MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2024 Regular Session
To: Ways and Means
By: Representative Horne
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTIONS 21-1-27, 21-1-29, 21-1-61, 21-33-1 AND 21-33-21, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT A MUNICIPALITY IS PROHIBITED FROM LEVYING AND COLLECTING AD VALOREM TAXES IN NEWLY ANNEXED AREAS UNTIL THE MUNICIPALITY HAS PROVIDED THE SERVICES TO THE ANNEXED AREA WHICH ARE LISTED IN THE ORDINANCE THAT THE MUNICIPALITY IS REQUIRED TO PASS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 21-1-27, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
21-1-27. * * * The limits and boundaries of existing
cities, towns and villages shall remain as now established until altered in the
manner * * *
provided in this chapter. When any municipality * * * desires to enlarge or contract * * * its boundaries * * * by adding * * * adjacent unincorporated territory or
excluding * * *
any part of the incorporated territory of * * * the municipality, the governing
authorities of * * *
the municipality shall pass an ordinance defining with certainty the
territory proposed to be included in or excluded from the corporate limits, and
also defining the entire boundary as changed. * * * If the municipality desires
to enlarge * * *
its boundaries, * * *
the ordinance shall in general terms describe the proposed improvements
to be made in the annexed territory, the manner and extent of such
improvements, and the approximate time within which such improvements are to be
made * * *.
* * * The
ordinance shall also contain a statement of the municipal or public services
which * * * the
municipality proposes to render in such annexed territory. The ordinance
shall also state that the municipality may not levy or collect municipal ad
valorem taxes within the territory proposed to be annexed until those services
that the municipality proposes to render in the ordinance are provided. * * * If the municipality * * * desires to contract its
boundaries, * * *
the ordinance shall contain a statement of the reasons for * * * the contraction and a statement
showing * * * that
the public convenience and necessity would be served thereby.
(2) [Repealed]
(3) [Repealed]
SECTION 2. Section 21-1-29, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
21-1-29. When any such
ordinance * * * described
in Section 21-1-27 is passed by the municipal authorities, * * * the municipal authorities shall
file a petition in the chancery court of the county in which * * *
the municipality is located; however, when a municipality wishes to
annex or extend its boundaries across and into an adjoining county * * *, the municipal authorities shall
file a petition in the chancery court of the county in which such territory is
located. The petition shall (a) recite the fact of the adoption of * * * the ordinance * * *, (b) pray that the enlargement or contraction
of the municipal boundaries, as the case may be, shall be ratified, approved and
confirmed by the court * * *
and (c) state that the municipality may not levy or collect municipal ad
valorem taxes within the territory proposed to be annexed until those services
that the municipality proposed to render in the ordinance are provided by the
municipality. There shall be attached to * * * the petition, as exhibits * * *, a certified copy of the ordinance
adopted by the municipal authorities and a map or plat of the municipal
boundaries as they will exist * * * if such enlargement or
contraction becomes effective.
SECTION 3. Section 21-1-61, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
21-1-61. In all cases where
a municipality is created or the limits of an existing municipality are
enlarged under the provisions of this chapter, the property included within the
municipal boundaries by * * *such the creation * * * shall become liable for and subject
to municipal ad valorem taxation on the tax lien date next succeeding the
effective date of the decree creating or enlarging such municipality. In
all cases where the limits of an existing municipality are enlarged through
annexation of an adjoining territory under the provisions of this chapter, the
annexed territory will not become liable for or subject to municipal ad valorem
taxation until the services that the municipality proposed in the ordinance
described in Section 21-1-27 are rendered by the municipality.
SECTION 4. Section 21-33-1, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
21-33-1. Except as
provided in Section 21-1-61, all lands and other taxable property
subject to assessment, held by any person within the municipality, or in added
territory, on the first day of January, shall be assessed, and ad valorem taxes
thereon levied and collected for the ensuing year, excepting motor vehicles as
defined by the "Motor Vehicle Ad Valorem Tax Law of 1958," as
provided under Sections 27-51-1 through 27-51-49 * * *.
SECTION 5. Section 21-33-21, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
21-33-21. After the
services that the municipality proposed in the ordinance described in Section
21-1-27 are rendered by the municipality within the added territory as required
under Section 21-1-61, the assessor * * *, in the same manner and at the same time
as municipal assessments are made, shall make an assessment of all
taxable property in any added territory, and shall make the same a part
of the assessment roll of the municipal separate school district.
SECTION 6. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2024.