisions of the general laws to the contrary notwithstanding, any bonds and interest coupons issued pursuant to the authority of this section shall possess all the qualities of negotiable instruments. The bonds and the interest coupons shall be executed in such manner and shall be substantially in the form prescribed in the authorizing ordinance. In case any of the officers whose signatures or countersignatures appear on the bonds or interest coupons shall cease to be such officers before delivery of such bonds, such signatures or countersignatures shall nevertheless be valid and sufficient for all purposes the same as if they had remained in office until such delivery. No bond shall bear more than one (1) rate of interest. Each bond shall bear interest from its date to its stated maturity date at the interest rate specified in the bid. All bonds of the same maturity shall bear the same rate of interest from date to maturity. All interest accruing on such bonds so issued shall be payable semiannually or annually, except that the first interest coupon attached to any such bond may be for any period not exceeding one (1) year.
No interest payment shall be evidenced by more than one (1) coupon and neither cancelled nor supplemental coupons shall be permitted. The lowest interest rate specified for any bonds issued shall not be less than seventy percent (70%) of the highest interest rate specified for the same bond issue. Such bonds shall be sold in such manner and upon such terms as the governing authorities of the municipality shall determine, provided that such bonds shall not bear a greater overall maximum interest rate to maturity than that allowed in Section 75-17-103, Mississippi Code of 1972, and the interest rate on any one (1) interest maturity shall not exceed the maximum interest rate allowed on such bonds. If serial bonds, such bonds shall mature annually, and the first maturity date thereof shall not be more than five (5) years from the date of such bonds. Such bonds shall be legal investments for trustees and other fiduciaries, and for savings banks, trust companies and insurance companies organized under the laws of the State of Mississippi. The bonds and interest coupons shall be exempt from all state, county, municipal and other taxation under the laws of the State of Mississippi. The principal of and interest upon such bonds shall be payable solely from the revenues derived from the operation of the system acquired or improved with proceeds of the sale of such bonds. No bond issued pursuant to this section shall constitute an indebtedness of a municipality within the meaning of any statutory or charter restriction, limitation or provision. It shall be plainly stated on the face of each such bond in substance that the same bond has been issued under the provisions of this section and that the taxing power of the municipality issuing the same is not pledged to the payment of such bond or interest thereon, and that such bond and the interest thereon are payable solely from the revenues of the system to acquire or improve which such bond is issued.
Such bonds shall be sold on sealed bids at public sale in the manner provided by Section 31-19-25. In the event the issuing municipality shall have received a commitment from any agency of the United States of America for the purchase of all or any portion of an issue of such bonds prior to the sale thereof or for financial assistance in providing debt service on such bonds, then, and in such event, said issue or any part thereof may be sold to the United States of America or any agency thereof at private sale. Bonds in the aggregate amount of Two Hundred Thousand Dollars ($200,000.00) for any project may be sold at private sale either to underwriters or investors.
On issues of Five Million Dollars ($5,000,000.00) or more, the governing authorities of a municipality may retain the services of a fiscal advisor to assist in the sale of bonds hereunder and pay to such fiscal advisor a fee not to exceed the following amount: Twenty-five Thousand Dollars ($25,000.00) plus one-quarter of one percent (1/4 of 1%) of the amount of the issue in excess of Five Million Dollars ($5,000,000.00). No such fiscal advisor shall be eligible to bid for or participate in the underwriting of the bonds for which he acted as advisor.
Before a person can qualify as a fiscal advisor under the terms of this section, he shall have been actively engaged in the banking business, or the business of fiscal counseling for municipalities, or the underwriting of municipal bonds, for a period of five (5) years prior to qualifying under this section. A partnership or corporation may become a fiscal advisor hereunder with the same qualifications. Such person, corporation, or partnership shall have had prior experience as a fiscal advisor or been involved in the underwriting or investing in bonds of the State of Mississippi, or one or more of the subdivisions thereof, and such person, partnership or corporation shall be recognized in the fiscal community as a reputable and qualified fiscal advisor.
SECTION 72. Section 21-27-73, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
21-27-73. The governing authority of any municipality that owns and operates a gas distribution system, as defined in Section 21-27-11(b), and the governing authority of any public natural gas district are authorized to contract for the purchase of the supply of natural gas for a term of up to ten (10) years with any public nonprofit corporation which is organized under the laws of this state or any other state.
SECTION 73. Section 21-27-75, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
21-27-75. (1) The governing authorities of a municipality are authorized and empowered, in their discretion, to enter into an interlocal agreement with a rural water association operating within the corporate limits of the municipality that requires the association to terminate the water service of any of its customers who are thirty (30) days or more delinquent in the payment of charges for sewer services provided by the municipality.
(2) Any agreement entered into under this section shall at a minimum:
(a) Require the municipality to notify the association of any customer of the association who also has sewer service provided by the municipality who is thirty (30) days or more delinquent in the payment of sewer charges by a method agreeable to the municipality and the association;
(b) Provide that upon receipt of a notification the association shall terminate the water service of the named customer;
(c) Provide that upon satisfaction of the delinquency and any fees connected with the delinquency and the termination of water service, the association shall restart the water service of the customer;
(d) Provide that the municipality shall save and hold harmless the association against any and all claims based on the disconnection of water or sewer service and any other damages resulting from any action taken by the association under an interlocal agreement entered into under this section.
(3) Upon entering into an interlocal agreement under this section, the association is authorized to terminate the water service of any customer delinquent in the payment of sewer charges to the municipality pursuant to the terms of the interlocal agreement.
SECTION 74. Section 21-27-77, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
21-27-77. (1) A municipality having a population of one hundred fifty thousand (150,000) as of the most recent decennial census or more may institute a program to address certain disputed or delinquent water and sewer customer accounts. The municipality must adopt rules and procedures to implement the program if instituted. Such rules may consider the customer's ability to pay the full amount of the disputed or delinquent claim. In order for the program to take effect, the mayor of the municipality, the Municipal Director of Public Works, and Executive Director of the Mississippi Public Utilities Staff shall mutually approve such rules and procedures by July 1, 2021. The rules and procedures shall include, but not be limited to, an itemized summary of the amount and number of all accounts judged to be disputed or delinquent. The municipality's authority to compromise doubtful claims is limited to the following cases:
(a) (i) Instances of error on the part of the municipality such as equipment failure, process failure or billing failure;
(ii) Instances of error on the part of the municipality due to unforeseen circumstance such as damage, extreme weather-related event, declared disaster or emergency, or mandatory evacuation, but only to the extent the customer did not receive the benefit of the water or sewer service; and
(b) Instances where the customer's ability to pay or the amount of the customer's overdue balance for water and sewer service can be reasonably adjudged to be uncollectible, in which case the municipality may utilize an installment payment agreement to allow the customer additional time to pay a prescribed portion of the outstanding balance, and as part of the installment payment plan, to offer the utilization by the municipality of accounting procedures to move the remaining balance as an uncollectible debt to a special municipal accounting category of uncollectible or inactive accounts as outlined in the program rules if the customer fulfills all terms of the installment plan. The prescribed portion must require some payment by the customer. The program must provide that the accounting adjustments under this paragraph (b) do not result in forgiveness of uncollectible debts.
(2) The municipality may set program parameters to take into account the principle of collateral estoppel as to its own prior service, billing or collection actions.
(3) Any utility that participates in the program shall provide by January 1, 2022, to the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and Mississippi Public Utilities Staff a report that details the utility's revenue collection, the number of accounts that have been adjudged uncollectable, the number of accounts that are participating in the installment payment plans, the number of accounts that are overdue, and the effect of the program on the utility's revenue collection. Such report shall also include the utility's plan to address any remaining disputed or delinquent claims that have not been resolved, to provide fair and accurate bills to all of its customers, and to reduce equipment failure, process failure, and billing failures in the future.
(4) For the purpose of this section, the Executive Director of the Mississippi Public Utilities Staff may enter into professional services contracts to ensure the success of the program. The municipally owned utility shall reimburse the Mississippi Public Utilities Staff for such contracts, not to exceed Two Hundred Thousand Dollars ($200,000.00) over the duration of the program.
(5) This section shall stand repealed on July 1, 2023.
SECTION 75. Section 21-27-161, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
21-27-161. Sections 21-27-161 through 21-27-191 are for the purpose of authorizing a cooperative effort by public agencies for the safe and economical construction and operation of systems for the collection, transportation, treatment and disposal of wastes, including sewerage systems and sewage disposal systems, in order to prevent and control the pollution of the waters in this state. Said sections may be cited as the "Metropolitan Area Waste Disposal Act."
SECTION 76. Section 21-27-163, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
21-27-163. Words and phrases used in Sections 21-27-161 through 21-27-191 shall have meanings as follows:
(a) "Act" shall mean the Metropolitan Area Waste Disposal Act [Sections 21-27-161 through 21-27-191], as originally enacted or as hereafter amended.
(b) "Person" means and includes the State of Mississippi, a municipality as defined herein, any public agency as defined herein or any other city, town or political subdivision or governmental agency of the State of Mississippi or of the United States of America, or any individual, copartnership, association, firm, trust, estate or any other entity whatsoever.
(c) "Waterworks" means all works, plants or other facilities necessary for the purpose of collecting, storing, treating and transporting water for domestic, municipal, commercial, industrial, agricultural and manufacturing purposes, including open channels.
(d) "Water supply system" means pipelines, conduits, pumping stations and all other structures, devices and appliances appurtenant thereto, including land and right-of-way thereto, for use for transporting water to a point of ultimate use.
(e) "Waste" means sewage, industrial waste, municipal waste, recreational waste and agricultural waste, waste heat and any other waste that may cause impairment of the quality of the waters in the state.
(f) "Sewerage system" means pipelines or conduits, canals, pumping stations and force mains, and all other structures, devices, facilities and appliances appurtenant thereto, used for collecting or conducting waste to an ultimate point for treatment or disposal.
(g) "Treatment facilities" means any plant, disposal field, lagoon, pumping station, constructed drainage ditch or surface water intercepting ditch, canal, incinerator, area devoted to sanitary landfills or other works not specifically mentioned herein, installed for the purpose of treating, neutralizing, stabilizing or disposing of waste or facilities to provide cooling water to collect, control and dispose of waste heat.
(h) "Sewage disposal system" means a system for disposing of waste, including but not limited to sewerage systems and treatment facilities, as such terms are defined herein.
(i) The terms "pollution," "waters" or "waters in the state" shall have meanings as set forth in the Mississippi Air and Water Pollution Control Law, as now or hereafter amended, appearing as Section 49-17-1 through Section 49-17-70, Mississippi Code of 1972.
(j) "Municipality" means any incorporated city having a population in excess of one hundred fifty thousand (150,000) according to the most recently completed federal decennial census, whether operating under general law or under special charter.
(k) "Metropolitan area" means all of the area or territory lying within the corporate limits of a municipality as herein defined, whether or not such area or territory be contiguous, and all area or territory lying not more than ten (10) miles from the outer boundary of any of the areas or territories comprising a municipality as herein defined, and all of an incorporated city or town, any part of which lies within the aforementioned ten-mile limit.
(l) "Public agency" means any incorporated city or town lying wholly or partially within a metropolitan area, any state board or commission owning or operating properties within a metropolitan area, a district created pursuant to Sections 51-9-101 through 51-9-163, or a political subdivision of the State of Mississippi lying wholly or partially within a metropolitan area and having the power to own and operate waterworks, water supply systems, sewerage systems, treatment facilities or sewage disposal systems or other facilities or systems for the collection, transportation, treatment and disposal of waste.
(m) "Metropolitan area plan" means a comprehensive plan for water quality management and the control and abatement of pollution within the metropolitan area, consistent with applicable water quality standards established pursuant to the Federal Water Pollution Control Act.
(n) "Federal Water Pollution Control Act" shall mean the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, being 33 USCS 1151 et seq. as now or hereafter amended, and the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972, being P.L. 92-500, 86 Stat. 816 as now or hereafter amended.
SECTION 77. Section 21-27-165, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
21-27-165. A municipality is authorized and empowered to acquire, construct, improve, enlarge, extend, repair, operate and maintain one or more sewage disposal systems and make contracts with any person or any public agency, under the terms of which the municipality will, within or without the municipality but within its metropolitan area, collect, transport, treat or dispose of waste for such person or public agency. A municipality may also enter into contracts with any person to purchase or sell, by installments over such term as may be deemed desirable, or otherwise, any waste collection, transportation, treatment or sewage disposal facilities or systems. A municipality is also authorized to enter into operating agreements with any person, for such terms and upon such conditions as may be deemed desirable, for the operation of any waste collection, transportation, treatment or sewage disposal facilities or systems of any person by the municipality; and a municipality may lease to or from any person, for such term and upon such conditions as may be deemed desirable, any waste collection, transportation, treatment or sewage disposal facilities or systems.
SECTION 78. Section 21-27-167, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
21-27-167. A municipality shall have the power and right to acquire and to own, maintain, use and operate any and all property of any kind, real, personal or mixed, or any interest therein within or without the boundaries of its metropolitan area necessary or convenient to the exercise of the purposes of and the powers granted by Sections 21-27-161 through 21-27-191. Within any unincorporated portion of its metropolitan area, a municipality may acquire such property by exercise of the power of eminent domain as provided in Chapter 27, Title 11, Mississippi Code of 1972. Prior to the exercise of the power of eminent domain within any unincorporated portion of its metropolitan area, a municipality shall seek and obtain a written agreement with the public agency or other person having local jurisdiction of such area for the acquisition of such property. The written agreement provided for herein for the exercise of the power of eminent domain shall be spread upon the minutes of said public agency or person as defined herein.
SECTION 79. Section 21-27-169, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
21-27-169. A municipality is authorized to make such applications and enter into such contracts for financial assistance in comprehensive planning as may be appropriate under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as now or hereafter amended; the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972 (P. L. 92-500); under Chapter 23 and Chapter 26, Title 33, United States Code; under Chapter 9, Title 40, United States Code and under any other relevant statutes.
SECTION 80. Section 21-27-171, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
21-27-171. A municipality may enter into contract with any person or public agency situated wholly or partly within its metropolitan area, whether or not lying wholly or partially within its boundaries, for any of the purposes authorized by Sections 21-27-161 through 21-27-191. Public agencies and other persons are hereby authorized to make contracts with a municipality under which the municipality will make a sewage disposal system available to a public agency or group of public agencies or to other persons and furnish waste collection, transportation, treatment and sewage disposal services by the municipality's sewage disposal system. The contract may be upon such terms and for such period of time as the parties may agree and may provide that it will remain in effect until any bonds issued or to be issued by the municipality, and any bonds which may be issued to refund the same are paid; the contract may contain provisions to assure equitable treatment of persons or public agencies who contract with the municipality for waste collection, transportation, treatment and sewage disposal services from the same sewage disposal system; may contain provisions requiring any public agency or other person to regulate the quality and strength of waste to be handled by the sewage disposal system; shall provide the method of determining the amounts to be paid by a public agency or other person to the municipality; may provide for the sale or lease to or use of by the municipality of any sewage disposal system or any part thereof at the time owned or to be acquired by a public agency or other person; may provide that the municipality shall operate any sewage disposal system or part thereof at the time owned or to be acquired by a public agency or other person; may provide that a public agency shall have the right to continued performance of such services after the amortization of the municipality's investment in the sewage disposal system during the useful life thereof upon payments of reasonable charges therefor, reduced to take into consideration such amortization; and may contain such other provisions and requirements as the municipality and a public agency or other person may determine to be appropriate or necessary. A municipality may also provide in its contract that the municipality shall have the right to use any streets, alleys and public ways and places within the jurisdiction of a public agency or other person during the term of the contract.
SECTION 81. Section 21-27-173, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
21-27-173. Payments by a public agency to the municipality for waste collection, transportation, treatment and sewage disposal services and facilities may be made from the income of the public agency's waterworks system or water supply system or its sewerage system, treatment facilities or sewage disposal system or of both such systems or of its combined waterworks, water supply, treatment facilities, sewerage and sewage disposal systems, as may be prescribed in the contract between the municipality and the public agency, or as otherwise authorized by law. Such payments shall constitute an operating expense of the system or systems whose revenues are thus to be applied. Payments to be made under the contract by the public agency from the income of its waterworks system, water supply system, treatment facility, sewerage system or sewage disposal system or both such systems or its combined waterworks, water supply, treatment facility, sewerage and sewage disposal systems shall be subordinate to amounts required to be paid from the net revenues of such systems for principal of and interest on bonds of the public agency which are outstanding at the time of the making of the contract and which are payable solely from such net revenues unless the ordinance or resolution authorizing such outstanding bonds of the public agency expressly reserves the right to accord such contract payments a priority over such public agency's bond requirements. No provision of Sections 21-27-161 through 21-27-191 shall be construed to prohibit any public agency, otherwise permitted by law to issue bonds, from issuing bonds in the manner provided by law for the construction, renovation, repair or development of waste disposal facilities within the jurisdictional limits of the public agency. Except to the extent provided in Section 21-27-175, neither the municipality nor the holder of any bonds of the municipality shall have the right to demand payment of the public agency's obligation out of any funds raised or to be raised by taxation, but such contracts shall constitute an obligation of the public agency and shall be binding upon such public agency according to its terms and shall continue in effect until all bonds specified therein and refunding bonds issued in lieu of such bonds and all other obligations thereunder shall have been paid. Payments made or to be made to a municipality by a public agency or other person pursuant to a contract for waste collection, transportation, treatment and sewage disposal services and facilities shall be determined by the method specified in the contract and shall not be subject to approval or review by the public service commission.
SECTION 82. Section 21-27-175, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
21-27-175. Any public agency having taxing powers, other than a county or a municipality as herein defined, is authorized to levy a special ad valorem tax not to exceed four (4) mills upon all taxable property within its geographical limits to pay all or a portion of the payments to be made by that public agency under a contract between the public agency and a municipality and if the contract as authorized by the governing body of the public agency so provides, then the contract shall constitute an obligation against the taxing power of the public agency to the extent therein provided. The special ad valorem tax millage authorized by Sections 21-27-161 to 21-27-191 shall not be reimbursable by the state under the provisions otherwise made for reimbursements under the homestead exemption laws.
The proceeds derived from two (2) mills of the levy authorized herein shall be included in the ten percent (10%) increase limitation under Section 27-39-321, and the proceeds derived from any additional millage levied hereunder in excess of two (2) mills shall be excluded from such limitation for the first year of such additional levy and shall be included within such limitation in any year thereafter.
SECTION 83. Section 21-27-177, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
21-27-177. Whenever a public agency and a municipality shall have executed a contract under Sections 21-27-161 through 21-27-191 and the payments thereunder are to be made either wholly or partly from the revenues of the public agency's waterworks system, water supply system, treatment facility, sewerage system or sewage disposal system or from both systems or a combination of both systems, the duty is hereby imposed on the public agency to establish and maintain and from time to time to adjust the rates charged by the public agency for the services of such system or systems, to the end that the revenues therefrom together with any taxes levied in support thereof will be sufficient at all times to pay: (a) the expense of operating and maintaining such system; (b) all of the public agency's obligations to the municipality under the contract; and (c) all of the public agency's obligations under and in connection with revenue bonds theretofore issued, or which may be issued thereafter secured by revenues of such system or systems. The contract may require the use of consulting engineers and financial experts to advise the public agency whether and when such rates are to be adjusted.
SECTION 84. Section 21-27-179, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
21-27-179. For the purpose of acquiring, constructing, improving, enlarging, extending and repairing a sewage disposal system or sewage disposal systems, a municipality is authorized to issue bonds payable from and secured by a pledge of all or any part of revenues under any contract or contracts it enters into under Sections 21-27-161 to 21-27-191 and from all or any part of any revenues derived from the operation of the waterworks system, water supply system, treatment facility, sewerage system or sewage disposal system and pledged for such purpose by the municipality. Said bonds shall be in such form and denomination as prescribed by the governing body of the municipality. Such bonds may be serial or term; redeemable, with or without premium, or nonredeemable; registered or coupon bonds with registration privileges as to either principal and interest; principal only or both; shall bear interest at a rate or rates to be determined pursuant to the sale of the bonds; and shall be payable at such time or times and shall mature at such time or times not exceeding the said estimated life of the contemplated system or improvement, but in no event exceeding thirty (30) years from their date, and at such place or places as shall be prescribed in the bond resolution authorizing their issuance; provided, however, that any bond issue to be awarded and sold to the United States of America or any agency thereof shall mature at such time or times, not to exceed thirty-five (35) years, as shall be prescribed in the ordinance authorizing their issuance. Any provisions of the general laws to the contrary notwithstanding, any bonds and interest coupons issued pursuant to the authority of Sections 21-27-161 to 21-27-191 shall possess all the qualities of negotiable instruments. The bonds and the interest coupons shall be executed in such manner and shall be substantially in the form prescribed in the authorizing resolution. In case any of the officers whose signatures or countersignatures appear on the bonds or interest coupons shall cease to be such officers before delivery of such bonds, such signatures or countersignatures shall nevertheless be valid and sufficient for all purposes the same as if they had remained in office until such delivery. No bond shall bear more than one (1) rate of interest; each bond shall bear interest from its date to its stated maturity date at the interest rate specified in the bid; all bonds of the same maturity shall bear the same rate of interest from date to maturity; all interest accruing on such bonds so issued shall be payable semiannually or annually, except that the first interest coupon attached to any such bond may be for any period not exceeding one (1) year.
No interest payment shall be evidenced by more than one (1) coupon and neither cancelled nor supplemental coupons shall be permitted; the lowest interest rate specified for any bonds issued shall not be less than seventy percent (70%) of the highest rate specified for the same bond issue. Such bonds shall not bear a greater overall maximum interest rate to maturity than that allowed in Section 75-17-103, Mississippi Code of 1972. Each interest rate specified in any bid must be in multiples of one-eighth of one percent (1/8 of 1%) or in multiples of one-tenth of one percent (1/10 of 1%). If serial bonds, such bonds shall mature annually, and the first maturity date thereof shall not be more than five (5) years from the date of such bonds. Such bonds shall be legal investments for trustees and other fiduciaries, and for savings banks, trust companies and insurance companies organized under the laws of the State of Mississippi. The bonds and interest coupons shall be exempt from all state, county, municipal and other taxation under the laws of the State of Mississippi. No bond issued pursuant to Sections 21-27-161 to 21-27-191 shall constitute an indebtedness of a municipality within the meaning of any statutory or charter restriction or limitation upon indebtedness. Such bonds shall be sold on sealed bids at public sale in the manner provided by Section 31-19-25, as now or hereafter amended, upon such terms as the governing authorities of the municipality may determine, not inconsistent with the provisions of Sections 21-27-161 to 21-27-191, but no sale shall be made at a price so low as to require the payment of interest on the money received therefor at more than that allowed in Section 75-17-103, Mississippi Code of 1972, computed with relation to the absolute maturity of the bonds, in accordance with standard tables of bond values, excluding from such computation the amount of any premium to be paid on redemption of any bonds prior to maturity. Sections 21-27-161 to 21-27-191 shall be full and complete authority for the issuance of the bonds provided for herein, and no restriction or limitation otherwise prescribed by law shall apply herein, nor shall such bonds constitute an indebtedness of the municipality within the meaning of any constitutional or statutory limitation.
SECTION 85. Section 21-27-181, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
21-27-181. While any such bonds are outstanding, it shall be the duty of the governing body of the municipality to fix, maintain and collect rates and charges for services furnished or made available by the sewage disposal system, adequate to pay maintenance and operation costs of the expenses allocable to the sewage disposal system, payment of principal of and interest on such bonds, and to provide and maintain the funds created by the resolution authorizing the bonds. Interest to accrue on the bonds and administrative expenses to estimated date when the sewage disposal system will become revenue producing and reserve funds created by the resolution authorizing the bonds may be set aside out of bond proceeds.
SECTION 86. Section 21-27-183, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
21-27-183. All bonds issued pursuant to Sections 21-27-161 through 21-27-191 shall be validated as now provided by law by Sections 31-13-1 through 31-13-11.
SECTION 87. Section 21-27-185, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
21-27-185. Proceeds from the sale of bonds may be invested, pending their use, in such certificates of deposit as are specified in the resolution authorizing the issuance of the bonds or the trust indenture securing them, and the earnings on such investments applied as provided in such resolution or trust indenture.
SECTION 88. Section 21-27-187, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
21-27-187. All bonds issued under Sections 21-27-161 through 21-27-191 shall be and are hereby exempt from inclusion in debts in determining whether additional bonds may be issued by such municipality and are declared to be legal and authorized investments for banks, savings banks, trust companies, building and loan associations, savings and loan associations, insurance companies, fiduciaries, trustees and for the sinking fund of municipalities, towns, villages, school districts or any other political corporation or subdivision of the State of Mississippi.
SECTION 89. Section 21-27-189, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
21-27-189. A municipality, as defined in Section 21-27-163, is authorized and empowered, in the discretion of its governmental authorities, to exercise the following powers and authority within the area and territories comprising the metropolitan area of which it is a part:
(a) To operate and manage sewerage systems, sewage treatment facilities and sewage disposal systems and related facilities serving the metropolitan area in conformance with the metropolitan area plan.
(b) To construct, operate and maintain sewerage systems, sewage treatment facilities and sewage disposal systems in the manner and to the extent required by the metropolitan area plan.
(c) To accept and utilize grants and other funds from any source for waste treatment management purposes.
(d) To establish and maintain rates and charges for the use of the services of such sewerage systems, sewage treatment facilities and sewage disposal systems within the metropolitan area, and from time to time to adjust such rates, to the end that the revenues therefrom will be sufficient at all times to pay the expenses of operating and maintaining such works, facilities and systems and all of the municipality's obligations under any contract or bond resolution with respect thereto.
(e) To incur short and long-term indebtedness under the provisions of Sections 21-27-161 through 21-27-191 or other applicable statutes.
(f) To adopt rules and regulations necessary to carry out the implementation of the metropolitan area plan and to assure the payment of each participating person or public agency of its proportionate share of treatment costs.
(g) To refuse to receive any waste from any public agency or subdivision thereof or any other person which does not comply with the provisions of the metropolitan area plan applicable to the particular area within which such public agency or subdivision thereof or any other person is located.
(h) To accept industrial waste for treatment and to require the pretreatment of same when within the opinion of the municipality such pretreatment is necessary.
(i) To adopt all necessary and reasonable rules and regulations to carry out and effectuate any waste treatment plan adopted for the metropolitan area.
(j) To require by ordinance or by contract with a public agency or other person that all waste within the metropolitan area be disposed of through sewerage systems, treatment facilities and sewage disposal systems which comprise a part of the metropolitan area plan, to the extent that the same may be available, but no public agency shall be precluded from constructing, operating and maintaining its own sewerage system if the same be a part of the metropolitan area plan.
SECTION 90. Section 21-27-191, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
21-27-191. Sections 21-27-161 through 21-27-191 are cumulative of other statutes now or hereafter enacted relating to the issuance of bonds; the collection, transportation, treatment or disposal of wastes; and the design, construction, acquisition or approval of facilities for such purposes, and the municipality may exercise all presently held powers in the furtherance of said sections.
SECTION 91. Section 41-67-1, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
41-67-1. (1) This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Mississippi Individual On-Site Wastewater Disposal System Law."
(2) It is the purpose of the Legislature through this chapter to protect human health and the environment while providing for reasonable use of individual on-site wastewater disposal systems. The Legislature finds that continued installation and operation of individual on-site wastewater disposal systems in a faulty or improper manner, in a manner that lacks essential maintenance for the system, or in areas where unsuitable soil and population density adversely affect the efficiency and functioning of these systems, has a detrimental effect on the public health and welfare and the environment through contamination of land, groundwater and surface waters. The Legislature, therefore, expresses a general preference for the installation and operation of centralized wastewater treatment systems in Mississippi, where feasible. The Legislature recognizes, however, that individual on-site wastewater treatment and disposal systems help meet the needs of the state's citizens, especially in rural locations, and can be rendered ecologically safe and protective of the public health if the systems are designed, installed, constructed, maintained and operated properly. It is the intent of the Legislature to allow the continued installation, use and maintenance of individual on-site wastewater disposal systems in a manner that will not jeopardize public health and welfare or the environment.
SECTION 92. Section 41-67-2, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
41-67-2. For purposes of this chapter, the following words shall have the meanings ascribed herein unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
(a) "Advanced treatment system" means an individual on-site wastewater treatment system that complies with Section 41-67-10.
(b) "Board" means the Mississippi State Board of Health.
(c) "Centralized wastewater treatment system" means a wastewater collection and treatment system that consists of collection sewers and a centralized treatment facility other than an individual on-site wastewater disposal system.
(d) "Certified installer" means any person who has met the requirements of Section 41-67-25.
(e) "Certified manufacturer" means any person registered with the department who holds a written certification issued by the department allowing the manufacturer to sell on-site wastewater products in the state.
(f) "Certified professional evaluator" means any person who has met the requirements of Section 41-67-37 or a licensed professional engineer.
(g) "Certified pumper" means any person registered with the department who holds a written certification issued by the department allowing the person to engage in the removal and disposal of sludge, grease and waste and who has met the requirements of Section 41-67-39.
(h) "Cluster system" means a wastewater collection and treatment system under some form of common or private ownership and management that provides treatment and dispersal/discharge of wastewater from two (2) or more homes or buildings but less than a subdivision.
(i) "Conventional system" means an individual on-site wastewater disposal system consisting of a septic tank and subsurface disposal field.
(j) "Department" means the Mississippi State Department of Health.
(k) "Decentralized wastewater treatment system" means any commercial wastewater treatment for fewer than ten (10) lots.
(l) "Effluent" means sewage, water, or other liquid, partially or completely treated or in its natural state, flowing out of a septic tank, advanced treatment system, or other treatment system or system component by the department.
(m) "Final approval" means an issuance of a document from the department stating that a determination has been made by the department that the individual on-site wastewater disposal system recommended/designed has been installed and fulfills all requirements under this chapter or any variance that has been granted by the department.
(n) "Generator" means any person whose act or process produces sewage or other material suitable for disposal in an individual on-site wastewater disposal system.
(o) "Individual on-site wastewater disposal system" means a sewage treatment and effluent disposal system that does not discharge into waters of the state, that serves only one (1) legal tract, that accepts only residential waste and similar waste streams maintained on the property of the generator, and that is designed and installed in accordance with this law and regulations of the board.
(p) "Notice of intent" means notification by an applicant to the department prior to construction and submission of all required information, which is used by the department to initiate the process to evaluate the property for the suitability of an individual on-site wastewater disposal system.
(q) "Performance-based system" means an individual on-site wastewater disposal system designed to meet standards established to designate a level of treatment of wastewater that an individual on-site wastewater disposal system must meet, including, but not limited to, biochemical oxygen demand, total suspended solids, nutrient reduction and fecal coliform.
(r) "Permit/recommendation" means that a person has filed a notice of intent with the department and the department has made a determination of the suitability of the property for the use of an individual on-site wastewater disposal system.
(s) "Person" means any individual, trust, firm, joint-stock company, public or private corporation (including a government corporation), partnership, association, state, or any agency or institution thereof, municipality, commission, political subdivision of a state or any interstate body, and includes any officer or governing or managing body of any municipality, political subdivision, or the United States or any officer or employee thereof.
(t) "Plot plan" means a property drawing reflecting property lines, site features (such as ponds, wells, etc.), dwellings and any other intended uses of the property therein including encumbrances.
(u) "Property of the generator" means land owned by or under permanent legal easement or lease to the generator.
(v) "Qualified homeowner maintenance provider" means the current owner of a specific residence where that homeowner resides and where the homeowner has met the requirements of the rules and regulations of the department to provide maintenance for his or her system.
(w) "Licensed professional engineer" means any person who has met the requirements under Section 73-13-23(1) and who has been issued a certificate of registration as a professional engineer.
(x) "Septage" means the liquid, solid, and semisolid material that results from wastewater pretreatment in a septic tank, portable toilet, or grease trap, which must be pumped, hauled, treated and disposed of properly.
(y) "Subdivision" means any tract or combination of adjacent tracts of land that is subdivided into ten (10) or more tracts, sites or parcels for the purpose of commercial or residential development.
SECTION 93. Section 41-67-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
41-67-3. (1) The board and/or the department shall have the following duties and responsibilities:
(a) To exercise general supervision over the design, installation, operation and maintenance of individual on-site wastewater disposal systems, decentralized wastewater treatment systems and cluster systems;
(b) To adopt, modify, repeal and promulgate rules and regulations, after due notice and hearing, and where not otherwise prohibited by federal or state law, to make exceptions to, to grant exemptions from and to enforce rules and regulations implementing or effectuating the duties of the board under this chapter to protect the public health. The board may grant variances from rules and regulations adopted under this chapter, including requirements for buffer zones, or from setbacks required under Section 41-67-7 where the granting of a variance shall not subject the public to unreasonable health risks or jeopardize environmental resources;
(c) To provide or deny certification for persons engaging in the business for hire of the installation, operation or maintenance of individual on-site wastewater disposal systems and persons engaging in the removal and disposal of the sludge and liquid waste from those systems;
(d) To suspend or revoke certifications issued to persons engaging in the business for hire of the installation, operation or maintenance of individual on-site wastewater disposal systems or persons engaging in the removal and disposal of the sludge and liquid waste from those systems, when it is determined the person has violated this chapter or applicable rules and regulations;
(e) To require the submission of information deemed necessary by the department to determine the suitability of individual lots for individual on-site wastewater disposal systems for the purpose of commercial or residential development; and
(f) To adopt, modify, repeal and promulgate rules and regulations, after due notice and hearing, and where not otherwise prohibited by federal or state law, as necessary to determine the suitability of individual on-site wastewater disposal systems in subdivisions.
(2) To assure the effective and efficient administration of this chapter, the board shall adopt rules governing the design, construction or installation, operation and maintenance of individual on-site wastewater disposal systems, including rules concerning the:
(a) Review and approval of individual on-site wastewater disposal systems in accordance with Section 41-67-6;
(b) Certification of installers;
(c) Certification of pumpers;
(d) Certification of manufacturers;
(e) Certification of professional evaluators; and
(f) Creation of regulations that authorize the original and any subsequent homeowner to be trained by certified installers as defined in Section 41-67-25(2) or other factory representatives in order to educate the homeowner with the necessary knowledge to provide maintenance to the homeowner's system; no fees shall be charged to the homeowner for such training, thus allowing the homeowner to meet the requirements of Section 41-67-7(5).
(3) In addition, the board shall adopt rules establishing performance standards for individual on-site wastewater disposal systems for single family residential generators and rules concerning the operation and maintenance of individual on-site wastewater disposal systems designed to meet those standards. The performance standards shall be consistent with the federal Clean Water Act, maintaining the wastes on the property of the generator and protection of the public health. Rules for the operation and maintenance of individual on-site wastewater disposal systems designed to meet performance standards shall include rules concerning the following:
(a) A standard application form and requirements for supporting documentation;
(b) Application review;
(c) Approval or denial of authorization for proposed systems;
(d) Requirements, as deemed appropriate by the board, for annual renewal of authorization;
(e) Enforcement of the requirements and conditions of authorization; and
(f) Inspection, monitoring, sampling and reporting on the performance of the system.
Any system proposed for authorization in accordance with performance standards must be designed and certified by a licensed professional engineer in the State of Mississippi and must be authorized by the department before installation.
(4) To the extent practicable, all rules and regulations adopted under this chapter shall give maximum flexibility to persons installing individual on-site wastewater disposal systems and all options consistent with the federal Clean Water Act, consistent with maintaining the wastes on the property of the generator and consistent with protection of the public health. In addition, all rules and regulations, to the extent practicable, shall encourage the use of economically feasible systems, including all techniques and technologies for individual on-site wastewater disposal.
(5) All regulations shall be applied uniformly in all areas of the state and shall take into consideration and make provision for different types of soil in the state when performing soil and site evaluations.
SECTION 94. Section 41-67-4, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
41-67-4. (1) The department shall determine the feasibility of establishing centralized wastewater treatment systems upon the submission by the developer of a preliminary design and feasibility study prepared by a licensed professional engineer. The developer may request and obtain a hearing before the board if the developer is dissatisfied with the department's determination of feasibility. The determination that a centralized wastewater treatment system must be established shall be made without regard to whether the establishment of a centralized wastewater treatment system is authorized by law or is subject to approval by one or more state or local government or public bodies. Whenever a developer requests a determination of feasibility, the department must make the determination within thirty (30) days after receipt of the preliminary design and feasibility study from the developer. The department shall state in writing the reasons for its determination. If the department does not make a determination within thirty (30) days, all sites within the subdivision shall be approved, if a certified installer attests or a department environmentalist determines that each site can be adequately served by an individual on-site wastewater disposal system.
(2) Where subdivisions are proposed that are composed of fewer than thirty-five (35) building sites, and no centralized wastewater treatment system is available, the department may waive the requirement for a feasibility study. If the feasibility study is waived, all sites within the subdivision shall be approved, if a certified installer attests or a department environmentalist determines that each site can be adequately served by an individual on-site wastewater disposal system.
(3) No feasibility study or centralized wastewater treatment system shall be required for subdivisions designed, laid out, platted or partially constructed before July 1, 1988, or for any subdivision that was platted and recorded during the period from July 1, 1995, through June 30, 1996.
(4) "Feasibility study" means a written evaluation and analysis of the potential of a proposed project that is based on investigation and research by a licensed professional engineer to give cost comparison between centralized or decentralized treatment and disposal and individual on-site wastewater disposal systems.
SECTION 95. Section 41-67-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
41-67-5. (1) No owner, lessee or developer shall construct or place any mobile, modular or permanently constructed residence, building or facility, which may require the installation of an individual on-site wastewater disposal system, without having first submitted a notice of intent to the department. Upon receipt of a notice of intent, the department shall provide the owner, lessee or developer with complete information on individual on-site wastewater disposal systems, including, but not limited to, applicable rules and regulations regarding the design, installation, operation and maintenance of individual on-site wastewater disposal systems and known requirements of lending institutions for approval of the systems.
(2) No public utility supplying water shall make connection to any dwelling, house, mobile home or residence without the prior written approval of the department certifying that the plan for the sewage treatment and disposal system at the location of the property complies with this chapter. Connections of water utilities may be made during construction if the department has approved a plan for a sewage treatment and disposal system and the owner of the property has agreed to have the system inspected and approved by the department before the use or occupancy of the property.
(3) The department shall furnish to the county tax assessor or collector, upon request, the name and address of the person submitting a notice of intent and the section, township and range of the lot or tract of land on which the individual on-site wastewater disposal system will be installed.
SECTION 96. Section 41-67-6, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
41-67-6. (1) Nothing in this chapter shall preclude a certified professional evaluator or licensed professional engineer from providing services relating to the design of an individual on-site wastewater disposal system to comply with this chapter, except for performance-based systems as specified in Section 41-67-3(3). A certified professional evaluator or licensed professional engineer shall notify the department in writing of those services being provided, including the type of treatment, the type of disposal, and the property address for the treatment and disposal system. Construction or installation shall not begin before authorization by the department. The department shall respond within ten (10) business days with authorization that the certified professional evaluator or licensed professional engineer fulfills the requirements of the law.
(2) Within five (5) working days following receipt of the notice of intent and plot plan by an owner, lessee or developer of any lot or tract of land, the department shall conduct a soil and site evaluation, except in cases where a certified professional evaluator or licensed professional engineer provides services relating to the design, construction or installation of an individual on-site wastewater disposal system to comply with this chapter. All regulations shall be applied uniformly in all areas of the state and shall take into consideration and make provision for different types of soil in the state when performing soil and site evaluations. Within ten (10) additional working days, the department shall make recommendations to the owner, lessee or developer of the type or types of individual on-site wastewater disposal systems suitable for installation on the lot or tract, unless there are conditions requiring further investigation that are revealed in the initial evaluation. In making recommendations on the type or types of individual on-site wastewater disposal systems suitable for installation on a lot or tract, personnel of the department shall use best professional judgment based on rules and regulations adopted by the board, considering the type or types of systems which are installed and functioning on lots or tracts near the subject lot or tract. To the extent practicable, the recommendations shall give the owner, lessee or developer maximum flexibility and all options consistent with the federal Clean Water Act, consistent with maintaining the wastes on the property of the generator and consistent with protection of the public health. The system or systems recommended shall be environmentally sound and cost-effective. The department, a licensed professional engineer or a certified professional evaluator shall provide complete information, including all applicable requirements and regulations on all systems recommended. The owner, lessee or developer shall have the right to choose among systems. The department shall provide the owner, lessee or developer with a permit/recommendation that specifies all types of individual on-site wastewater disposal systems that are suitable for installation on the lot or tract.
(3) Within thirty (30) days of receipt of a request for determination of suitability of individual on-site wastewater disposal systems in a subdivision, the department shall advise the developer in writing either that all necessary information needed for determination of suitability has been received or state the additional information needed by the department for determination of suitability.
(4) Whenever a developer requests a determination of suitability of individual on-site wastewater disposal systems in a subdivision, the department must make the determination within thirty (30) days after receipt of all necessary information needed for the determination of suitability from the developer. The department shall state in writing the reasons for its determination.
(5) (a) The certified installer shall notify the department at least twenty-four (24) hours before beginning installation of an individual on-site wastewater disposal system and, at that time, schedule a time for inspection of the system with the appropriate county department of health.
(b) A certified installer, or designated agent thereof, shall not cover his work with soil or other surface material unless the installer has received authorization to cover the system after an inspection by a department environmentalist, or unless a department environmentalist does not arrive for inspection within thirty (30) minutes of the designated and agreed upon time, in which case a certified installer, or designated agent thereof, may submit an affidavit of proper installation to the department for final approval.
(6) A person may not design, construct or install, or cause to be designed, constructed or installed an individual on-site wastewater disposal system that does not comply with this chapter and rules and regulations of the board.
(7) Any lot or tract that is two (2) acres or larger shall be exempt from the requirements of this chapter and regulations of the department relating to approval of individual on-site wastewater disposal systems by the department, and shall be exempt from the provisions of Section 41-67-5(2), provided that:
(a) All wastewater is contained on the lot or tract;
(b) No watercourse, as defined in Section 51-3-3(h), of Mississippi or the United States is impacted; and
(c) The person who installed the individual on-site wastewater disposal system provides the department with a signed affidavit attesting that the requirements of paragraphs (a) and (b) are met.
SECTION 97. Section 41-67-7, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
41-67-7. (1) Approval of the design, construction or installation of an individual on-site wastewater disposal system by the department is required, except as otherwise provided in Section 41-67-6(7). Upon completion of installation of the system, the department shall approve the design, construction or installation of that system, as requested, if the system is designed, constructed and installed, as the case may be, in accordance with the rules and regulations of the board. Whenever a person requests approval of an individual on-site wastewater disposal system and has met the requirements in subsection (3) of this section, the department must approve or disapprove the request within five (5) working days. If the department disapproves the request, the department shall state in writing the reasons for the disapproval. If the department does not respond to the request within ten (10) calendar days, the request for approval of the individual on-site wastewater disposal system shall be deemed approved.
(2) Individual on-site wastewater disposal systems shall be considered acceptable, provided the following requirements are met:
(a) Centralized wastewater treatment systems are not available or feasible;
(b) The existing disposal systems in the area are functioning satisfactorily;
(c) Soil types, soil texture, seasonal water tables and other limiting factors are satisfactory for underground absorption;
(d) Any private water supply is located at a higher elevation or it must be properly protected, and at least fifty (50) feet from the individual on-site wastewater disposal system and at least one hundred (100) feet from the disposal field of the system; and
(e) The systems meet applicable water quality requirements of Section 41-67-10.
(3) After construction or installation of the individual on-site wastewater disposal system, the property owner or his agent shall provide a final approval request containing the following to the department:
(a) A signed affidavit from the installer that the system was installed in compliance with all requirements, regulations and permit conditions applicable to the system installed; and
(b) For any advanced treatment system, an affidavit from the property owner agreeing to a continuing maintenance agreement on the installed system at the end of the required manufacturer's maintenance agreement.
(4) If any person or certified installer fails to obtain final approval or submit an affidavit of proper installation to the department in the installation of the system, the board, after due notice and hearing, may levy an administrative fine not to exceed Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00). Each wastewater system installed not in compliance with this chapter or applicable rules and regulations of the board may be considered a separate offense.
(5) The property owner, if not a qualified homeowner maintenance provider, shall keep a continuing maintenance agreement with a certified installer on all advanced treatment systems in perpetuity. Any person violating this subsection shall be subject to the penalties and damages as provided in Section 41-67-28(5).
SECTION 98. Section 41-67-9, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
41-67-9. (1) All existing individual on-site wastewater disposal systems on July 1, 2014, shall be grandfathered in until a valid complaint is registered with a county department of health or until a property owner requests an inspection by the department.
(2) All existing individual on-site wastewater disposal systems shall be considered acceptable provided the following requirements are met:
(a) The existing individual on-site wastewater disposal system and all treated effluent is contained on the property of the generator;
(b) No evidence that any insufficiently treated effluent is leaving the property of the generator or has been seeping to the surface of the ground;
(c) Centralized wastewater treatment systems are not available;
(d) If a private water supply well is present, the well should be located at a higher elevation than the disposal system and is protected from surface contamination by a concrete slab of a thickness of at least four (4) inches extending at least two (2) feet in all directions from the well casing; and
(e) If an advanced treatment system is used, the property owner shall be required to contact an authorized representative of a certified manufacturer of the specific advanced treatment system to provide a continuous maintenance agreement or provide the property owner training to become a qualified homeowner maintenance provider.
(3) Owners of property on which an existing individual on-site wastewater disposal system does not meet the requirements of subsection (2) of this section shall be required by the department to meet Section 41-67-6 or Section 41-67-21.
SECTION 99. Section 41-67-10, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
41-67-10. (1) Advanced treatment systems may be installed only if they have been tested and are listed by an American National Standards Institute (ANSI) third-party certifying program at the time of installation. Advanced treatment systems shall be in compliance with standards for a Class I system as defined by the most current revision of American National Standards Institute/National Sanitation Foundation (ANSI/NSF) International Standard Number 40, which are incorporated by reference. An approved ANSI third-party certifying program shall comply with the following provisions for systems which it has certified to be installed in Mississippi:
(a) Be accredited by the American National Standards Institute;
(b) Have established procedures which send representatives to distributors in Mississippi on a recurring basis to conduct evaluations to assure that distributors of certified advanced treatment systems are providing proper maintenance, have sufficient replacement parts available and are maintaining service records;
(c) Notify the department of the results of monitoring visits to manufacturers and distributors within sixty (60) days of the conclusion of the monitoring; and
(d) Submit completion reports on testing and any other information as the department may require for its review.
(2) All manufacturers of advanced treatment systems certified in Mississippi shall provide technical training staff to the department as needed.
SECTION 100. Section 41-67-11, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
41-67-11. (1) Individual on-site wastewater disposal systems may be approved in an area where individual on-site wastewater disposal systems otherwise would not be approved because of the availability or feasibility of connection to a centralized wastewater treatment system only after a contract has been awarded or other definite commitments as are deemed sufficient to the department are formalized for the construction of a centralized wastewater treatment system that upon completion will adequately serve the property. Individual on-site wastewater disposal systems shall only be approved when the centralized wastewater treatment system will be completed and available for use within thirty-six (36) months. The department may approve the installation of a system under these circumstances only if the system will comply with the requirements of Section 41-67-5(1) and comply with all construction requirements of the department. The system may be installed only after the developer has signed a written agreement with the centralized wastewater treatment provider stating that the developer will connect to the centralized wastewater treatment system when it becomes available, and the provider of the centralized wastewater treatment system being constructed certifies that the centralized wastewater treatment system will have adequate capacity to accept the sewage to be produced by the individual on-site wastewater disposal systems. The developer shall install an internal sewage collection system from each lot to the connection point to the centralized wastewater treatment system as he develops the streets of the subdivision. Upon completion of the construction of the centralized wastewater treatment system, all individual on-site wastewater disposal systems shall be abandoned and all residences, buildings or facilities connected to the centralized wastewater treatment system.
(2) The department may approve the use of a sewage holding tank for the purpose of providing sewage services. The department shall require the proper abandonment and removal of the sewage holding tank and connection to a centralized wastewater treatment system when that system is available, or the usage is no longer needed.
SECTION 101. Section 41-67-12, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
41-67-12. (1) The department shall assess fees in the following amounts for the following purposes:
(a) A fee of One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) shall be levied for soil and site evaluation and recommendation of individual on-site wastewater disposal systems. The department may increase the amount of the fee authorized in this paragraph (a) not more than two (2) times during the period from July 1, 2016, through June 30, 2020, with the percentage of each increase being not more than five percent (5%) of the amount of the fee in effect at the time of the increase.
(b) A fee of One Hundred Fifty Dollars ($150.00) shall be levied once every three (3) years for the certification of installers and pumpers.
(c) A fee of Three Hundred Dollars ($300.00) shall be levied once every three (3) years for the registration of manufacturers.
Any increase in the fee charged by the department under paragraph (b) or (c) of this subsection shall be in accordance with the provisions of Section 41-3-65.
(2) In the discretion of the board, a person shall be liable for a penalty equal to one and one-half (1-1/2) times the amount of the fee due and payable for failure to pay the fee on or before the date due, plus any amount necessary to reimburse the cost of collection.
(3) No fee authorized under this section shall be assessed by the department for state agencies or institutions, including, without limitation, foster homes licensed by the Mississippi Department of Human Services.
SECTION 102. Section 41-67-15, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
41-67-15. Nothing in this chapter shall limit the authority of a municipality or board of supervisors to adopt similar ordinances which may be, in whole or in part, more restrictive than this chapter, and in those cases the more restrictive ordinances will govern. The department shall not approve any system that does not comply with an ordinance adopted by a municipality or board of supervisors under the authority of this section.
SECTION 103. Section 41-67-19, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
41-67-19. Each authorized agent of the department implementing this chapter shall demonstrate to the department's satisfaction that the person:
(a) Is competent to review and provide any requested approval of design and installation of individual on-site wastewater disposal systems, as well as the operation, repair or maintenance of those systems, to make soil permeability tests or soil and site evaluations, and to conduct inspections of individual on-site wastewater disposal systems in accordance with this chapter and rules and regulations adopted under this chapter; and
(b) Has successfully completed the department's certification training program.
SECTION 104. Section 41-67-21, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
41-67-21. (1) The department shall require a property owner and/or lessee to repair a malfunctioning individual on-site wastewater disposal system on the owner's or lessee's property before the thirtieth day after the date on which the owner or lessee is notified by the department of the malfunctioning system.
(2) The property owner and/or lessee shall take adequate measures as soon as practicable to abate an immediate health hazard.
(3) If an existing residential individual on-site wastewater disposal system is malfunctioning, the system shall be repaired to reduce the volume of effluent, to adequately treat the effluent and to the greatest extent possible, to confine the discharge to the property of the generator. If repairs are made to significantly upgrade the existing individual on-site wastewater disposal system, the department shall approve the system, if requested.
(4) The property owner or lessee may be assessed a civil penalty not to exceed Five Dollars ($5.00) for each day the individual on-site wastewater disposal system remains unrepaired after the thirty-day period specified in subsection (1) of this section.
(5) The board may assess the property owner or lessee of an individual on-site wastewater disposal system authorized under Section 41-67-3(3) a civil penalty not to exceed Five Dollars ($5.00) for each day the system fails to meet the performance standards of that system after the thirty-day period specified in subsection (1) of this section.
(6) All penalties collected by the board under this section shall be deposited in the State General Fund.
(7) Appeals from the imposition of civil penalty under this section may be taken as provided in Section 41-67-29.
SECTION 105. Section 41-67-23, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
41-67-23. The department or its authorized representative may enter onto property and make inspections of any individual on-site wastewater disposal system as necessary to ensure that the system is in compliance with this chapter and the rules and regulations adopted under this chapter. The department shall give reasonable notice to any property owner, lessee or occupant prior to entry onto the property. The owner, lessee, owner's representative, or occupant of the property on which the system is located shall give the department or its authorized representative reasonable access to the property at reasonable times to make necessary inspections.
SECTION 106. Section 41-67-25, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
41-67-25. (1) A person may not operate as an installer of individual on-site wastewater disposal systems unless that person is currently certified by the department. A person who installs an individual on-site wastewater disposal system on his own property for his primary residence is not considered an installer for purposes of this subsection.
(2) An installer of advanced treatment systems or products must be a factory-trained and authorized representative. The manufacturer must furnish documentation to the department certifying the satisfactory completion of factory training and the establishment of the installer as an authorized manufacturer's representative.
(3) The department shall issue a certification to an installer if the installer:
(a) Completes an application form that complies with this chapter and rules and regulations adopted by the board;
(b) Satisfactorily completes the training program for installation and maintenance provided by the department;
(c) Pays the certification fee once every three (3) years, which shall be an amount not greater than One Hundred Fifty Dollars ($150.00); any increase in the fee charged by the department under this paragraph shall be in accordance with the provisions of Section 41-3-65; and
(d) Provides proof of having a valid general business liability insurance policy in effect with liability limits of at least Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000.00) per occurrence and at least One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000.00) in total aggregate amount.
(4) Each installer shall furnish proof of certification to a property owner, lessee, the owner's representative or occupant of the property on which an individual on-site wastewater disposal system is to be designed, constructed, repaired or installed by that installer and to the department or its authorized representative, if requested.
(5) The department shall provide for renewal of certifications once every three (3) years.
(6) (a) An installer's certification may be suspended or revoked by the department after notice and hearing if the installer violates this chapter or any rule or regulation adopted under this chapter.
(b) The installer may appeal a suspension or revocation under this section as provided by law.
(7) The department shall disseminate to the public an official list of certified installers.
(8) If any person is operating in the state as an installer without certification by the board, the board, after due notice and opportunity for a hearing, may impose a monetary penalty not to exceed Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00) for each violation.
(9) The department shall provide for renewal of installer certifications to be applied for at the local department offices.
SECTION 107. Section 41-67-27, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
41-67-27. A person may not operate a business in or do business in the State of Mississippi as a manufacturer of components used in an individual on-site wastewater disposal system without holding a valid manufacturer's registration issued by the department. If any person is operating in the state as a manufacturer without certification by the department, the department, after due notice and opportunity for a hearing, may impose a monetary penalty not to exceed Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00) for each violation.
SECTION 108. Section 41-67-28, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
41-67-28. (1) Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, any person who shall knowingly violate this chapter or any rule or regulation or written order of the board in pursuance thereof is, upon conviction, guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished as provided in Section 41-3-59.
(2) Each day of a continuing violation is a separate violation.
(3) (a) In addition to all other statutory and common law rights, remedies and defenses, any person who purchases an individual on-site wastewater disposal system and suffers any ascertainable loss of money or property, real or personal, may bring an action at law in the court having jurisdiction in the county in which the installer or manufacturer has the principal place of business, where the act allegedly occurred, to recover any loss of money or damages for the loss of any property resulting from any of the following:
(i) Improper installation of an individual on-site wastewater disposal system due to faulty workmanship;
(ii) Failure of an individual on-site wastewater disposal system to operate properly due to failure to install the system in accordance with any requirements of the manufacturer or in compliance with any rules and regulations of the board; or
(iii) Failure of an individual on-site wastewater disposal system to operate properly due to installation.
(b) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to permit any class action or suit, but every private action must be maintained in the name of and for the sole use and benefit of the individual person.
(4) A person who violates this chapter thereby causing a discharge off the property of the generator shall be liable to the party aggrieved or damaged by that violation for the actual damages and additional punitive damages equal to a maximum of twenty-five percent (25%) of the actual damages proven by the aggrieved party, to be taxed by the court where the suit is heard on an original action, by appeal or otherwise and recovered by a suit at law in any court of competent jurisdiction. In addition, the court may award the prevailing party reasonable attorney's fees and court costs. Before filing suit, the party aggrieved or damaged must give thirty (30) days' written notice of its intent to file suit to the alleged violator.
(5) (a) Any person who violates Section 41-67-7(5) or 41-67-11(2) may be assessed an administrative fine in the amount of Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) and the public water system may discontinue service to that property owner until the failure to comply with Section 41-67-7(5) or 41-67-11(2) has been corrected.
(b) All violators shall be given thirty (30) days' notice before any adverse action.
(c) Any violator shall have the right to appeal an adverse determination through the procedures set out in Section 41-67-29.
SECTION 109. Section 41-67-29, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
41-67-29. Any person who is aggrieved by any final decision of the board may appeal that final decision to the chancery court of the county of the situs in whole or in part of the subject matter. The appellant shall give a cost bond with sufficient sureties, payable to the state in a sum to be fixed by the board or the court and to be filed with and approved by the clerk of the court. The aggrieved party may, within thirty (30) days following a final decision of the board, petition the chancery court for an appeal with supersedeas and the chancellor shall grant a hearing on the petition. Upon good cause shown the chancellor may grant the appeal with supersedeas. The appellant shall be required to post a bond with sufficient sureties according to law in an amount to be determined by the chancellor. The chancery court shall always be deemed open for hearing of appeals and the chancellor may hear the appeal in termtime or in vacation at any place in his district. The appeal shall have precedence over all civil cases, except election contests. The chancery court shall review all questions of law and of fact and may enter a final order or remand the matter to the board for appropriate action as may be indicated or necessary under the circumstances. Appeals may be taken from the chancery court to the Supreme Court in the manner as now required by law, but if a supersedeas is desired by the party appealing to the chancery court, that party may apply therefor to the chancellor, who shall award a writ of supersedeas, without additional bond, if in the chancellor's judgment material damage is not likely to result. If material damage is likely to result, the chancellor shall require a supersedeas bond as deemed proper, which shall be liable to the state for any damage.
SECTION 110. Section 41-67-31, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
41-67-31. Sections 41-67-1 through 41-67-29 and Sections 41-67-33 through 41-67-41 shall stand repealed on July 1, 2023.
SECTION 111. Section 41-67-33, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
41-67-33. (1) The department shall adopt and use procedures for conducting reviews requested by any person aggrieved by the disapproval or requirements for an on-site wastewater disposal system as provided by the department in written form under Section 41-67-6. The procedures shall include that the person may request review by submitting a written request of review to the Director of the Office of Environmental Health. The request for review shall identify the matter contested and state the person's name, mailing address and home and daytime phone numbers. Within ten (10) business days of the receipt of the request for review, the department shall issue in writing a ruling and determination to the person and if any corrections are necessary to any form previously issued by the department, then new forms shall be submitted to the person.
(2) Property owners may apply for a variance from the department by submitting a report for a proposed system to the department from a licensed professional engineer that the proposed wastewater treatment system will properly treat and maintain wastewater on the property and proof that the licensed professional engineer has errors and omissions insurance. The department shall grant the variance but still have authority for final approval to inspect that the system is installed as designed. All forms from the department relating to allowed wastewater systems shall include the variance option.
(3) Any person aggrieved by the ruling issued by the Director of the Office of Environmental Health may apply for a hearing. Any hearing shall be conducted by a hearing officer designated by the department. At the hearing, the hearing officer may conduct reasonable questioning of persons who make relevant factual allegations concerning the proposal. The hearing officer shall require that all persons be sworn before they may offer any testimony at the hearing, and the hearing officer is authorized to administer oaths. Any person so choosing may be represented by counsel at the hearing. A record of the hearing shall be made, which shall consist of a transcript of all testimony received, all documents and other material introduced, the staff report and recommendation, and any other material as the hearing officer considers relevant. He shall make a recommendation within a reasonable period of time after the hearing is closed and after he has had an opportunity to review, study and analyze the evidence presented during the hearing. The completed record shall be certified to the State Health Officer, who shall consider only the record in making his decision, and shall not consider any evidence or material that is not included. All final decisions regarding the disapproval or requirements for an on-site wastewater disposal system shall be made by the State Health Officer. The State Health Officer shall make his written findings and issue his order after reviewing the record, not to exceed thirty (30) days following his receipt of the record.
SECTION 112. Section 41-67-37, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
41-67-37. (1) A person may not operate as a certified professional evaluator in this state unless that person is currently certified by the department or is a licensed professional engineer.
(2) A person must meet one (1) of the following requirements, in addition to the additional requirements set forth in other sections of this chapter and rules and regulations of the board, in order to be eligible to become a certified professional evaluator:
(a) Be a professional geologist registered in the State of Mississippi;
(b) Be a professional soil classifier licensed in the State of Mississippi; or
(c) Be a person who possesses a demonstrable, adequate and appropriate record of professional experience and/or training as determined by the department.
(3) The department shall issue a certification to a certified professional evaluator if the certified professional evaluator:
(a) Completes an application form that complies with this chapter and rules adopted under this chapter;
(b) Satisfactorily completes the certified professional evaluator training program provided by the department;
(c) Pays the certification fee once every three (3) years; any increase in the fee charged by the department under this paragraph shall be in accordance with the provisions of Section 41-3-65; and
(d) Provides proof of having an errors and omissions policy or surety in effect with liability limits of at least Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000.00) per occurrence and at least One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000.00) in total aggregate amount.
(4) Each certified professional evaluator shall furnish proof of certification to a property owner or the owner's representative of the property before performing a site evaluation of the property on which an individual on-site wastewater disposal system is to be designed, constructed, repaired or installed by the certified professional evaluator and to the department or its authorized representative, if requested.
(5) The department shall provide for renewal of certifications once every three (3) years.
(6) The department shall disseminate to the public an official list of certified professional evaluators.
(7) If any person who is not a licensed professional engineer operates in the state as a certified professional evaluator without certification by the department, the department, after due notice and opportunity for a hearing, may impose a monetary penalty not to exceed Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00) for each violation.
SECTION 113. Section 41-67-39, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
41-67-39. (1) A person may not be engaged in the business of removing and disposing of the sludge and liquid waste (septage) from individual on-site wastewater disposal systems in this state unless that person has a valid certificate issued by the department.
(2) The department shall issue a certificate to a pumper if the pumper:
(a) Completes an application form that complies with this chapter and rules adopted under this chapter;
(b) Satisfactorily completes the certified pumper training program provided by the department;
(c) Satisfactorily complies with the requirements of his/her pumping and hauling equipment;
(d) Provides documentation of a disposal site approved by the Department of Environmental Quality, Office of Pollution Control;
(e) Pays the license fee once every three (3) years; any increase in the fee charged by the department under this paragraph shall be in accordance with the provisions of Section 41-3-65; and
(f) Provides proof of having a valid general business liability insurance policy in effect with liability limits of at least Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000.00) per occurrence and at least One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000.00) in total aggregate amount.
(3) Each pumper or designated agent thereof, upon request, shall furnish proof of certification to an individual before entering a contract with that individual for the removing and disposing of the sludge and liquid waste (septage) from an individual on-site wastewater disposal system.
(4) The department shall disseminate to the public an official list of certified pumpers.
(5) If any person operates in the state as a certified pumper without a license by the board, the board, after due notice and opportunity for a hearing, may impose a monetary penalty not to exceed Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00) for each violation.
(6) The department may suspend or revoke a pumper certification if the pumper disposes of septage or other liquid waste in an unpermitted or unapproved site and/or violates this chapter or rules and regulations under this chapter.
(7) A municipal wastewater treatment facility may make a site available for certified pumpers to dispose of septic or other liquid waste.
(8) The department shall provide for renewal of certifications once every three (3) years.
(9) The department must provide for renewal pumper certifications to be applied for at the local department offices.
SECTION 114. Section 41-67-41, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
41-67-41. (1) There is created the Wastewater Advisory
Council for the purpose of advising the department regarding individual on-site wastewater disposal systems. The advisory council shall be composed of the following:
(a) One (1) appointee of the State Health Officer;
(b) One (1) appointee of the Chairman of the State Board of Health;
(c) One (1) appointee of the Chairman of the State Board of Health that represents a Mississippi Aerobic Treatment Unit (ATU) manufacturer;
(d) One (1) appointee of the Chairman of the State Board of Health that represents a certified installer;
(e) One (1) appointee of the Chairman of the State Board of Health that represents a septic tank or aggregate disposal manufacturer;
(f) One (1) appointee of the Executive Director of the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality;
(g) One (1) appointee of the Executive Director of the Office of Pollution Control;
(h) One (1) appointee of the Executive Director of the Mississippi Soil and Water Conservation Commission;
(i) One (1) appointee of the Director of the Mississippi State Board of Registered Professional Geologists;
(j) One (1) appointee of the Chairman of the Department of the Mississippi State University School of Civil and Environmental Engineering Companies;
(k) The federally appointed Mississippi State Soil Scientist, or his designee;
(l) One (1) appointee of the Executive Director of the American Council of Engineering Companies;
(m) One (1) appointee of the Executive Director of the Home Builders Association of Mississippi;
(n) One (1) appointee of the Executive Director of the
Mississippi Engineering Society;
(o) One (1) appointee of the Executive Director of the
Mississippi Manufactured Housing Association;
(p) One (1) appointee of the Executive Director of the Mississippi Rural Water Association;
(q) One (1) appointee of the Executive Director of the Mississippi Association of Supervisors;
(r) One (1) appointee of the President of the Mississippi Pumpers Association;
(s) One (1) appointee of the President of the Mississippi Water and Pollution Control Operators Association, Inc.;
(t) One (1) appointee of the Executive Director of the Mississippi Association of Realtors; and
(u) One (1) appointee of the Executive Director of the Mississippi Municipal League.
(2) The members of the advisory council shall elect a chairman and vice chairman from its membership.
(3) The terms of appointments for each member shall be for a period of two (2) years.
(4) The advisory council shall have quarterly meetings, with at least one (1) of those meetings taking place between forty-five (45) and sixty (60) days before the meeting of the board.
(5) The department shall staff all advisory council meetings and record minutes of those meetings.
SECTION 115. Section 41-67-101, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
41-67-101. (1) There is created the Wastewater Advisory Board for the purpose of advising the Department of Health regarding individual on-site wastewater disposal systems. The advisory board shall be composed of the following:
(a) One (1) appointee of the Executive Director of the American Council of Engineering;
(b) One (1) appointee of the Executive Director of the Office of Pollution Control;
(c) One (1) appointee of the State Health Officer;
(d) One (1) appointee of the Executive Director of the Home Builders Association of Mississippi;
(e) One (1) appointee of the Chairman of the Mississippi State Board of Health that represents a Mississippi ATU manufacturer;
(f) One (1) appointee of the Executive Director of the Mississippi Engineering Society;
(g) One (1) appointee of the Executive Director of the Mississippi Manufactured Housing Association;
(h) One (1) appointee of the Chairman of the Mississippi State Board of Health that represents a certified installer;
(i) One (1) appointee of the Chairman of the Mississippi State Board of Health that represents a septic tank or aggregate disposal manufacturer;
(j) One (1) appointee of the Executive Director of the Mississippi Rural Water Association;
(k) One (1) appointee of the Executive Director of the Mississippi Association of Supervisors;
(l) One (1) appointee of the President of the Mississippi Pumpers Association;
(m) One (1) appointee of the Executive Director of the Mississippi Soil and Water Conservation Commission;
(n) One (1) appointee of the President of the Mississippi Water and Pollution Control Operators Association, Inc.;
(o) The federally appointed Mississippi State Soil Scientist, or his designee;
(p) One (1) appointee of the Director of the Mississippi State Board of Registered Professional Geologists;
(q) One (1) appointee of the Executive Director of the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality;
(r) One (1) appointee of the Chairman of the Mississippi State Board of Health;
(s) One (1) appointee of the Executive Director of the Mississippi Association of Realtors;
(t) One (1) appointee of the Executive Director of the Mississippi Municipal League; and
(u) One (1) appointee of the Chairman of the Department of the Mississippi State University School of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
(2) The members of the advisory committee shall elect a chairman and vice chairman from its membership.
(3) The terms of appointments for each member shall be for a period of two (2) years.
(4) The advisory committee shall have quarterly meetings, with at least one (1) of those meetings taking place between forty-five (45) and sixty (60) days before the meeting of the Mississippi State Board of Health.
(5) The Mississippi Department of Health shall staff all advisory committee meetings and record minutes of those meetings.
SECTION 116. Section 49-17-81, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
49-17-81. Sections 49-17-81 through 49-17-89 shall be known and cited as the "Mississippi Water Pollution Control Revolving Fund and Emergency Loan Fund Act."
SECTION 117. Section 49-17-83, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
49-17-83. For the purposes of Sections 49-17-81 through 49-17-89, the following words and phrases shall have the meaning ascribed in this section:
(a) "Administrator" means the Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
(b) "Commission" means the Mississippi Commission on Environmental Quality.
(c) "Department" means the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality.
(d) "Emergency fund" means the "Water Pollution Control Emergency Loan Fund" created under Section 49-17-86.
(e) "Loan agreement" means an agreement by and among the commission, a political subdivision and the State Tax Commission to evidence the terms and provisions of a loan under Sections 49-17-81 through 49-17-89.
(f) "Loan fund" means the Water Pollution Abatement Loan Fund created pursuant to Section 49-17-61.
(g) "Municipal security" means a bond, note or other evidence of indebtedness issued by a political subdivision to evidence a loan pursuant to the provisions of Sections 49-17-81 through 49-17-89.
(h) "Political subdivision" means any county, municipality, utility, district, political subdivision, or other governmental unit created under state law.
(i) "Project" means a publicly owned wastewater collection, treatment or disposal system including sludge disposal, renovation, repair and upgrading of existing systems, nonpoint source pollution control management programs and estuary conservation and management programs, and otherwise qualified under rules of the commission pursuant to the federal Water Quality Act of 1987.
(j) "Revolving fund" means the Mississippi Water Pollution Control Revolving Fund created under Section 49-17-85.
(k) "State" means the State of Mississippi.
SECTION 118. Section 49-17-85, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
49-17-85. (1) There is established in the State Treasury a fund to be known as the "Water Pollution Control Revolving Fund," which shall be administered by the commission acting through the department. The revolving fund may receive bond proceeds and funds appropriated or otherwise made available by the Legislature in any manner and funds from any other source, public or private. The revolving fund shall be maintained in perpetuity for the purposes established in this section.
(2) There is established in the State Treasury a fund to be known as the "Water Pollution Control Hardship Grants Fund," which shall be administered by the commission acting through the department. The grants fund shall be maintained in perpetuity for the purposes established in this section. Any interest earned on monies in the grants fund shall be credited to that fund.
(3) The commission shall promulgate regulations for the administration of the revolving fund program, the hardship grants program and for related programs authorized under this section. The regulations shall be in accordance with the federal Water Quality Act of 1987, as amended, and regulations and guidance issued under that act. The commission may enter into capitalization grant agreements with the United States Environmental Protection Agency and may accept capitalization grant awards made under Title VI of the Water Quality Act of 1987, as amended.
(4) The commission shall establish a loan program which shall commence after October 1, 1988, to assist political subdivisions in the construction of water pollution control projects. Loans from the revolving fund may be made to political subdivisions as set forth in a loan agreement in amounts not exceeding one hundred percent (100%) of eligible project costs as established by the commission. Notwithstanding loan amount limitations set forth in Section 49-17-61, the commission may require local participation or funding from other sources, or otherwise limit the percentage of costs covered by loans from the revolving fund. The commission may establish a maximum amount for any loan in order to provide for broad and equitable participation in the program.
(5) The commission shall establish a hardship grants program for rural communities, which shall commence after July 1, 1997, to assist severely economically disadvantaged small rural political subdivisions in the construction of water pollution control projects. The commission may receive and administer state or federal funds, or both, appropriated for the operation of this grants program and may take all actions necessary to implement the program in accordance with the federal hardship grants program. The hardship grants program shall operate in conjunction with the revolving loan program administered under this section.
(6) The commission shall act for the state in all matters and with respect to all determinations under Title VI of the federal Water Quality Act of 1987, as amended, and the federal Omnibus Appropriations and Recision Act of 1996.
(7) Except as otherwise provided in this section, the revolving fund may be used only:
(a) To make loans on the condition that:
(i) The loans are made at or below market interest rates, at terms not to exceed the maximum time allowed by federal law after project completion; the interest rate and term may vary from time to time and from loan to loan at the discretion of the commission;
(ii) Periodic principal and interest payments will commence when required by the commission but not later than one (1) year after project completion and all loans will be fully amortized when required by the commission but not later than the maximum time allowed by federal law after project completion;
(iii) The recipient of a loan will establish a dedicated source of revenue for repayment of loans;
(b) To buy or refinance the debt obligation of political subdivisions at or below market rates, where the debt obligations were incurred after March 7, 1985, and where the projects were constructed in compliance with applicable federal and state regulations;
(c) To guarantee, or purchase insurance for, obligations of political subdivisions where the action would improve credit market access or reduce interest rates;
(d) To provide loan guarantees for similar revolving funds established by municipalities or intermunicipal agencies;
(e) To earn interest on fund accounts;
(f) To establish nonpoint source pollution control management programs;
(g) To establish estuary conservation and management programs;
(h) For the reasonable costs of administering the revolving fund and conducting activities under this act, subject to the limitations established in Section 603(d)(7) of Title VI of the federal Clean Water Act, as amended, and subject to annual appropriation by the Legislature;
(i) In connection with the issuance, sale and purchase of bonds under Section 31-25-1 et seq., related to the funding of projects, to provide security or a pledge of revenues for the repayment of the bonds; and
(j) To pay the principal and interest on bonds issued pursuant to Section 11 of Chapter 580, Laws of 2007, Section 1 of Chapter 492, Laws of 2008, Section 47 of Chapter 557, Laws of 2009, Section 45 of Chapter 533, Laws of 2010, Section 3 of Chapter 480, Laws of 2011, Section 36 of Chapter 569, Laws of 2013, Section 9 of Chapter 452, Laws of 2018, Section 1 of Chapter 415, Laws of 2019, Section 16 of Chapter 492, Laws of 2020, and Section 137 of Chapter 480, Laws of 2021, as they become due; however, only interest and investment earnings on money in the fund may be utilized for this purpose.
(8) The hardship grants program shall be used only to provide hardship grants consistent with the federal hardship grants program for rural communities, regulations and guidance issued by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, subsections (3) and (5) of this section and regulations promulgated and guidance issued by the commission under this section.
(9) The commission shall establish by regulation a system of priorities and a priority list of projects eligible for funding with loans from the revolving fund.
(10) The commission may provide a loan from the revolving fund only with respect to a project if that project is on the priority list established by the commission.
(11) The revolving fund shall be credited with all payments of principal and interest derived from the fund uses described in subsection (7) of this section. However, notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, all or any portion of payments of principal and interest derived from the fund uses described in subsection (7) of this section may be designated or pledged for repayment of a loan as provided in Section 31-25-28 in connection with a loan from the Mississippi Development Bank.
(12) The commission may establish and collect fees to defray the reasonable costs of administering the revolving fund if it determines that the administrative costs will exceed the limitations established in Section 603(d)(7) of Title VI of the federal Clean Water Act, as amended. The administration fees may be included in loan amounts to political subdivisions for the purpose of facilitating payment to the commission. The fees may not exceed five percent (5%) of the loan amount.
(13) Except as otherwise provided in this section, the commission may, on a case-by-case basis and to the extent allowed by federal law, renegotiate the payment of principal and interest on loans made under this section to the six (6) most southern counties of the state covered by the Presidential Declaration of Major Disaster for the State of Mississippi (FEMA-1604-DR) dated August 29, 2005, and to political subdivisions located in such counties; however, the interest on the loans shall not be forgiven for a period of more than twenty-four (24) months and the maturity of the loans shall not be extended for a period of more than forty-eight (48) months.
(14) The commission may, on a case-by-case basis and to the extent allowed by federal law, renegotiate the payment of principal and interest on loans made under this section to Hancock County as a result of coverage under the Presidential Declaration of Major Disaster for the State of Mississippi (FEMA-1604-DR) dated August 29, 2005, and to political subdivisions located in Hancock County.
SECTION 119. Section 49-17-86, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
49-17-86. (1) (a) There is created a fund in the State Treasury to be designated as the "Water Pollution Control Emergency Loan Fund" hereinafter referred to as "emergency fund."
(b) The emergency fund may receive appropriations, bond proceeds, grants, gifts, donations or funds from any source, public or private. The emergency fund shall be credited with all repayments of principal and interest derived from loans made from the emergency fund.
(c) The monies in the emergency fund may be expended only in amounts appropriated by the Legislature.
(d) The emergency fund shall be maintained in perpetuity for the purposes established in Sections 49-17-81 through 49-17-89. Unexpended amounts remaining in the emergency fund at the end of a fiscal year shall not lapse into the State General Fund. Any interest earned on amounts in the emergency fund shall be deposited to the credit of the fund.
(2) The commission shall establish a loan program to assist political subdivisions in making emergency improvements such as repairs to or replacement of machinery, equipment, materials, structures or devices in existing water pollution abatement projects or such other emergency water pollution abatement projects as the commission deems necessary. Loans from the emergency fund may be made to political subdivisions as set forth in a loan agreement in amounts not exceeding one hundred percent (100%) of eligible project costs as established by the commission. The commission may require local participation or funding from other sources, or otherwise limit the percentage of costs covered by loans from the emergency fund. The commission may establish a maximum amount for any loan not to exceed Three Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($350,000.00).
(3) Except as otherwise provided in this section, the emergency fund may be used only:
(a) To make loans on the condition that:
(i) Loans are made at or below market interest rates, at terms not to exceed ten (10) years after project completion; the interest rate may vary from time to time and from loan to loan at the discretion of the commission.
(ii) Periodic principal and interest payments will commence when required by the commission but not later than one (1) year after project completion and all loans will be fully amortized when required by the commission but not later than ten (10) years after project completion.
(iii) The recipient of a loan shall establish a dedicated source of revenue for repayment of loans. In addition, the commission may require any loan recipient to impose a per connection surcharge on each customer for repayment of any loan funds provided under this section.
(iv) The recipient of the loan is not in arrears in repayments to the Water Pollution Control Revolving Fund, the Water Pollution Control Emergency Loan Fund or under the Water Pollution Abatement Loan Program.
(b) To provide financial assistance to political subdivisions in making emergency improvements such as repairs to or replacement of machinery, equipment, materials, structures or devices in existing water pollution abatement projects or such other emergency water pollution abatement projects as the commission deems necessary.
(c) To defray the reasonable costs of administering the emergency fund and conducting activities under this section, subject to annual appropriation by the Legislature.
(4) The commission shall establish a system of evaluating the eligibility of projects, including a determination of the emergency nature of a situation for which funding is sought.
(5) The fund will be credited with all payments of principal and interest derived from the fund uses described in subsection (3) of this section. However, notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, all or any portion of payments of principal and interest derived from the fund uses described in subsection (3) of this section may be designated or pledged for repayment of a loan as provided for in Section 31-25-28 in connection with a loan from the Mississippi Development Bank.
(6) In addition to any amounts allowed under subsection (3)(c), the commission may establish and collect fees to further defray the reasonable costs of administering the emergency fund. Any administrative fees may be included in loan amounts to political subdivisions for the purpose of facilitating payment to the commission; fees may not exceed five percent (5%) of the loan amount. The commission may also use administrative fees collected pursuant to Section 49-17-85 to defray the reasonable costs of administering the emergency fund.
(7) The board may, on a case-by-case basis, renegotiate the payment of principal and interest on loans made under this section to the six (6) most southern counties of the state covered by the Presidential Declaration of Major Disaster for the State of Mississippi (FEMA-1604-DR) dated August 29, 2005, and to political subdivisions located in such counties; however, the interest on the loans shall not be forgiven for a period of more than twenty-four (24) months and the maturity of the loans shall not be extended for a period of more than forty-eight (48) months.
SECTION 120. Section 49-17-87, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
49-17-87. (1) A political subdivision which receives a loan from the revolving fund or emergency fund is required to and authorized to pledge for the repayment of such loan (a) any part of the sales tax reimbursement to which it may be entitled under Section 27-65-75, and (b) any part of the homestead exemption annual tax loss reimbursement to which it may be entitled under Section 27-33-77, to meet a repayment schedule set forth in a loan agreement. The loan agreement shall provide for (i) monthly payments, (ii) semiannual payments or (iii) other periodic payments, the annual total of which shall not exceed the annual total for any other year of the loan by more than fifteen percent (15%). The loan agreement shall provide for the repayment of all funds received from the revolving fund within the maximum time allowed by federal law after project completion and repayment of all funds received from the emergency fund within not more than ten (10) years from the date of project completion. The Department of Revenue shall pay to the revolving fund or emergency fund monthly, or as often as is practicable, from the amount, which would otherwise be remitted to a political subdivision from its sales tax reimbursement or homestead exemption annual tax loss reimbursement, the amounts set forth in such loan agreement.
(2) Before any political subdivision shall receive any loan from the revolving fund or the emergency fund, it shall have executed with the Department of Revenue and the commission a loan agreement evidencing that loan. The loan agreement hereinabove provided for shall not be construed to prohibit any recipient from prepaying any part or all of the funds received.
(3) As determined by the commission, any political subdivision desiring to construct a project approved by the department and which receives a loan from the state for that purpose may be required to pledge as security for the repayment of that loan, all or any part of the revenues of any project constructed, improved, repaired, replaced, purchased or refinanced with the proceeds of such loan. Whenever any project is a part of a system or combined system, then all or any portion of the revenues of that system or combined system may be pledged to secure repayment of a loan as determined by the commission.
The loan agreement shall provide for periodic payments, the annual total of which shall not exceed the annual total for any other year of the loan by more than fifteen percent (15%). The repayment schedule shall provide for the repayment of all funds received from the revolving fund within the maximum time allowed by federal law after project completion and repayment of all funds received from the emergency fund within not more than ten (10) years from the date of project completion. Payments under the loan agreement shall be made prior to the payments of principal or interest on any bonds issued by the political subdivision in connection with the project or projects to which loans from the revolving fund or emergency fund are made.
The State Auditor, upon the request of the commission, shall audit the receipts and expenditures of each district whose monthly payments are to be received by the department, and if the State Auditor should find the political subdivision in arrears, the Auditor shall immediately begin withholding from funds due the taxing district in which the political subdivision is located, under Section 27-33-41, an amount equal to the payment due plus accrued interest, late charges and expenses incurred in the audit and issue a warrant for that amount to the revolving fund or emergency fund as directed below.
The loan agreement hereinabove provided for shall not be construed to prohibit any recipient from prepaying any part or all of the funds received.
(4) Loans or any bonds or other evidences of indebtedness which are incurred or issued either pursuant to this chapter or Section 31-25-1 et seq., in relation to this chapter, or pursuant to any other law as evidence of any loan made or indebtedness incurred pursuant to this chapter, shall not be deemed indebtedness within the meaning specified in Section 21-33-303, with regard to cities or incorporated towns, in Section 19-9-5, with regard to counties, and in any other state law establishing a similar indebtedness limitation with regard to political subdivisions other than cities, incorporated towns and counties.
SECTION 121. Section 49-17-89, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
49-17-89. (1) Political subdivisions are hereby authorized to borrow monies under the provisions of Sections 49-17-81 through 49-17-89 to issue municipal securities to evidence such loans, and to enter into such other agreements necessary for such loans and municipal securities on such terms and conditions as such political subdivisions shall deem necessary and advisable.
(2) In connection with the issuance of municipal securities by political subdivisions to evidence loans under the provisions of this chapter and as may be required by Section 31-25-1 et seq., the following provisions shall specifically apply:
(a) No notice of intent to issue municipal securities as may otherwise be required by state law shall be required.
(b) The governing body of the political subdivision shall adopt such resolutions as may be necessary to borrow monies under this chapter, to issue and sell municipal securities to evidence such loans, and to approve and authorize the execution of any agreements related thereto.
(c) Such loans and municipal securities shall be secured as provided for in Section 49-17-87.
(d) Such loans and municipal securities shall not be deemed general obligations.
(e) Such municipal securities shall be sold only to evidence the repayment of a loan under this chapter and may be sold at such price or prices, in such form, and subject to such terms and conditions of issue, redemption and maturity, rate of interest and time of payment of interest as otherwise provided for a loan under this chapter.
(f) A political subdivision may pay all expenses, premiums, fees and commissions which it may deem necessary and advantageous in connection with any loan and the issuance and sale of municipal securities under this chapter.
(g) Municipal securities issued under this chapter need not be validated as provided in Section 31-13-1 et seq.
(h) This section shall be deemed to provide an additional, alternate and complete method for the doing of the things authorized hereby and shall be deemed and construed to be supplemental to any provisions of any other laws and not in derogation of any such provisions. In connection with the issuance of municipal securities under this chapter, a political subdivision shall not be required to comply with the provisions of any other law except as provided herein.
SECTION 122. Section 51-41-1, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
51-41-1. It is the intent of the Legislature to provide a means, in addition to the incorporation of districts authorized in Sections 19-1-151 through 19-5-207, by which not-for-profit corporations or associations involved in the sale, transmission and distribution of potable water to members of the public and others may convert their entity status from that of a body corporate to that of a body politic, thereby allowing those entities the opportunity to access the tax-exempt capital markets and thereby assuring the State of Mississippi and the customers of those entities of adequate supplies of water at the lowest water rates possible.
SECTION 123. Section 51-41-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
51-41-3. As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:
(a) "Board" means the board of directors of the water authority;
(b) "Bond" means any bond, promissory note, lease purchase agreement or other evidence of indebtedness of any nature along with all debt securing instruments of every nature related thereto;
(c) "Indenture" means a mortgage, an indenture of mortgage, deed of trust, trust agreement, loan agreement, security agreement or trust indenture executed by the water authority as security for any bonds;
(d) "Project" means any raw or potable water or wastewater intake, treatment, distribution, transmission, storage, pumping, well site, well field or other facility or system, or any combination of the foregoing, that has as its purpose the providing of raw or potable water to members of the public and commercial, industrial or other users or the treatment of wastewater, along with any and all other appurtenances, equipment, betterments or improvements related thereto. The above projects may include any lands, or interest in any lands, deemed by the board to be desirable in connection with the projects, and necessary equipment for the proper functioning and operation of the buildings or facilities involved;
(e) "Qualified corporation" means any not-for-profit corporation or association that provides, distributes, transmits, treats, pumps or stores raw or potable water to or for the benefit of members of the general public and commercial, industrial and other users;
(f) "United States" means the United States of America or any of its agencies or instrumentalities;
(g) "State" means the State of Mississippi; and
(h) "Water authority" means that body politic and governmental entity organized under the provisions of this chapter.
SECTION 124. Section 51-41-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
51-41-5. This chapter shall be liberally construed in conformity with its intent. All acts and activities of the water authority performed under the authority of this chapter are legislatively determined and declared to be essential governmental functions.
SECTION 125. Section 51-41-7, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
51-41-7. There is conferred upon a water authority, the authority to take such action and to do, or cause to be done, such things as are necessary or desirable to accomplish and implement the purposes and intent of this chapter according to the import of this chapter.
SECTION 126. Section 51-41-9, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
51-41-9. (1) Whenever a qualified corporation desires to convert into and become reconstituted and reincorporated as a water authority under this chapter, the qualified corporation shall present to and file with the Secretary of State:
(a) Its resolution duly adopted by the board of directors of the qualified corporation that evidences the desire of the qualified corporation to convert into and become reconstituted and reincorporated as a water authority and that also certifies that the qualified corporation:
(i) Was initially formed as a not-for-profit corporation or association; and
(ii) Desires to operate as a public body authorized under the laws of Mississippi as a result of its conversion and reconstitution as a water authority under this chapter;
(b) Its application for reconstitution and certificate of incorporation, which shall state and include the following information:
(i) The name of the water authority, which shall be "The ____________ Public Water Authority of the State of Mississippi," or some other name of similar import, it being understood that the water authority may adopt a fictitious operational name upon written request to and approval by the Secretary of State;
(ii) The location of the water authority's principal office, and the number of directors of the water authority, which shall be subject to change and modification as provided in the water authority's bylaws;
(iii) The names and addresses of the initial board of directors of the water authority;
(iv) The name and address of the agent for service of process of the water authority; and
(v) Any other matters that the initial board of directors of the water authority may deem necessary and appropriate;
(c) A copy of the water authority's bylaws along with any other information that the initial board of directors of the water authority may deem necessary and appropriate;
(d) A statement and certification from the Secretary of State that the proposed name of the water authority is not identical with that of any other water authority in the state, or so nearly similar thereto as to lead to confusion and uncertainty; and
(e) A reasonable filing and review fee that the Secretary of State may designate and determine from time to time, which shall not be in excess of the filing fee charged in connection with the receipt and filing of a corporation's articles of incorporation.
(2) Two (2) or more qualified corporations may jointly convert into and become reconstituted and reincorporated as one (1) water authority under the same procedure as specified for one (1) qualified corporation under this chapter.
SECTION 127. Section 51-41-11, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
51-41-11. The application for reconstitution and certificate of incorporation shall be signed and acknowledged by a majority of the board of directors of the qualified corporation. When the application for reconstitution and certificate of incorporation and other required documents have been so filed with and accepted by the Secretary of State, as evidenced by the issuance by the Secretary of State of its certificate of existence in a form that the Secretary of State may deem appropriate, the water authority referred to in the application shall come into existence and shall constitute a body corporate and politic in perpetuity with power of perpetual succession and a political subdivision of the state under the name set forth in the application, and the water authority shall be vested with the rights and powers granted in this chapter and any other applicable laws. At the same time, the qualified corporation shall cease to exist and all assets and liabilities of every nature, including without limitation, all real property, personal property, certificate of public necessity and convenience, contractual obligations, lending obligations outstanding, rights afforded borrowers of federal and state funds and other tangible and intangible assets and liabilities of every nature shall, without need for further action or approval by any third party, be vested in and shall accrue to the benefit of the water authority. The water authority shall then send notice of transfer of said certificate to the Mississippi Public Service Commission.
SECTION 128. Section 51-41-13, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
51-41-13. (1) The water authority shall have a board of directors composed of the number of directors provided in the application for reconstitution and certificate of incorporation, which shall not be fewer than five (5) directors. All powers of the water authority shall be exercised by the board or under its authorization.
(2) The directors shall be elected and determined, and shall serve in accordance with those procedures that the water authority may specify in its bylaws; provided, however, that each water or sewer user served by the water authority shall be entitled to vote on the election of directors of the water authority. The water authority's bylaws shall contain provisions and procedures for the election and appointment of its directors that are identical in nature to those same provisions and procedures as contained in the qualified corporation's bylaws, unless otherwise amended by the water authority or required by state law. A water authority shall promptly file a copy of any amendments to its bylaws with the Secretary of State. A water authority also may promulgate rules and regulations, not inconsistent with state law, containing provisions and procedures for the election and appointment of its directors.
(3) Each director shall take and subscribe to the oath of office prescribed in Section 268, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, that he will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of director, which oath shall be maintained on file by the water authority. Before entering upon the discharge of the duties of his office, each director shall be required to execute a bond payable to the State of Mississippi in the penal sum of Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00), conditioned that he will faithfully discharge the duties of his office.
(4) A majority of the members of the board shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. No vacancy in the membership of the board shall impair the right of a quorum to exercise all the powers and duties of the water authority. A director shall continue in office until the director's successor is properly elected and accepts office.
(5) The members of the board and the officers of the water authority shall serve without compensation, except that they may be reimbursed for actual expenses incurred in and about the performance of their duties.
(6) All meetings and records of the water authority shall be subject to the Mississippi Open Meetings Act and the Mississippi Public Records Act.
(7) All proceedings of the board shall be reduced to writing by the secretary of the water authority and appropriately recorded and maintained in a well bound book.
SECTION 129. Section 51-41-15, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
51-41-15. The officers of the water authority shall consist of a chairman, vice chairman, a secretary, a treasurer, and such other officers as the board deems necessary to accomplish the purposes for which the water authority was organized. All officers of the water authority shall be persons who receive water service from the water authority. The offices of secretary and treasurer may, but need not, be held by the same person. The treasurer or secretary-treasurer shall be required to execute a bond payable to the water authority, in a sum and with such security as fixed and approved by the board. All officers of the water authority shall be elected by the board and shall serve for those terms of office as specified in the bylaws.
SECTION 130. Section 51-41-17, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
51-41-17. The water authority shall have the following powers, acting either individually or jointly with other water authorities or public entities, together with all powers incidental thereto or necessary to the discharge thereof:
(a) To have succession in its designated name;
(b) To sue and be sued and to prosecute and defend suits in any court having jurisdiction of the subject matter and of the parties;
(c) To make use of a seal and to alter it at pleasure;
(d) To adopt and alter bylaws for the regulations and conduct of its affairs and business;
(e) To acquire, whether by purchase, gift, lease, devise, or otherwise, property of every description which the board may deem necessary to the acquisition, construction, equipment, improvement, enlargement, operation, administration or maintenance of a project, and to hold title thereto;
(f) To construct, enlarge, equip, improve, maintain, consolidate, administer and operate one or more projects;
(g) To borrow money, including interim construction financing, for any of its purposes;
(h) To sell and issue its bonds;
(i) To sell and issue refunding bonds;
(j) To secure any of its bonds by pledge and indenture as provided in this chapter;
(k) To appoint, employ and compensate such general managers, executive directors, agents, architects, engineers, attorneys, accountants and other persons and employees as the business of the water authority may require;
(l) To provide for such insurance as the board may deem advisable;
(m) To invest in obligations that are direct or guaranteed obligations of the United States of America, or other securities in which public funds may be invested by any other political subdivision under the laws of this state, any of its funds that the board may determine are not presently needed for its operational purposes;
(n) To contract, lease and make lease agreements respecting its properties or any part thereof;
(o) To exercise the power of eminent domain in accordance with the procedures prescribed by Title 11, Chapter 27, Mississippi Code of 1972;
(p) To sell, convey or otherwise dispose of any of its properties or projects; and
(q) To exercise and hold the authority and power granted to water supply systems and sewer systems under Sections 19-5-173, 19-5-175, 19-5-177 and 19-5-203.
SECTION 131. Section 51-41-19, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
51-41-19. Each project, all the water authority's interest therein, and all income from the project, is determined and declared by the Legislature to be public property used exclusively for a public purpose and shall be exempt from ad valorem taxation by all taxing authorities.
SECTION 132. Section 51-41-21, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
51-41-21. (1) The water authority is authorized at any time, and from time to time, to issue its bonds for the purpose of acquiring, constructing, improving, enlarging, completing and equipping one or more projects.
(2) Before the water authority's proposed issuance of bonds, the water authority shall publish one (1) time in a newspaper of general circulation in the affected county or counties, notice of the proposed issuance of bonds, the approximate principal amount of bonds contemplated to be sold, a general description of the project contemplated to be constructed with bond proceeds and the date of a public meeting at which members of the public may obtain further information regarding the sale of the bonds and the development of the project. The notice shall be published at least ten (10) days before the date of the hearing. The water authority chairman, or his or her designee, shall be responsible for conducting the hearing and shall require all public comments that might pertain to the proposed issuance of bonds by the water authority. Upon compliance with the provisions of this section, no other notice, hearing or approval by any other entity or governmental unit shall be required as a condition to the issuance by the water authority of its contemplated bonds.
(3) The principal of, and the interest, if any, on any bonds shall be payable out of the revenues derived from the projects with respect to which the bonds are issued, or from any other source available to the water authority.
(4) None of the bonds of the water authority shall ever constitute an obligation or debt of the state, the municipality or county in which the water authority operates, the Secretary of State, or any officer or director of the water authority, or a charge against the credit or taxing powers of the state.
(5) As the water authority determines, bonds of the water authority may:
(a) Be issued at any time and from time to time;
(b) Be in such form and denominations;
(c) Have such date or dates;
(d) Mature at such time or times and in such amount or amounts, provided that no bonds may mature more than forty (40) years after the date of issuance;
(e) Bear interest, if applicable, payable at such times and such rate or rates as may be established by the board;
(f) Be payable at such place or places within or without the State of Mississippi;
(g) Be subject to such terms of redemption in advance of maturity at such prices, including such premiums; and
(h) Contain such other terms and provisions as may be appropriate or necessary in the discretion of the water authority.
(6) Bonds of the water authority may be sold at either public or private sale in such manner, and from time to time, as may be determined by the board to be most advantageous. The water authority may pay all expenses, premiums and commissions that the board may deem necessary or advantageous in connection with the authorization, sale and issuance of its bonds.
(7) All bonds shall contain a recital that they are issued under the provisions of this chapter, which recital shall be conclusive that they have been duly authorized under the provisions of this chapter.
(8) All bonds issued under the provisions of this chapter shall be and are declared to be negotiable instruments within the meaning of the negotiable instruments law of the state and shall be in registered form.
(9) All bonds issued by a water authority may be validated upon the direction of the board under Sections 31-13-1 through 31-13-11. The validation hearing shall be held in the county in which the principal office of the water authority is located.
SECTION 133. Section 51-41-23, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
51-41-23. Bonds shall be executed by the manual or facsimile signature of the chairman of the water authority and by manual or facsimile signature of the secretary of the water authority. In case any of the officers whose signatures appear on the bonds cease to be that officer before the delivery of the bonds, their signatures shall nevertheless be valid and sufficient for all purposes. The bonds shall be sealed with the seal of the water authority.
SECTION 134. Section 51-41-25, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
51-41-25. (1) The principal of, and interest, if any, on the bonds, may be secured by a pledge of the revenues of the water authority of that project financed by the water authority through its issuance of bonds, or from any other source that the water authority may deem necessary and appropriate, and may be secured by the creation of a mortgage and security interest encumbering the real property of the water authority, or security interest in all personal property and revenues of the water authority as set forth in the indenture.
(2) The trustee under any indenture may be a trust company or bank having trust powers, whether located within or without the state.
(3) The indenture may contain any agreements and provisions customarily contained in instruments securing evidences of indebtedness, including, without limiting, the generality of the foregoing provisions respecting the nature and extent of the security; the collection, segregation and application of the revenues generated from the operation of any project covered by the indenture; covenants to always operate the project as a revenue-producing undertaking and to charge and collect, including the obligation to increase from time to time, sufficient revenue to maintain income at required levels; the maintenance and insurance of the project; the creation and maintenance of reserve and other special funds; and the rights and remedies available in the event of default to the holders of the bonds or the trustees under the indenture, all as the board shall deem advisable and as shall not be in conflict with the provisions of this chapter.
(4) If there is any default by the water authority in payment of the principal of, or the interest, if any, on the bonds or in any of the agreements on the part of the water authority that may properly be included in any indenture securing the bonds, the bondholders or the trustee under any indenture, as authorized in the indenture, may either in law or in equity, by suit, action, mandamus, or other proceeding, enforce payment of the principal or interest, if any, and compel performance of all duties of the board and officers of the water authority, and shall be entitled as a matter of right and regardless of the sufficiency of any such security to the appointment of a receiver in equity with all the powers of that receiver for the operation and maintenance of the project covered by the indenture and the collection, segregation, and applications of income and revenues from the project.
(5) The indenture may contain provisions regarding the rights and remedies of any trustee under the indenture and the holders of the bonds and the coupons and restricting the individual rights of action of the holders of the bonds and coupons.
(6) There is created a statutory lien in the nature of a mortgage lien upon any project, system or systems acquired or constructed with proceeds of bonds issued by a water authority under this chapter, including all extensions and improvements thereof or combinations thereof subsequently made, the lien shall be in favor of the holder or holders of any bonds issued under this chapter, and all that property shall remain subject to the statutory lien until the payment in full of the principal of and interest, if any, on the bonds. Any holder of the bonds or any of the coupons representing interest on the bonds may, either at law or in equity, by suit, action, mandamus or other proceedings, in any court of competent jurisdiction, protect and enforce the statutory lien and compel the performance of all duties required by this chapter, including the making and collection of sufficient rates for the service or services, the proper accounting thereof, and the performance of any duties required by covenants with the holders of any bonds issued under this chapter.
If any default is made in the payment of the principal of or interest, if any, on the bonds, any court having jurisdiction of the action may appoint a receiver to administer the water authority and the project, system or systems, with power to charge and collect rates sufficient to provide for the payment of all bonds and obligations outstanding against project, system or systems, and for payment of operating expenses, and to apply the income and revenues thereof in conformity with the provisions of this chapter and any covenants with bondholders.
SECTION 135. Section 51-41-27, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
51-41-27. The principal of and interest, if any, on bonds issued under the authority of this chapter shall be exempt from all state, county and municipal taxes. This exemption shall include income, inheritance and estate taxes.
SECTION 136. Section 51-41-29, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
51-41-29. (1) The proceeds derived from all of the bonds, other than refunding bonds, may be used only to pay the costs of acquiring, constructing, improving, enlarging and equipping the project with respect to which they were issued, as may be specified in the proceedings in which the bonds are authorized to be issued and all costs incidental thereto, including, without limitation:
(a) The costs of any land forming a part of the project and all easements that may pertain to or be associated with any project;
(b) The costs of the labor, materials and supplies used in any construction, improvement and enlargement, including architect's and engineer's fees and the cost of preparing contract documents and advertising for bids along with all other reasonable and necessary project cost;
(c) The purchase price of and the cost of installing equipment for the project;
(d) Legal, fiscal, accounting and recording fees and expenses incurred in connection with the authorization, sale and issuance of the bonds issued in connection with the project;
(e) Interest, if any, on bonds for a reasonable period before, during and after the time required for completion of the project;
(f) The amount necessary to fund a debt service reserve in an amount deemed appropriate by the water authority;
(g) Cost associated with the obtaining of default insurance ratings and other credit enhancements of every nature; and
(h) Other operational expenses, reserves and other accounts of every nature.
(2) If any of the proceeds derived from the issuance of bonds remains undisbursed after completion of the project and the making of all such expenditures, the balance shall be used for the redemption of bonds of the same issue.
SECTION 137. Section 51-41-31, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
51-41-31. (1) The water authority may at any time, and from time to time, issue refunding bonds for the purpose of refunding the principal of and interest, if any, on any bonds of the water authority previously issued under this chapter and then outstanding, whether or not the principal and interest have matured at the time of the refunding under this chapter, and for the payment of any expenses incurred in connection with the refunding and any premium necessary to be paid in order to redeem or retire the bonds to be refunded.
(2) The proceeds derived from the sale of any refunding bonds shall be used only for the purposes for which the refunding bonds were authorized to be issued.
(3) Any such refunding may be effected either by sale of the refunding bonds and the application of the proceeds thereof by immediate application or by escrow deposit, with the right to invest monies in the escrow deposit until needed for the redemption or by exchange of the refunding bonds for the bonds or interest coupons to be refunded thereby. However, the holders of any bonds so to be refunded shall not be compelled without their consent to surrender their bonds for payment or exchange before the date on which they may be paid or redeemed by the water authority under their respective provisions.
(4) Any refunding bonds of the water authority shall be payable solely from the revenues out of which the bonds to be refunded were payable or from those other sources or other revenues that might be identified in the indenture.
(5) All provisions of this chapter pertaining to bonds of the water authority that are not inconsistent with the provisions of this section shall, to the extent applicable, also apply to refunding bonds issued by the water authority.
SECTION 138. Section 51-41-33, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
51-41-33. This chapter shall be deemed to be full and complete authority for the creation of water authorities and the issuance of bonds as set forth in this chapter. No proceedings shall be required for the creation of water authorities or the issuance of bonds other than those provided for and required in this chapter. The board of directors of a water authority shall have all the powers necessary in order to carry out the provisions of this chapter.
SECTION 139. Section 77-3-1, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
77-3-1. Except as otherwise provided in Section 77-3-6, any public utility as defined in paragraph (d) of Section 77-3-3, owned or operated by a municipality shall not be subject to the provisions of this article, except as to extension of utilities greater than one (1) mile outside corporate boundaries after March 29, 1956.
SECTION 140. Section 77-3-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
77-3-5. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, and subject only to the limitations imposed in this chapter and in accordance with the provisions of this chapter, the Public Service Commission shall have exclusive original jurisdiction over the intrastate business and property of public utilities and, for purposes of clarification of the existing scope of said exclusive original jurisdiction, such exclusive original jurisdiction extends, but is not limited to: the establishment of retail rates; challenges, including customer complaints, to the amount of a retail rate or customer bill or whether such rate is just and reasonable; and challenges to the validity or accuracy of rates charged by a public utility, or to the accuracy or reliability of information submitted to the Public Service Commission by a public utility or other person in support of or in opposition to a proposed or approved rate, regardless of the legal theory upon which any such challenge is made. However, the commission shall not have jurisdiction over the production and gathering of natural gas or the sale of natural gas in or within the vicinity of the field where produced, or over the facilities and equipment utilized in any such operations, including, but not limited to, such facilities as separators, scrubbers and gasoline plants of all types. Further, the commission shall not have jurisdiction over the governance, management or other internal affairs of entities as described by paragraphs (b) and (c) below. Moreover, the commission shall not have jurisdiction to regulate the rates for the sales and/or distribution:
(a) Of gas, water, electricity or sewage disposal services by municipalities to such persons as said municipalities are authorized by law to serve;
(b) Of gas or electricity by cooperative gas or electric power associations to the members thereof as consumers, except as provided by Section 77-3-17, where service is rendered in a municipality;
(c) Of water or sewage disposal service by nonprofit corporations or associations where the governing body of such corporation or association is elected by the consumers thereof or appointed by the county board of supervisors; or
(d) Of water by districts organized under the provisions of Chapter 45, Laws of 1966-1967, Extraordinary Session.
SECTION 141. Section 77-3-97, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
77-3-97. (1) The Legislature finds that the conservation of water resources is vitally important to the future of our state, and that in order to enhance the conservation of water resources, it is necessary to grant specific authority for the provision of submetering of water and wastewater disposal service.
(2) As used in this section, the following words and phrases have the meanings ascribed in this subsection, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
(a) "Apartment house" means one or more buildings containing four (4) or more dwelling units that are occupied primarily for nontransient use, including a residential condominium whether rented or owner occupied, and if a dwelling unit is rented, having rental paid at intervals of one (1) month or longer.
(b) "Dwelling unit" means one or more rooms in an apartment house or condominium, suitable for occupancy as a residence, and containing kitchen and bathroom facilities, or a manufactured home in a manufactured home community.
(c) "Customer" means the individual, firm or corporation in whose name a master meter has been connected by a public utility.
(d) "Owner" means the legal titleholder of an apartment house or manufactured home community and any individual, firm or corporation that purports to be the landlord of tenants in the apartment house or manufactured home community.
(e) "Tenant" means a person who is entitled to occupy a dwelling unit to the exclusion of others and who is obligated to pay for the occupancy under a written or oral rental agreement.
(f) "Manufactured home community" means a property on which spaces are rented for the occupancy of: (i) manufactured homes for nontransient residential use and for which rental is paid at intervals of one (1) month or longer; or (ii) recreational vehicles for nontransient residential use for a time period of three (3) months or longer.
(g) "Submetering" means the use of a metering device by a customer who receives water and wastewater service from a public utility, which metering device measures water supplied to a tenant for the purpose of the customer's charging the tenant of a dwelling unit separately for water and wastewater usage.
(3) (a) An apartment house owner, manufactured home community owner or condominium manager may provide for submetering of each dwelling unit or rental unit for the measurement of the quantity of water consumed by the occupants of the unit. If submetering is utilized, tenants may be charged separately for water and wastewater services on a pass through allocated basis for charges incurred by the customer. The charges for a tenant may not exceed the tenant's pro rata share of all water and wastewater services used by all of the tenants in that apartment house, manufactured home community or condominium.
(b) Any apartment house owner, manufactured home community owner or condominium manager utilizing submetering pursuant to this section shall disclose the submetering to each tenant and obtain from the tenant an acknowledgment of the submetering in a written document.
(c) Submeters installed pursuant to this section must meet the American Water Works Association standards for accuracy.
(d) In rendering charges to tenants pursuant to this section, the customer shall provide:
(i) Beginning and ending meter reads;
(ii) A statement that the bill is not from the public utility; and
(iii) A telephone number for tenant inquiries on the bill.
(e) Water and wastewater services utilized by the tenant may not be disconnected for nonpayment of submetered bills.
SECTION 142. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2023.