MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2003 Regular Session
To: Insurance; Ways and Means
By: Representative Ryals
AN ACT TO ESTABLISH A RURAL FIRE RESCUE AND EXTRICATION EQUIPMENT ACQUISITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM TO BE ADMINISTERED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF INSURANCE FOR THE PURPOSE OF ASSISTING COUNTIES AND MUNICIPALITIES IN THE ACQUISITION OF FIRE RESCUE AND EXTRICATION EQUIPMENT; TO CREATE IN THE STATE TREASURY A SPECIAL FUND; TO PROVIDE THAT MONIES IN THE FUND SHALL BE USED AND DISTRIBUTED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF INSURANCE IN THE FORM OF GRANTS TO COUNTIES AND CITIES FOR THE PURPOSE OF ASSISTING COUNTIES AND CITIES IN PURCHASING FIRE RESCUE AND EXTRICATION EQUIPMENT FOR USE IN RURAL AREAS; TO PRESCRIBE ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR COUNTIES AND CITIES TO RECEIVE SUCH GRANTS UNDER THIS ACT; TO REQUIRE COUNTIES AND CITIES TO SUPPLY ADEQUATE DOCUMENTATION THAT FIRE DEPARTMENTS ARE CERTIFIED IN THE PROPER USE OF THE EQUIPMENT AT THE TIME OF APPLICATION OR WILL BE WITHIN ONE YEAR THEREAFTER AND TO REQUIRE EACH SUCH FIRE DEPARTMENT TO BE RECERTIFIED ANNUALLY; TO PROVIDE FOR REDISTRIBUTION OF SUCH EQUIPMENT UPON FAILURE OF SUCH FIRE DEPARTMENTS TO BE RECERTIFIED; TO AUTHORIZE THE ISSUANCE OF $3,750,000.00 IN STATE GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDS TO PROVIDE FUNDS FOR THE RURAL FIRE RESCUE AND EXTRICATION EQUIPMENT ACQUISITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM; TO PROVIDE THAT PROCEEDS FROM THE BONDS SHALL BE DEPOSITED INTO THE SPECIAL FUND; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. (1) There is established a rural fire rescue and extrication equipment acquisition assistance program to be administered by the Department of Insurance for the purpose of assisting counties and municipalities in the acquisition of fire rescue and extrication equipment.
(2) There is created in the State Treasury a special fund to be designated as the "Rural Fire Rescue and Extrication Equipment Acquisition Assistance Fund." There shall be deposited into the fund the proceeds of the bonds issued under Sections 2 through 17 of this act. 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. Monies in the fund shall be used and distributed by the Department of Insurance in the form of grants to counties and cities for the purpose of assisting counties and cities in purchasing fire rescue and extrication equipment for use in rural areas. As used in this act, 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.
(3) The board of supervisors of any county or the governing authorities of any municipality that wishes to participate in the program 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 and the Director of the State Fire Academy shall review the requests by boards of supervisors and governing authorities of municipalities to determine whether the county or municipality meets the requirements of eligibility under this act. To be eligible to receive monies under this act:
(a) The county or municipality must supply adequate documentation to the committee that any fire department on whose behalf money will be granted is certified in the proper use of the equipment at the time of application or will be within one (1) year thereafter;
(b) Each such fire department must be recertified annually or, upon failure thereof, the equipment purchased with the monies granted under this act shall be forfeited and distributed to other eligible fire departments; and
(c) A municipality must provide adequate documentation of its contract with the county that requires the municipality to provide fire protection in rural areas.
(4) All equipment purchased with the monies granted under this act must be approved by the State Fire Coordinator.
(5) The Department of Insurance shall maintain an accurate record of all monies distributed to counties and municipalities and the specific equipment purchased and the cost for such equipment by each county and municipality, such records to be kept separate from other records of the Department of Insurance. The department shall notify counties and municipalities of the rural fire rescue and extrication equipment acquisition assistance program and the requirements for them to become eligible to participate. The department may adopt and promulgate such rules and regulations as may be necessary and desirable to implement the provisions of this act and shall file with the Legislature a report detailing how monies made available under this act were distributed and spent during the preceding portion of the fiscal year in each county and municipality, the equipment purchased, the counties and municipalities making such purchases and the cost of such equipment.
SECTION 2. As used in Sections 2 through 17 of this act, the following words shall have the meanings ascribed herein unless the context clearly requires otherwise:
(a) "Accreted value" of any bonds means, as of any date of computation, an amount equal to the sum of (i) the stated initial value of such bond, plus (ii) the interest accrued thereon from the issue date to the date of computation at the rate, compounded semiannually, that is necessary to produce the approximate yield to maturity shown for bonds of the same maturity.
(b) "State" means the State of Mississippi.
(c) "Commission" means the State Bond Commission.
SECTION 3. (1) The Mississippi Department of Insurance, at one time, or from time to time, may declare by resolution the necessity for issuance of general obligation bonds of the State of Mississippi to provide funds for the grant program authorized in Section 1 of this act. Upon the adoption of a resolution by the Mississippi Department of Insurance, declaring the necessity for the issuance of any part or all of the general obligation bonds authorized by this section, the Mississippi Department of Insurance shall deliver a certified copy of its resolution or resolutions to the commission. Upon receipt of such resolution, the commission, in its discretion, may act as the issuing agent, prescribe the form of the bonds, advertise for and accept bids, issue and sell the bonds so authorized to be sold and do any and all other things necessary and advisable in connection with the issuance and sale of such bonds. The total amount of bonds issued under Sections 2 through 17 of this act shall not exceed Three Million Seven Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($3,750,000.00), issued over a period of five (5) years; however, not more than Seven Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($750,000.00) may be issued in any one (1) year.
(2) The proceeds of bonds issued pursuant to Sections 2 through 17 of this act shall be deposited into the Rural Fire Rescue and Extrication Equipment Acquisition Assistance Fund created pursuant to Section 1 of this act. Any investment earnings on bonds issued pursuant to Sections 2 through 17 of this act shall be used to pay debt service on bonds issued under Sections 2 through 17 of this act, in accordance with the proceedings authorizing issuance of such bonds.
SECTION 4. The principal of and interest on the bonds authorized under Sections 2 through 17 of this act shall be payable in the manner provided in this section. Such bonds shall bear such date or dates, be in such denomination or denominations, bear interest at such rate or rates (not to exceed the limits set forth in Section 75-17-101, Mississippi Code of 1972), be payable at such place or places within or without the State of Mississippi, shall mature absolutely at such time or times not to exceed twenty-five (25) years from date of issue, be redeemable before maturity at such time or times and upon such terms, with or without premium, shall bear such registration privileges, and shall be substantially in such form, all as shall be determined by resolution of the commission.
SECTION 5. The bonds authorized by Sections 2 through 17 of this act shall be signed by the chairman of the commission, or by his facsimile signature, and the official seal of the commission shall be affixed thereto, attested by the secretary of the commission. The interest coupons, if any, to be attached to such bonds may be executed by the facsimile signatures of such officers. Whenever any such bonds shall have been signed by the officials designated to sign the bonds who were in office at the time of such signing but who may have ceased to be such officers before the sale and delivery of such bonds, or who may not have been in office on the date such bonds may bear, the signatures of such officers upon such bonds and coupons shall nevertheless be valid and sufficient for all purposes and have the same effect as if the person so officially signing such bonds had remained in office until their delivery to the purchaser, or had been in office on the date such bonds may bear. However, notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, such bonds may be issued as provided in the Registered Bond Act of the State of Mississippi.
SECTION 6. All bonds and interest coupons issued under the provisions of Sections 2 through 17 of this act have all the qualities and incidents of negotiable instruments under the provisions of the Uniform Commercial Code, and in exercising the powers granted by Sections 2 through 17 of this act, the commission shall not be required to and need not comply with the provisions of the Uniform Commercial Code.
SECTION 7. The commission shall act as the issuing agent for the bonds authorized under Sections 2 through 17 of this act, prescribe the form of the bonds, advertise for and accept bids, issue and sell the bonds so authorized to be sold, pay all fees and costs incurred in such issuance and sale, and do any and all other things necessary and advisable in connection with the issuance and sale of such bonds. The commission is authorized and empowered to pay the costs that are incident to the sale, issuance and delivery of the bonds authorized under Sections 2 through 17 of this act from the proceeds derived from the sale of such bonds. The commission shall sell such bonds on sealed bids at public sale, and for such price as it may determine to be for the best interest of the State of Mississippi, but no such sale shall be made at a price less than par plus accrued interest to the date of delivery of the bonds to the purchaser. All interest accruing on such bonds so issued shall be payable semiannually or annually; however, the first interest payment may be for any period of not more than one (1) year.
Notice of the sale of any such bonds shall be published at least one (1) time, not less than ten (10) days before the date of sale, and shall be so published in one or more newspapers published or having a general circulation in the City of Jackson, Mississippi, and in one or more other newspapers or financial journals with a national circulation, to be selected by the commission.
The commission, when issuing any bonds under the authority of Sections 2 through 17 of this act, may provide that bonds, at the option of the State of Mississippi, may be called in for payment and redemption at the call price named therein and accrued interest on such date or dates named therein.
SECTION 8. The bonds issued under the provisions of Sections 2 through 17 of this act are general obligations of the State of Mississippi, and for the payment thereof the full faith and credit of the State of Mississippi is irrevocably pledged. If the funds appropriated by the Legislature are insufficient to pay the principal of and the interest on such bonds as they become due, then the deficiency shall be paid by the State Treasurer from any funds in the State Treasury not otherwise appropriated. All such bonds shall contain recitals on their faces substantially covering the provisions of this section.
SECTION 9. Upon the issuance and sale of bonds under the provisions of Sections 2 through 17 of this act, the commission shall transfer the proceeds of any such sale or sales to the Rural Fire Rescue and Extrication Equipment Acquisition Assistance Fund created in Section 1 of this act. The proceeds of such bonds shall be disbursed solely upon the order of the Mississippi Department of Insurance under such restrictions, if any, as may be contained in the resolution providing for the issuance of the bonds.
SECTION 10. The bonds authorized under Sections 2 through 17 of this act may be issued without any other proceedings or the happening of any other conditions or things other than those proceedings, conditions and things which are specified or required by Sections 2 through 17 of this act. Any resolution providing for the issuance of bonds under the provisions of Sections 2 through 17 of this act shall become effective immediately upon its adoption by the commission, and any such resolution may be adopted at any regular or special meeting of the commission by a majority of its members.
SECTION 11. The bonds authorized under the authority of Sections 2 through 17 of this act may be validated in the Chancery Court of the First Judicial District of Hinds County, Mississippi, in the manner and with the force and effect provided by Chapter 13, Title 31, Mississippi Code of 1972, for the validation of county, municipal, school district and other bonds. The notice to taxpayers required by such statutes shall be published in a newspaper published or having a general circulation in the City of Jackson, Mississippi.
SECTION 12. Any holder of bonds issued under the provisions of Sections 2 through 17 of this act or of any of the interest coupons pertaining thereto may, either at law or in equity, by suit, action, mandamus or other proceeding, protect and enforce any and all rights granted under Sections 2 through 17 of this act, or under such resolution, and may enforce and compel performance of all duties required by Sections 2 through 17 of this act to be performed, in order to provide for the payment of bonds and interest thereon.
SECTION 13. All bonds issued under the provisions of Sections 2 through 17 of this act shall be legal investments for trustees and other fiduciaries, and for savings banks, trust companies and insurance companies organized under the laws of the State of Mississippi, and such bonds shall be legal securities which may be deposited with and shall be received by all public officers and bodies of this state and all municipalities and political subdivisions for the purpose of securing the deposit of public funds.
SECTION 14. Bonds issued under the provisions of Sections 2 through 17 of this act and income therefrom shall be exempt from all taxation in the State of Mississippi.
SECTION 15. The proceeds of the bonds issued under Sections 2 through 17 of this act shall be used solely for the purposes therein provided, including the costs incident to the issuance and sale of such bonds.
SECTION 16. The State Treasurer is authorized, without further process of law, to certify to the Department of Finance and Administration the necessity for warrants, and the Department of Finance and Administration is authorized and directed to issue such warrants, in such amounts as may be necessary to pay when due the principal of, premium, if any, and interest on, or the accreted value of, all bonds issued under Sections 2 through 17 of this act; and the State Treasurer shall forward the necessary amount to the designated place or places of payment of such bonds in ample time to discharge such bonds, or the interest thereon, on the due dates thereof.
SECTION 17. Sections 2 through 17 of this act shall be deemed to be full and complete authority for the exercise of the powers therein granted, but Sections 2 through 17 of this act shall not be deemed to repeal or to be in derogation of any existing law of this state.
SECTION 18. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2003.