MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

1999 Regular Session

To: Ways and Means

By: Representatives Holland, Ford, Scott (17th)

AN ACT TO GRANT MUNICIPALITIES THE SAME POWERS TO ISSUE BONDS AS ARE GRANTED TO THE MISSISSIPPI BUSINESS FINANCE CORPORATION; TO EXEMPT ALL PROCEEDS FROM THE SALE OF ANY BONDS UNDER THIS ACT FROM ALL TAXATION BY THE STATE OR ANY POLITICAL SUBDIVISION THEREOF; TO PROVIDE THAT ALL MORTGAGES OR DEEDS OF TRUST ENTERED INTO AND ALL LEASE, LOAN OR PURCHASE AGREEMENTS MADE PURSUANT TO THIS ACT SHALL BE EXEMPT FROM ALL TAXATION BY THE STATE; TO PROVIDE FOR EXCEPTIONS UNDER THE TAX EXEMPTIONS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. The following provision shall be codified as Section 57-3-35, Mississippi Code of 1972:

57-3-35. (1) In addition to any other powers granted to municipalities under this chapter, municipalities shall have the same powers to issue bonds granted to the Mississippi Business Finance Corporation under Title 57, Chapter 10, Article 7, Mississippi Code of 1972, and under Title 57, Chapter 10, Article 11, Mississippi Code of 1972.

(2) The governing body of any municipality, as defined under this chapter, is granted all powers necessary or appropriate to carry out and effectuate the purposes of Title 57, Chapter 10, Article 7, Mississippi Code of 1972, including, but not limited to, the following powers to:

(a) Borrow money and issue bonds as provided by Title 57, Chapter 10, Article 7, Mississippi Code of 1972;

(b) Procure insurance or guarantees from any public or private entities, including any department, agency or instrumentality of the United States of America, or, subject to the provisions of and to the extent monies are available in the fund created by Section 57-10-215, insure or guarantee the payment of any bonds issued by the municipality, including the power to pay premiums on any such insurance or guarantees or other instruments of indebtedness;

(c) Receive and accept from any source aid or contributions of money, property, labor or other things of value to be held, used and applied to carry out the purposes of this Title 57, Chapter 10, Article 7, Mississippi Code of 1972, (subject, however, to any conditions upon which grants or contributions are made) including, but not limited to, gifts or grants from any department, agency or instrumentality of the United States of America;

(d) Enter into agreements with any department, agency or instrumentality of the United States of America or of the state and with lenders and enter into loans with contracting parties for the purpose of planning, regulating and providing for the financing or assisting in the financing of any eligible business or any project of such business;

(e) Enter into contracts or agreements with lenders for the servicing and/or processing of loans;

(f) Provide technical assistance to local industrial development authorities and to profit and nonprofit entities in the development or operation by, or assistance to, persons engaged in business enterprises and distribute data and information concerning the encouragement and improvement of business enterprises in the state;

(g) To the extent permitted in the proceedings pursuant to which the bonds of the municipality are issued, consent to any modification with respect to the rate of interest, time for, and payment of, any installment of principal or interest, or any other term of any contract, loan, sales contract, lease, indenture or agreement of any kind to which the municipality is a party;

(h) To the extent permitted in the proceedings pursuant to which the bonds of the municipality are issued, enter into contracts with any lender containing provisions authorizing the lender to reduce the charges or fees, exclusive of loan payments, to persons unable to pay the regular schedule of the payments when, by reason of other income or payment by any department, agency or instrumentality of the United States of America or the state, the reduction can be made without jeopardizing the economic stability of the eligible business being financed;

(i) Allocate any of its property to the insurance or guaranty fund established by Section 57-10-215 or to any other fund of the municipality, the property consisting of:

(i) Monies appropriated by the state;

(ii) Premiums, fees and any other amounts received by the municipality with respect to financial assistance provided by the municipality;

(iii) Proceeds as designated by the municipality from the loan or other disposition of property held or acquired by the municipality;

(iv) Income from investments that were made by the municipality or on the behalf of the municipality from monies in one or more of its funds; or

(v) Any other monies made available to the municipality consistent with Title 57, Chapter 10, Article 7, Mississippi Code of 1972;

(j) Use any fund or funds of the municipality for any and all expenses to be paid by the municipality including, by way of example, but not by limitation: (i) any and all expenses for administrative, legal, actuarial and other services; (ii) all costs, charges, fees and expenses of the municipality relating to the authorizing, preparing, printing, selling, issuing and insuring of bonds and the funding of reserves; and (iii) all expenses and costs relating to the guaranteeing, insuring or procurement of guarantees, insurance or other instruments providing credit or the enhancement of credit for the bonds;

(k) Collect fees and charges, as the municipality determines to be reasonable, in connection with its loans, insurance, guarantees, commitments and servicing thereof;

(l) Sell, at public or private sale, with or without public bidding, any obligation held by the municipality under Title 57, Chapter 10, Article 7, Mississippi Code of 1972;

(m) Invest any funds not needed for immediate disbursement, including any funds held in reserve, in any obligations or securities which may be legally purchased by political subdivisions in the state or as may be otherwise permitted by Section 57-10-251; and

(n) Take any action necessary or convenient for the exercise of the powers granted by Title 57, Chapter 10, Article 7, Mississippi Code of 1972, or reasonably implied from them.

(3) The governing body of any municipality, as defined in this chapter, shall have all the powers necessary or convenient to carry out and effectuate the purposes and provisions of Sections 57-10-401 through 57-10-445, including, but without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the power:

(a) To provide and finance economic development projects under the provisions of Sections 57-10-401 through 57-10-445, and cooperate with counties, municipalities and eligible companies in order to promote, foster and support economic development within the counties and municipalities;

(b) To conduct hearings and inquiries, in the manner and by the methods as it deems desirable, including, without limitation, appointment of special committees, for the purpose of gathering information with respect to counties, municipalities, eligible companies and economic development projects, for the purpose of making any determinations necessary or desirable in the furtherance of Sections 57-10-401 through 57-10-445;

(c) To negotiate the terms of, and enter into financing agreements with, approved companies, and in connection therewith to acquire, convey, sell, own, lease, mortgage, finance, foreclose or otherwise dispose of any property, real or personal, in connection with an economic development project, and to pay, or cause to be paid, in accordance with the provisions of a financing agreement, the approved costs of an economic development project from any funds available for that purpose;

(d) To consent, if it deems it necessary or desirable in the fulfillment of its purposes, to the modification of the terms of any financing agreements of any kind to which the municipality is a party;

(e) To include in any borrowing the amounts deemed necessary by the municipality to pay financing charges, consultant, advisory and legal fees, fees for bond insurance, letters of credit or other forms of credit enhancement, investment advisory fees, trustees' fees and other expenses necessary or incident to the borrowing;

(f) To make and publish administrative regulations respecting its programs and other administrative regulations necessary or appropriate to effectuate the purposes of Sections 57-10-401 through 57-10-445, and necessary to administer the procedures and program as provided for in Sections 57-10-401 through 57-10-445;

(g) To make, execute and effectuate any and all agreements or other documents with any governmental agency or any person, corporation, association, partnership, or other organization or entity, necessary or appropriate to accomplish the purposes of Sections 57-10-401 through 57-10-445, including any financing agreements with state agencies or any political subdivisions of the state under which funds may be pledged by or to the municipality for the payment of its bonds;

(h) To accept gifts, devises, bequests, grants, loans, appropriations, revenue sharing, other financing and assistance and any other aid from any source and to agree to, and to comply with, conditions attached thereto;

(i) To sue and be sued in its own name, plead and be impleaded; and

(j) To invest any funds held by the municipality or its agents or trustees, under Sections 57-10-401 through 57-10-445, including, but not limited to, the proceeds of bonds issued under Sections 57-10-401 through 57-10-445, reserve or other funds, or any monies not required for immediate disbursement, and the investment income on any of the foregoing, in obligations authorized by Sections 57-10-401 through 57-10-445.

SECTION 2. The following provision shall be codified as Section 57-3-37, Mississippi Code of 1972:

57-3-37. (1) The income, including any profit made on the sale of all bonds issued by the governing body, shall at all times be exempt from all taxation by the state or any public subdivision thereof.

(2) All mortgages or deeds of trust executed as security therefor, all lease, loan or purchase agreements made pursuant to the provisions of this chapter and the provisions of Title 57, Chapter 10, Article 7, Mississippi Code of 1972, all purchases financed by proceeds from bonds issued pursuant to the provisions of this chapter and the provisions of Title 57, Chapter 10, Article 7, Mississippi Code of 1972, shall likewise be exempt from all taxation in the State of Mississippi except the contractors' tax imposed by Section 27-65-21. All projects financed by the proceeds from the bonds and the revenue derived from any lease thereof shall be exempt from all taxation in the State of Mississippi, except the tax levied by Section 27-65-21, and except the tax levied under Chapter 7, Title 27, Mississippi Code of 1972.

(3) The time of any ad valorem tax exemption provided for under this section shall not exceed a total of ten (10) years, which shall run from the date of the completion of the project. In no event shall the term of the ad valorem tax exemption provided for under this section be limited, terminated or otherwise affected by payment in full of the bonds issued under this chapter or under Title 57, Chapter 10, Article 7, Mississippi Code of 1972, or by the change from a leasehold to a fee title in the enterprise financed with bonds issued under this chapter or under Title 57, Chapter 10, Article 7, Mississippi Code of 1972.

(4) There shall be no exemption under this section from ad valorem taxes levied for school district purposes.

SECTION 3. The following provision shall be codified as Section 57-3-39, Mississippi Code of 1972:

57-3-39. (1) The income, including any profit made on the sale thereof from all bonds issued by the municipality, shall at all times be exempt from all taxation by the state or any political subdivision thereof.

(2) All mortgages or deeds of trust executed as security therefor, all lease or purchase agreements made pursuant to the provisions of this chapter or the provisions of Title 57, Chapter 10, Article 11, Mississippi Code of 1972, and all purchases required to establish the industrial enterprise and financed by proceeds from bonds issued under the provisions of this chapter or the provisions of Sections 57-10-401 through 57-10-445, shall likewise be exempt from all taxation in the State of Mississippi except the contractors' tax imposed by Section 27-65-21, Mississippi Code of 1972, and except ad valorem taxes levied for school district purposes. All projects and the revenue derived from any lease thereof shall be exempt from all taxation in the State of Mississippi, except the tax levied by Section 27-65-21, except the tax levied under Title 27, Chapter 7, Mississippi Code of 1972, and except ad valorem taxes levied for school district purposes.

SECTION 4. Sections 57-3-11, 57-3-13, 57-3-15 and 57-3-17, which require an election to be held before any bonds may be issued under the laws which govern municipalities promoting industry and the use of agricultural products of the state, are repealed.

SECTION 5. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 1999.