Senate Bill 2821

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 27-51-15, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE THE STATE TAX COMMISSION TO REDUCE THE ASSESSMENT SCHEDULE VALUES OF MOTOR VEHICLES THAT IS UTILIZED FOR AD VALOREM TAX PURPOSES BY 10% UNDER CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES; TO AMEND SECTIONS 27-51-19 AND 27-51-20, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, IN CONFORMITY THERETO; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. Section 27-51-15, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

27-51-15. (1) Motor vehicles shall be assessed uniformly according to value and such assessed value shall be determined by an assessment schedule which shall be prepared and made of minute record by the State Tax Commission and shall be certified to the president of the board of supervisors of the various counties of the state, and to the mayor or the presiding officer of the municipal boards of the various municipalities, and municipal separate school districts of the state, in care of the clerk of said respective boards, as the official motor vehicle assessment schedule which shall be used by the proper officials of both respective jurisdictions in assessing motor vehicle ad valorem taxes for the ensuing fiscal year.

(2) If the assessment schedule utilized pursuant to this section is based on the manufacturer's suggested retail price of motor vehicles, the commission shall reduce the values by not less than ten percent (10%) to take into account the reduction of the sales price of the vehicle from the manufacturer's suggested retail price that normally occurs in negotiations with motor vehicle dealers.

SECTION 2. Section 27-51-19, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

27-51-19. The State Tax Commission shall, on or before the fifteenth day of June of each year, prepare and adopt by minute record, an assessment schedule of motor vehicles, as defined in this chapter, which such assessment schedule, and no other, excepting as may be hereinafter provided, shall be used by the tax collector of each county and each municipality in the state, in assessing, calculating and collecting ad valorem taxes in each respective jurisdiction on all motor vehicles liable for such tax as authorized by this chapter.

In preparing the assessment schedule, the Tax Commission may make use of, as a base, the values of the various makes, models, year of manufacture, and types of motor vehicles as adopted by some reputable nationwide agency or association which regularly compiles and furnishes such information as to actual value of the different motor vehicles as to make, model, type and year of manufacture, or by any other method or methods or combination of methods which in its judgment will tend to equalize the assessed value of property of this class with property of other classes in general. These various motor vehicles, together with any special equipment, may be grouped into as many categories as, in the judgment of the Tax Commission, will be most practical in effecting equalization.

In preparing the assessment schedule, the Tax Commission shall apply such a percentage to the base value of such motor vehicles which, in its best judgment, will produce an assessed value which will equalize the assessed value of motor vehicles with the assessed value of other property in general, throughout the state, so far as is practical. The Tax Commission shall make the reduction provided for in Section 27-51-15 if the value of motor vehicles in the schedule is based on the manufacturer's suggested retail price.

The Tax Commission shall also make necessary corrections and amendments to this schedule from time to time throughout the fiscal year, and in so doing the general procedure set out above shall be followed.

SECTION 3. Section 27-51-20, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

27-51-20. (1) Except as otherwise provided in Section 27-51-15(2), any assessment schedule prepared and adopted by the State Tax Commission pursuant to Section 27-51-19, Mississippi Code of 1972, shall have:

(a) The same depreciation periods and methods of valuation as used in the assessment schedule used for valuation of motor vehicles for the 1993 fiscal year; and

(b) The same assessed value for motor vehicles at the end of such depreciation periods as contained in the assessment schedule used for valuation of motor vehicles during the 1993 fiscal year.

(2) The difference between the assessment of a motor vehicle at true value and the assessment of such motor vehicle under an assessment schedule meeting the criteria established pursuant to subsection (1) of this section, shall be exempt from ad valorem taxation.

SECTION 4. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage.