House Bill 1194

(As Passed the House)

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 19-5-93, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO AUTHORIZE THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF ANY COUNTY TO DONATE FUNDS TO ANY DESIGNATED COMMUNITY OF THE MISSISSIPPI MAIN STREET ASSOCIATION AS WELL AS TO ANY CIVIL RIGHTS MEMORIALS, SITES AND DESTINATIONS WITHIN A COUNTY; TO ESTABLISH THE 2023 SUPPLEMENTARY RURAL FIRE TRUCK ACQUISITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. Section 19-5-93, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

19-5-93. The board of supervisors of each county is authorized, in its discretion, to donate money for the objects and purposes following, to wit:

(a) Confederate graves. For the location, marking, care and maintenance of the grave or graves and graveyard of Confederate soldiers or sailors who died in the Confederate service, and the purchase, if necessary, of the land on which any of the said graveyards may be situated, and the erection and maintenance of appropriate monuments and appropriate inscriptions thereon. In the exercise of this power the board is fully authorized to accept donations of land on which any of said graveyards may be situated and also money or funds to be used for any of the purposes in this section expressed.

Any board of supervisors may, in its discretion, contribute money to be used for the upkeep of graves of the Confederate dead in its county.

(b) Care of the aged. For the support and maintenance of such residents of the county who are worthy, indigent aged inmates of the Old Ladies' Home of Jackson, Mississippi, or of the Golden Age Nursing Home and Hospital for North Mississippi of Greenwood, Mississippi, and not exceeding Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) per annum for the support of the county's inmates of the Old Men's Home, located near Jackson, Mississippi, and in addition thereto a sum not exceeding Two Hundred Dollars ($200.00) per annum to each of said institutions for their support and maintenance in the care of the aged.

(d) Travelers Aid Society. A sum of money not exceeding Fifteen Dollars ($15.00) per month for the support of the organization known as the Travelers Aid Society, provided the same is nonsectarian.

(e) Hospitals for pellagra sufferers. For the establishment and maintenance of a hospital for the treatment of persons afflicted with pellagra. For this purpose the board may issue bonds and incur such indebtedness within the limits now authorized by law.

(f) Tubercular hospitals. For the establishment and maintenance of a hospital for the care and treatment of persons suffering from tuberculosis. In the execution of this power the board may select trustees to establish and operate said hospital. In counties having a population of more than forty thousand (40,000) people, as shown by the latest United States census, the board may set aside, appropriate and expend monies from the general fund for the purpose of aiding in the maintenance and support of hospitals maintained and operated in such county for the care and treatment of persons suffering from tuberculosis. The monies shall be expended by the board through such trustees, not less than three (3) and not more than five (5), to be elected by the board of supervisors annually. The trustees shall file reports with the board at least once every six (6) months showing in detail all expenditures made by them and the number of patients which have been for the preceding period aided or cared for by the institution, and the board may otherwise require a strict accounting of the administration of said funds.

(g) Same -- additional provisions. The boards of supervisors of one or more counties are hereby authorized and empowered, in their discretion, separately or jointly, to acquire by gift, purchase or lease, real estate, for tubercular hospital purposes, and to own, erect, build, establish, maintain, regulate and support a tubercular hospital and to remodel buildings on such property to be used for such hospital purposes.

In the event the boards of supervisors of two (2) or more counties agree to cooperate in establishing and maintaining such hospital, the board of supervisors of each of said counties shall adopt a resolution agreeing to the proportionate part each county will contribute to the establishment and maintaining of such hospital.

Each county operating under the provisions of this subsection is hereby authorized and empowered to set aside, appropriate and expend monies from the general fund for the purpose of erecting, maintaining and operating such hospital.

(h) Charity wards in hospitals. A sum of money not exceeding One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) per month to maintain a charity ward or wards in any hospital in their respective counties, or in the event there shall be no hospital in such county, then a like sum, in their discretion, to maintain a charity ward or wards in any hospital in any adjoining county receiving and treating patients from such county having no hospital.

(i) Same -- coast counties. The several counties of this state bordering on the tidewater of the Gulf of Mexico are hereby authorized and empowered, in the discretion of the proper authorities thereof, to appropriate such a sum of money as said authorities shall deem reasonable, to provide and maintain a charity ward or wards, in any of the hospitals in said counties, or, in the discretion of said authorities, to make and enter into contracts with any such hospitals for the treatment and care in such hospitals of the indigent sick of said counties, and to pay therefor out of the general fund of such counties such sum or sums as shall be a reasonable and just compensation to said hospital. However, the board of supervisors of any county mentioned herein may, in its discretion, make and enter into contracts with any hospital in any adjoining county receiving and treating patients from the respective counties mentioned herein in such hospitals of the indigent sick of said counties, mentioned herein, and to pay therefor out of the general fund of such county, such sum or sums that shall be reasonable and just to said hospitals.

(j) Public libraries. A sum not to exceed One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) per annum toward the support and maintenance of one or more public libraries situated in the county. In any county whose total assessed valuation, including railroads and all public utilities, is more than Eighteen Million Dollars ($18,000,000.00) the board, in its discretion, may appropriate a sum not to exceed Three Thousand Dollars ($3,000.00) per annum for public libraries.

The board may also give or donate any legislative journals, constitutional convention journals, printed official reports of any state or county officers, official reports of departments, bureaus or officers of the United States, and copies of the acts of the Legislature or laws of Mississippi now or hereafter in the county library of such county and not needed, in the opinion of the board in the county library (but not including any Mississippi reports and not including any acts of the Legislature or laws of the state, unless such acts or laws be more than twenty (20) years old) to any library or library association or foundation or organization maintaining a free public library for reference or otherwise, provided such library, association, foundation or organization owns free from encumbrance a fireproof library building located in this state, in which building said journals, reports, acts and laws may be and shall be deposited where received under this subsection and made accessible under reasonable regulations to the general public. Such library, association, foundation or organization shall not have the right to sell or otherwise dispose of said journals, reports, acts and laws. Said journals, reports, acts and laws may be returned to the county library from which received without expense to the county, or to the state library, without expense to the state, at any time by the library, association, foundation or organization receiving the same.

Any gift or donation made by the board of supervisors of any county under the authority of this subsection shall be evidenced by an order spread upon the minutes of said board. The county shall bear no expense in connection with any donation. The sheriff of the county, or the custodian of the county library, shall deliver to the representative of the library, association, foundation or organization entitled to receive the same any of said journals, reports, acts, laws and official publications in accordance with the directions contained in any order of the board of supervisors for the delivery of the same, and shall take proper receipt from the party receiving the same, and shall deliver such receipt to the clerk of the board of supervisors of the county, and the board of supervisors shall have the said receipt entered in full on the minutes of the board.

Any library, association, foundation or organization receiving any gift or donation from any county under this subsection shall report in writing to the board of supervisors, from which such gifts or donations have been received every two (2) years, that the gifts and donations so received are still in the possession of the donee and are accessible to the general public. If any of the gifts or donations so received have been lost, destroyed or have otherwise disappeared, report thereof shall be made.

If any library, association, foundation or organization receiving gifts or donations under this subsection shall cease operating as a free public library or shall cease to be the owner of a fireproof building in which it keeps and maintains a free public library, for reference or otherwise, the said library, association, foundation or organization shall thereupon immediately return to the county library, without expense to the county, or to the state library, without expense to the state, any gifts or donations it may have received under this subsection.

(k) Patriotic organizations and memorials. A sum not to exceed Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00) to build or aid any post of the American Legion, any chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, any chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, or any post, unit or chapter of any patriotic organization within the county in building a memorial to the veterans of World War I and World War II; and a sum not to exceed Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00) to aid in defraying the cost of the erection of suitable memorials to deceased soldiers, sailors and marines of the late world wars. Such appropriation may be made, even though no provision has been made therefor in the county budget.

(l) American Red Cross. Any board of supervisors of any county in this state is hereby authorized and empowered, in its discretion, to donate annually, out of any monies in its respective treasury, to be drawn by warrant thereon, a sum not exceeding One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) per million of assessed valuation to the support of a local chapter of the American Red Cross.

(m) St. Jude Hospital. For the payment of mileage expense for transporting persons to St. Jude Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, for treatment. The mileage shall be based on a round-trip basis from the patient's place of residence to St. Jude Hospital at the mileage rate set forth in Section 25-3-41.

(n) Public museums. For the support and maintenance of such public museums located in the county constituted under the provisions of Chapter 9, Title 39, Mississippi Code of 1972.

(o) Domestic violence shelters. The board of supervisors of any county in this state is hereby authorized and empowered, in its discretion, to donate annually out of any money in the county treasury, such sums as the board deems advisable to support any domestic violence shelter or rape crisis center operating within or serving its area. For the purposes of this section, "rape crisis center" means a place established to provide care, counseling and related services to victims of rape, attempted rape, sexual battery or attempted sexual battery.

(p) Literacy programs. The board of supervisors of any county in this state is hereby authorized and empowered, in its discretion, to donate out of the general fund of the county such sum of money as the board deems reasonable to any literacy program being conducted within the county.

(q) Care of neglected children. The board of supervisors of any county in this state, in its discretion, may donate annually out of any money in the county treasury such sums as the board deems advisable to support any residential group home for the abused, abandoned or neglected children which operates within or serves the county. For the purposes of this paragraph the term "residential group home" means a group residence established to provide care and counseling, and to serve as a home, for children who are the victims of abuse, neglect or abandonment.

(r) Boys and Girls Club. To any chartered chapter of the Boys and Girls Clubs of America located within the county, out of any funds in the county treasury, provided that the cumulative sum of donations to all chapters within the county does not exceed the amount generated in the county by one-fourth (1/4) mill on all of the taxable property within the county, during the fiscal year in which the donations are made. Nothing in this paragraph authorizes the imposition of additional tax.

(s) Mississippi Burn Care Fund. To the Mississippi Burn Care Fund, subject to the limitations specified in Section 21-19-58.

(t) Court Appointed Special Advocates. To any chapter of the Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), out of any funds in the county treasury, provided that the cumulative sum of donations to a chapter does not exceed the amount generated in the county by one-fourth (1/4) mill on all of the taxable property within the county, during the fiscal year in which the donations are made. Nothing in this paragraph authorizes the imposition of additional tax.

(u) National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (NVOAD). To a local chapter of NVOAD, whether in-kind contributions or out of any funds in the county treasury, provided that the cumulative sum of donations to a local NVOAD does not exceed the amount generated in the county by one-fourth (1/4) mill on all of the taxable property within the county during the fiscal year in which the donations are made. Nothing in this paragraph authorizes the imposition of additional tax.

(v) Farmers' markets. The board of supervisors of any county in this state, in its discretion, may donate annually out of any money in the county treasury, such sums as the board deems advisable to support any farmers' market that is certified by the Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce and operating within the county, not to exceed the amount that would be generated from the levy of a one-fourth (1/4) mill ad valorem tax upon all taxable property in the county.

(w) Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA). To any chartered chapter of the YMCA located within the county, out of any funds in the county treasury, provided that the cumulative sum of donations to all chapters within the county does not exceed the amount generated in the county by one-fourth (1/4) mill on all of the taxable property within the county, during the fiscal year in which the donations are made. Nothing in this paragraph authorizes the imposition of additional tax.

(x) Main Street programs. To any designated community of the Mississippi Main Street Association that is in good standing and is located within the county, out of any funds in the county treasury provided that the cumulative sum of donations to all designated communities within the county does not exceed the amount generated in the county by one-fourth (1/4) mill on all of the taxable property within the county, during the fiscal year in which the donations are made. Nothing in this paragraph authorizes the imposition of additional tax.

(y) Civil Rights memorials, sites and destinations.

A sum not to exceed Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00) to build or aid in the building of or support of any civil rights memorial, site or destination within the county to aid in defraying the cost of the erection of suitable memorials of deceased civil rights leaders as well as support of sites and destinations pertaining to the Civil Rights Movement. Such appropriation may be made, even though no provision has been made therefor in the county budget.

SECTION 2. (1) There is established the 2023 Supplementary Rural Fire Truck Acquisition Assistance Program to be administered by the Department of Insurance for the purpose of assisting counties and municipalities in the acquisition of fire trucks. The 2023 Supplementary Rural Fire Truck Acquisition Assistance Program is in addition to the rural fire truck acquisition assistance program established in Section 17-23-1 or any other program by which counties and municipalities acquire fire trucks.

(2) There is created in the State Treasury a special fund to be designated as the "2023 Supplementary Rural Fire Truck Fund" which shall consist of funds appropriated or otherwise made available by the Legislature in any manner, and funds from any other source designated for deposit into such fund. Monies in the fund shall be used for the purpose of assisting counties and municipalities in the acquisition of fire trucks. Unexpended amounts remaining in the fund at the end of the fiscal year shall lapse into the State General Fund.

(3) (a) A county that meets the requirements provided herein may receive an amount of not more than One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000.00) per fire truck for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2023, and ending July 1, 2024. Monies distributed under this section shall be expended only for the purchase of new fire trucks and such trucks must meet the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standards in the 1900 series.

(b) The board of supervisors of the county shall submit its request for the receipt of monies to the Department of Insurance. A committee composed of the Commissioner of Insurance, the State Fire Coordinator, the Director of the Rating Bureau and the Director of the State Fire Academy shall review the requests by the boards of supervisors and shall determine whether the county or municipality for which the board of supervisors has requested a truck meets the requirements of eligibility under this section.

(i) A county or municipality must pledge to set aside or dedicate each year as matching funds, for a period not to extend over ten (10) years, local funds in an amount equal to or not less than one-tenth (1/10) of the amount of monies for which it is requesting distribution from the 2023 Supplementary Rural Fire Truck Fund, which pledged monies may be derived from local ad valorem tax authorized by law or from any other funds available to the county or municipality, except for those funds received by municipalities or counties from the Municipal Fire Protection Fund or the County Volunteer Fire Department Fund, as defined in Sections 83-1-37 and 83-1-39.

(ii) A municipality must provide adequate documentation of its contract with the county that requires the municipality to provide fire protection in rural areas. The term "rural areas" means any area within the county located outside the boundaries of an incorporated municipality or any incorporated municipality with a population of two thousand five hundred (2,500) or less.

(iii) A county or a municipality, designated by the county, must have exhausted all rounds of applications for fire trucks available to it under Section 17-23-1.

(d) The Department of Insurance shall maintain an accurate record of all monies distributed to counties and municipalities and the number of fire trucks purchased and the cost for each fire truck, such records to be kept separate from other records of the Department of Insurance; notify counties and municipalities of the 2023 Supplementary Rural Fire Truck Acquisition Assistance Program and the requirements for them to become eligible to participate; adopt and promulgate such rules and regulations as may be necessary and desirable to implement the provisions of this section; and file with the Legislature a report detailing how monies made available under this section were distributed and spent in each county and municipality, the number of fire trucks purchased, the counties and municipalities making such purchases and the cost of each fire truck purchased.

SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2023.