MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2000 Regular Session

To: Appropriations

By: Representatives Howell, Bowles, Coleman (65th), Creel, Davis, Ellington, Fillingane, Formby, Guice, Hudson, Jennings, Ketchings, Malone, Maples, Martinson, Montgomery (74th), Moore (60th), Robertson, Simpson, Smith (35th), Smith (59th)

AN ACT TO CREATE A SPECIAL FUND IN THE STATE TREASURY TO BE KNOWN AS THE STATE AGENCIES CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS/REPAIR AND RENOVATION FUND; TO PROVIDE THAT MONIES IN THE FUND SHALL BE EXPENDED ONLY FOR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS FOR STATE AGENCIES AND FOR REPAIR AND RENOVATION OF STATE FACILITIES; TO DIRECT THE OFFICE OF BUILDING, GROUNDS AND REAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT TO SUBMIT REPORTS ANNUALLY TO THE LEGISLATIVE BUDGET OFFICE LISTING THE REPAIR AND RENOVATION AND CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT NEEDS FOR THE NEXT FISCAL YEAR AND RANKING THEM BY NUMBER IN THE ORDER OF PRIORITY OF NEED; TO REQUIRE THE LEGISLATIVE BUDGET COMMITTEE AND THE LEGISLATURE TO CONSIDER THOSE REPORTS IN PREPARING THE PROPOSED BUDGET AND ENACTING APPROPRIATION BILLS FOR THE NEXT FISCAL YEAR; TO CREATE A SPECIAL FUND IN THE STATE TREASURY TO BE KNOWN AS THE MUNICIPALITIES CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS/REPAIR AND RENOVATION FUND; TO ESTABLISH THE MUNICIPALITIES CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS/REPAIR AND RENOVATION GRANT PROGRAM TO BE ADMINISTERED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT; TO PROVIDE THAT THE DEPARTMENT SHALL MAKE GRANTS FROM THE FUND UNDER THE PROGRAM, TO BE USED FOR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS AND FOR THE REPAIR AND RENOVATION OF BUILDINGS AND OTHER FACILITIES OF MUNICIPALITIES; TO PRESCRIBE THE CRITERIA FOR ELIGIBILITY TO RECEIVE GRANTS UNDER THE PROGRAM; TO REQUIRE MUNICIPALITIES TO PROVIDE MATCHING FUNDS IN ORDER TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR GRANTS UNDER THE PROGRAM; TO PRESCRIBE THE POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT IN IMPLEMENTING THE PROGRAM; TO AMEND SECTION 27-103-203, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT MONIES IN THE STATE AGENCIES CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS/REPAIR AND RENOVATION FUND AND THE MUNICIPALITIES CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS/REPAIR AND RENOVATION FUND SHALL BE PROVIDED FROM TRANSFERS OF A PORTION OF THE UNENCUMBERED GENERAL FUND CASH BALANCE AT THE END OF EACH FISCAL YEAR; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. (1) There is created in the State Treasury a special fund to be known as the "State Agencies Capital Improvements/Repair and Renovation Fund," which shall be used only for the purposes and in the manner prescribed in this section. Monies in the fund shall be provided from transfers of a portion of the unencumbered General Fund cash balance at the end of each fiscal year in accordance with Section 27-103-203 and from any other funds authorized by law to be transferred into or deposited in the fund. Unexpended amounts remaining in the fund at the end of a fiscal year shall not lapse into the State General Fund, and any interest earned on amounts in the fund shall be deposited to the credit of the fund.

(2) Monies in the fund shall be expended only upon appropriation by the Legislature, and shall be expended only for:

(a) Capital improvements for state agencies and state institutions of higher learning; and

(b) Repair and renovation of buildings and other facilities of state agencies and state institutions of higher learning.

(3) (a) Before September 1 of each year the Office of Building, Grounds and Real Property Management of the Department of Finance and Administration shall submit a written report to the Legislative Budget Office with a list of the repair and renovation and capital improvement needs of all state agencies and state institutions of higher learning for the next fiscal year, ranked by number in the order of priority of need as determined by the Office of Building, Grounds and Real Property Management. This report shall be submitted as part of the Repair and Renovating, Preplanning and Capital Improvement Report that is prepared by the office and submitted to the Legislative Budget Office under Section 31-11-27.

(b) The report submitted under paragraph (a) of this subsection shall be considered by the Legislative Budget Committee in preparing its proposed budget for the next fiscal year, and shall be considered by the Appropriations Committees of the House of Representatives and the Senate and by the Legislature in enacting appropriation bills for the next fiscal year.

SECTION 2. (1) (a) There is created in the State Treasury a special fund to be known as the "Municipalities Capital Improvements/Repair and Renovation Fund," which shall be used only for the purposes and in the manner prescribed in this section. Monies in the fund shall be provided from transfers of a portion of the unencumbered General Fund cash balance at the end of each fiscal year in accordance with Section 27-103-203 and from any other funds authorized by law to be transferred into or deposited in the fund. Unexpended amounts remaining in the fund at the end of a fiscal year shall not lapse into the State General Fund, and any interest earned on amounts in the fund shall be deposited to the credit of the fund.

(b) Monies in the fund shall be expended only upon appropriation by the Legislature, and shall be expended only for the Municipalities Capital Improvements/Repair and Renovation Grant Program established under subsection (2) of this section.

(2) (a) There is established the Municipalities Capital Improvements/Repair and Renovation Grant Program, which shall be administered by the Department of Economic and Community Development. Under the program, the department shall make grants to municipalities from the Municipalities Capital Improvements/Repair and Renovation Fund at the beginning of each fiscal year, to be used for capital improvements and for the repair and renovation of buildings and other facilities of the municipalities. The first grants from the fund shall be made in the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2001. The department shall not make grants from the fund in any fiscal year in which the balance of the fund is less than Two Million Dollars ($2,000,000.00).

(b) Monies in the fund shall be available for grants to municipalities based on the populations of the municipalities, according to the most recent federal decennial census, as follows:

1-1,000 29%

1,001-4,000 24%

4,001-8,000 11%

8,001-20,000 17%

20,001-50,000 12%

50,001 or more 7%

(c) To be eligible to receive a grant under the program, a municipality must provide matching funds in an amount equal to twenty-five percent (25%) of the amount of the grant. The matching funds may be paid from any funds available to the municipality other than state funds received by the municipality.

(d) The department shall set a deadline date for applications for grants that will be made from the fund during each fiscal year. In order to receive a grant under the program, the governing authorities of a municipality must submit an application to the department before the deadline date set by the department, requesting a specific amount of money and describing the project or projects for which the grant monies would be used. The department shall review each application, and if the provisions of this section have been met, the department shall make a grant to the municipality in such amount as determined by the department.

(e) Grants received by a municipality under the program and the required matching funds shall be expended only for capital improvements for the municipality or for the repair and renovation of buildings and other facilities of the municipality.

(f) The department shall:

(i) Notify all municipalities in the state about the grant program and the criteria that they must meet to be eligible to receive grants under the program;

(ii) Adopt and promulgate such rules and regulations as may be necessary or desirable to implement the grant program;

(iii) Determine the amounts of the grants that will be made to those municipalities applying for grants, which shall be based on the amount requested by the municipality, the amount of money in the fund that is available for municipalities in the same population category, and the relative need for the grant for projects in the municipality;

(iv) Notify municipalities that have applied for grants if there is more money available in the fund than the total amount requested in all grant applications, and allow those municipalities to amend their applications to increase the amount of money requested if they are willing to increase the amount of matching funds that would be required to receive the increased grant amount;

(v) Maintain an accurate record of all grants made to municipalities under the grant program, which records shall be kept separate from other records of the department; and

(vi) File with the Legislature, on or before January 1 of each year, a report detailing the grants made under the program during the preceding fiscal year and how the grants were spent by each municipality that received grants under the program.

SECTION 3. Section 27-103-203, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

27-103-203. (1) There is created in the State Treasury a special fund, separate and apart from any other fund, to be designated the Working Cash-Stabilization Reserve Fund, into which shall be deposited one hundred percent (100%) of the unencumbered General Fund cash balance at the close of each fiscal year until such time as the balance in the fund reaches Forty Million Dollars ($40,000,000.00). After the balance in the fund reaches Forty Million Dollars ($40,000,000.00), twelve and one-half percent (12-1/2%) of the unencumbered cash balance at the close of each fiscal year shall be transferred into the State Agencies Capital Improvements/Repair and Renovation Fund, and twelve and one-half percent (12-1/2%) of the unencumbered cash balance at the close of each fiscal year shall be transferred into the Municipalities Capital Improvements/Repair and Renovation Fund. After the transfers have been made into those funds, fifty percent (50%) of the remaining unencumbered General Fund cash balance at the close of each fiscal year shall remain in the General Fund. Of the other fifty percent (50%) of the remaining unencumbered General Fund cash balance at the close of each fiscal year, an amount necessary to increase the balance of the Working Cash-Stabilization Reserve Fund to seven and one-half percent (7-1/2%) of the General Fund appropriations for such fiscal year shall be transferred into the Working Cash-Stabilization Reserve Fund. The remainder, if any, of the year-end unencumbered cash after transfer to the Working Cash-Stabilization Reserve Fund shall * * * be transferred into the Education Enhancement Fund * * *. Unencumbered cash in the General Fund may be used for new year cash flow needs and may also be used for deficit appropriations or regular appropriations.

(2) The Working Cash-Stabilization Reserve Fund shall not be considered as a surplus or available funds when adopting a balanced budget as required by law. The State Treasurer shall invest all sums in the Working Cash-Stabilization Reserve Fund not needed for the purposes provided for in this section in certificates of deposit, repurchase agreements and other securities as authorized in Sections 27-105-33(d) or 7-9-103, as the State Treasurer may determine to yield the highest market rate available. The interest earned on such sums shall be deposited in the fund until the balance of principal and interest therein reaches seven and one-half percent (7-1/2%) of the total General Fund appropriations for the current fiscal year, and all interest earned in excess of amounts necessary to maintain the seven and one-half percent (7-1/2%) fund balance requirement shall be deposited by the State Treasurer into the State General Fund.

(3) The Working Cash-Stabilization Reserve Fund, except for Nineteen Million Dollars ($19,000,000.00) and the amount of the interest and income earned on the principal of the Ayers Endowment Trust created by Section 37-101-27, shall be used by the State Treasurer for cash flow needs throughout the year when the Executive Director of the Department of Finance and Administration certifies that in his opinion there will be cash flow deficiencies in the State General Fund. No borrowing of monies from other special funds for such purposes as authorized by Section 31-17-101 et seq. shall be made as long as an unencumbered balance in excess of Nineteen Million Dollars ($19,000,000.00) and the interest and income earned on the principal of the Ayers Endowment Trust created by Section 37-101-27 remains in the fund. The State Treasurer shall reimburse the fund for all sums borrowed for such purposes from General Fund revenues collected during the fiscal year in which such funds are used. The State Treasurer shall immediately notify the Legislative Budget Office and the State Department of Finance and Administration of each transfer into and out of such fund. Four Million Dollars ($4,000,000.00) in the Working Cash-Stabilization Reserve Fund shall remain available for use pursuant to Section 27-103-81. Fifteen Million Dollars ($15,000,000.00) in the Working Cash-Stabilization Reserve Fund shall remain available for exclusive use of the Ayers Endowment Trust created by Section 37-101-27.

(4) The Working Cash-Stabilization Reserve Fund, except for Forty Million Dollars ($40,000,000.00), shall also be used for the purpose of covering any projected deficits that may occur in the General Fund at the end of a fiscal year as a result of revenue shortfalls. In the event the Governor determines that a deficit in revenues from all sources may occur, it shall be the duty of the Executive Director of the Department of Finance and Administration to transfer such funds as necessary to the General Fund to alleviate the deficit in accordance with Sections 27-104-13 and 31-17-123; however, not more than Fifty Million Dollars ($50,000,000.00) may be transferred from the fund for such purpose in any one (1) fiscal year. In the event it becomes necessary to apply a part of the fund to this purpose, the amount so applied shall be restored to the Working Cash-Stabilization Reserve Fund out of future annual surpluses, as provided in subsection (1) of this section, until the seven and one-half percent (7-1/2%) maximum is again attained.

(5) The Working Cash-Stabilization Reserve Fund also shall be used to provide funds for the Disaster Assistance Trust Fund when such funds are immediately needed to provide for disaster assistance under Sections 33-15-103 through 33-15-317. Any transfer of funds from the Working Cash-Stabilization Reserve Fund to the Disaster Assistance Trust Fund shall be made in accordance with the provisions of subsection (5) of Section 33-15-307.

(6) The Department of Finance and Administration shall immediately send notice of any transfers made, or other action taken under authority of this section, to the Legislative Budget Office.

(7) Funds deposited in the Working Cash-Stabilization Reserve Fund shall be used only for the purposes specified in this section and as long as the provisions of this section remain in effect, no other expenditure, appropriation or transfer of funds in the Working Cash-Stabilization Reserve Fund shall be made except by act of the Legislature making specific reference to the Working Cash-Stabilization Reserve Fund as the source of such funds.

SECTION 4. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2000.