SB3009_H_Amend

SECTION 1. (1) The governing authorities of the City of Meridian, Mississippi, are authorized and empowered, in their discretion, by resolution duly adopted and entered on their minutes, to:

(a) Enter into contracts and agreements for a term of not to exceed thirty-five (35) years for the sale of treated effluent water from the City of Meridian's wastewater treatment facilities;

(b) Prescribe rates at which treated effluent water shall be sold; and

(c) Develop, design and construct the facilities necessary to transport the treated effluent water within or outside the corporate limits of the City of Meridian.

(2) Before the governing authorities of the City of Meridian may take any action under the provisions of subsection (1) of this section, the governing authorities shall adopt a resolution declaring their intention to enter into contracts for the sale of treated effluent water, setting forth the rates at which the treated effluent water shall be sold and calling for an election to be held on the question. The date of the election shall be at the next succeeding regular scheduled state or municipal general election. Notice of the election shall be published once each week for at least three (3) consecutive weeks in a newspaper published or having a general circulation in the City of Meridian, with the first publication of the notice to be made not less than twenty-one (21) days before the election and the last publication to be made not more than seven (7) days before the election. The advertisement shall be no less than one-fourth (1/4) page in size and the type used shall be no smaller than eighteen (18) point and surrounded by a one-fourth-inch solid black border. At the election, all qualified electors of the City of Meridian may vote, and the ballots used in such election shall have printed thereon a brief statement of the amount and purposes of the proposed tax increase and the words "FOR THE SALE OF TREATED EFFLUENT WATER FROM THE CITY OF MERIDIAN'S WASTEWATER TREATMENT FACILITIES" and, on a separate line, "AGAINST THE SALE OF TREATED EFFLUENT WATER FROM THE CITY OF MERIDIAN'S WASTEWATER TREATMENT FACILITIES" and the voters shall vote by placing a cross (x) or a check (v) opposite their choice on the proposition. When the results of any such election have been canvassed and certified, the governing authorities may perform the powers and duties prescribed in subsection (1) of this section, if at least a majority of the qualified electors who vote in the election vote in favor of the sale of effluent water from the City of Meridian's Wastewater Treatment Facilities.

SECTION 2. The Attorney General of the State of Mississippi shall submit this act, immediately upon approval by the Governor, or upon approval by the Legislature subsequent to a veto, to the Attorney General of the United States or to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in accordance with the provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended and extended.

SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after the date it is effectuated under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended and extended.