MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

1999 Regular Session

To: Ways and Means

By: Representative Williams

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 27-31-101, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO AUTHORIZE COUNTY BOARDS OF SUPERVISORS AND MUNICIPAL GOVERNING AUTHORITIES TO GRANT AD VALOREM TAX EXEMPTIONS TO DATA AND INFORMATION PROCESSORS AND COMPUTER SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT ENTERPRISES MEETING MINIMUM CRITERIA ESTABLISHED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. Section 27-31-101, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

27-31-101. County boards of supervisors and municipal authorities are hereby authorized and empowered, in their discretion, to grant exemptions from ad valorem taxation, except state ad valorem taxation. Provided, however, said governing authorities shall not exempt ad valorem taxes for school district purposes on tangible property used in, or necessary to, the operation of the manufacturers and other new enterprises hereinafter enumerated by classes, except to the extent authorized in Sections 27-31-104 and 27-31-105(2), nor shall they exempt from ad valorem taxes the products thereof or automobiles and trucks belonging to the said manufacturers or other new enterprises operating on and over the highways of the State of Mississippi. The time of such exemption shall be for a period not to exceed a total of ten (10) years which shall begin on the date of completion of the new enterprise for which the exemption is granted; however, boards of supervisors and municipal authorities, in lieu of granting the exemption for one (1) period of ten (10) years, may grant the exemption in a period of less than ten (10) years. When the initial exemption period granted is less than ten (10) years, the boards of supervisors and municipal authorities may grant a subsequent consecutive period or periods to follow the initial period of exemption, provided that the total of all periods of exemption shall not exceed ten (10) years. The date of completion of the new enterprise, from which the initial period of exemption shall begin, shall be the date on which operations of the new enterprise begin. Any request for an exemption must be made in writing within two hundred seventy (270) days from the date of completion of a new enterprise.

Any board of supervisors and/or municipal governing authorities which has entered into an agreement with an enterprise to grant an exemption for a period of not more than ten (10) years, as this section authorized prior to amendment by Chapter 524, Laws of 1989 (Senate Bill 2925, 1989 Regular Session), may grant the exemption agreed upon provided that proof is presented to the State Tax Commission that the agreement was negotiated and, with respect to which, official action has been taken by the board of supervisors and/or municipal governing authorities, prior to July 1, 1989.

Any exemption from ad valorem taxes heretofore granted to existing enterprises shall continue in full force and effect but only as to tangible property heretofore included in the exemption but not as to tangible property that may be later added as an addition or improvement to the exempt tangible property.

Any board of supervisors or municipal authority which has entered into an agreement prior to July 1, 1989, with a specific and new enterprise authorized to be exempt under the provisions of Section 27-31-101, may grant an exemption under this section provided said agreement is in writing and the date of the agreement is certified by the chancery clerk or municipal clerk of the granting authority. It is the intent of the Legislature to permit an exemption allowed under this section in those instances where the granting authority has in good faith negotiated with the new enterprise as to said exemption, and the agreement is reduced to writing and the date certified as provided in this paragraph, but to prohibit the granting of an exemption after June 30, 1989, under Section 27-31-101 as to ad valorem taxes for school district purposes, except to the extent authorized in Sections 27-31-104 and 27-31-105(2).

Any board of supervisors or municipal authority which has granted an exemption for a period of less than ten (10) years may grant subsequent periods of exemption to run consecutively with the initial exemption period, or a subsequently granted exemption period, but in no case shall the total of the exemption periods granted for a new enterprise exceed ten (10) years. Any consecutive period of exemption shall be granted by entry of an order by the board or the authority granting the consecutive exemption on its minutes, reflecting the granting of the consecutive exemption period and the dates upon which such consecutive exemption period begins and expires. The entry of this order granting the consecutive period of exemption shall be made before the expiration of the exemption period immediately preceding the consecutive exemption period being granted.

The new enterprises which may be exempt are enumerated as and limited to the following, as determined by the State Tax Commission:

Warehouse and/or distribution centers;

Manufacturing, processors and refineries;

Research facilities;

Corporate regional and national headquarters meeting minimum criteria established by the Department of Economic and Community Development;

Movie industry studios meeting minimum criteria established by the Department of Economic and Community Development;

Air transportation and maintenance facilities meeting minimum criteria established by the Department of Economic and Community Development;

Recreational facilities that impact tourism meeting minimum criteria established by the Department of Economic and Community Development; * * *

Telecommunications enterprises meeting minimum criteria established by the Department of Economic and Community Development. The term "telecommunications enterprises" means entities engaged in the creation, display, management, storage, processing, transmission or distribution for compensation of images, text, voice, video or data by wire or by wireless means, or entities engaged in the construction, design, development, manufacture, maintenance or distribution for compensation of devices, products, software or structures used in the above activities. Companies organized to do business as commercial broadcast radio stations, television stations or news organizations primarily serving in-state markets shall not be included within the definition of the term "telecommunications enterprises;"

Data or information processing enterprises meeting minimum criteria established by the Department of Economic and Community Development; and

Computer software development enterprises meeting minimum criteria established by the Department of Economic and Community Development.

SECTION 2. Nothing in this act shall affect or defeat any claim, assessment, appeal, suit, right or cause of action for taxes due or accrued under the ad valorem tax laws before the date on which this act becomes effective, whether such claims, assessments, appeals, suits or actions have been begun before the date on which this act becomes effective or are begun thereafter; and the provisions of the ad valorem tax laws are expressly continued in full force, effect and operation for the purpose of the assessment, collection and enrollment of liens for any taxes due or accrued and the execution of any warrant under such laws before the date on which this act becomes effective, and for the imposition of any penalties, forfeitures or claims for failure to comply with such laws.

SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage.