MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2010 Regular Session
To: Ways and Means
By: Representative Denny
AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR A "MISSISSIPPI PROPERTY TAX BILL OF RIGHTS"; TO AMEND SECTION 27-4-3, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO AUTHORIZE THE BOARD OF TAX APPEALS TO HEAR APPEALS FROM TAXPAYERS REGARDING DECISIONS OF THE COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OR THE MUNICIPAL GOVERNING AUTHORITIES REGARDING ASSESSMENTS OF REAL OR PERSONAL PROPERTY ON THE COUNTY OR MUNICIPAL ASSESSMENT ROLLS; TO AMEND SECTIONS 27-35-81, 27-35-83, 27-35-87, 27-35-89, 27-35-91, 27-35-97, 27-35-111, 27-35-129, 27-35-131, 27-35-135, 27-35-147, 27-35-157, 21-33-10, 21-33-29, 21-33-31, 21-33-35, 21-33-37, 21-33-55 AND 21-33-59, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REMOVE THE AUTHORITY OF THE COUNTY BOARDS OF SUPERVISORS AND THE MUNICIPAL GOVERNING AUTHORITIES TO HEAR AND DECIDE OBJECTIONS REGARDING ASSESSMENTS OF REAL OR PERSONAL PROPERTY ON THE COUNTY AND MUNICIPAL ASSESSMENT ROLLS, AND PROVIDE THAT THOSE OBJECTIONS SHALL BE HEARD AND DECIDED BY THE BOARD OF TAX APPEALS; TO REPEAL SECTIONS 27-35-93, 25-25-95, 27-35-119, 27-35-121 AND 21-33-33, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH RELATE TO OBJECTIONS OF PROPERTY ASSESSMENTS BEFORE THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OR MUNICIPAL GOVERNING AUTHORITIES; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1.
The following shall be known as the "Mississippi Property Tax Bill of
Rights":
(a) The taxpayer is entitled to have a fair and impartial
hearing of any real or personal property tax objection before the Board of Tax
Appeals.
(b) The taxpayer has the right to appeal all issues that adversely
affect the taxpayer to the Board of Tax Appeals.
(c) The taxpayer must be notified in advance of any proposed change
that may cause an adverse effect regarding ad valorem taxes.
(d) The burden of proof is on the county, and if the county fails,
the taxpayer prevails. All information used by the county in its appraisal
must be made available to the taxpayer fourteen (14) days before any appeal
hearing. The taxpayer is entitled to a full refund, including interest, if it
is determined that the tax assessor’s office made a procedural error in any
prior tax year. If the taxpayer prevails, the taxpayer shall be awarded
reasonable fees for appraisal or legal representation.
(e) No taxpayer shall be subject to a grossly excessive valuation
due to errors made in the valuation of his or her property. As a failsafe if a
taxpayer misses the opportunity to protest the original notice or if there is a
failure of delivery of a notice, the taxpayer has a right to appeal up to the
due date of the taxes any valuation that the taxpayer believes to be in error.
The tax must be paid by the due date, but the taxpayer’s appeal is extended to
this date.
(f) The taxpayer has the right to information and to be provided
public comment concerning the level of local government expenditure and its
impact on property tax rates. Taxpayers are entitled to be informed throughout
the tax rate adoption process.
(g) The taxpayer has the right to represent himself or herself or to
appoint an agent to represent him or her on property tax matters. The taxpayer
has the right to select an agent that the taxpayer believes will best represent
his or her case.
(h) Taxpayers shall be provided with information through the state’s
Web site and other printed material promoted by the state and made available
publicly, to assist them in their understanding of their rights, remedies and
responsibilities in matters of taxation.
SECTION 2. Section 27-4-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
27-4-3. (1) The Board of Tax Appeals shall have the following powers and duties:
(a) To adopt, amend or repeal those rules or regulations necessary to implement the duties assigned to the board.
(b) To have jurisdiction over all administrative appeals to the board from decisions of the review board and administrative hearing officers of the Department of Revenue under Sections 27-77-5, 27-77-9, 27-77-11 and 27-77-12, to arrange the time and place of the hearing on any such appeal, and where required, to arrange for any evidence presented to the board at such hearing to be transcribed or otherwise preserved for purposes of making a record of the hearing.
(c) To have jurisdiction over all administrative appeals regarding certain decisions and actions by the Department of Revenue under the Local Option Alcoholic Beverage Control Law, Section 67-1-1 et seq., and under the Mississippi Native Wine Law of 1976, Section 67-5-1 et seq., as provided for under Section 67-1-72, to arrange the time and place of the hearing on any such appeal and to arrange for any evidence presented to the board at such hearing to be transcribed or otherwise preserved for purposes of making a record of the hearing.
(d) To have jurisdiction over all administrative appeals under Sections 27-33-37 and 27-33-41 to the board from decisions of the Department of Revenue to deny an objection of a board of supervisors to the rejection by the Department of Revenue of an application for homestead exemption and to arrange the time and place of the hearing on any such appeal.
(e) To have jurisdiction over all administrative appeals under Section 27-35-113 to the board from the decision of the Department of Revenue regarding its examination of the recapitulations of the assessment rolls of a county and to arrange the time and place of the hearing on any such appeal.
(f) To have jurisdiction to hear any objection to an assessment by the Department of Revenue pursuant to Section 27-35-311, 27-35-517 or 27-35-703 and to arrange the time and place of the hearing on any such objection.
(g) To hear appeals from taxpayers regarding decisions of the county board of supervisors or the municipal governing authorities regarding assessments of real or personal property on the county or municipal assessment rolls.
(h) To perform all other duties which are now or may hereafter be imposed upon the board by law.
(2) Each member of the board is empowered to administer and certify oaths.
(3) Each member of the board is empowered to perform all other duties which are now or may hereafter be imposed on him by law.
SECTION 3. Section 27-35-81, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
27-35-81. (1) If the assessment is conducted by or under the direction of the assessor, the assessor shall complete the assessment of both real and personal property and file the roll or rolls with the clerk of the board of supervisors on or before the first Monday in July of each year. He shall make an affidavit and append it to each roll, showing that he has faithfully endeavored to ascertain and assess all the persons and property in his county, that he has not omitted any person or thing, or placed upon, or accepted an under valuation of any property, through fear, favor or partiality, and that he has required every taxpayer to make the oath required to be taken by the person rendering a list of his taxable property wherever possible. The assessor shall file with the roll or rolls, under oath, a list showing the name of every taxpayer who has failed or refused to make oath to his tax lists.
(2) If the roll or rolls are not filed as required by this section on or before the first Monday in July of each year, the board of supervisors at its July meeting shall adopt an order showing the failure of the roll or rolls to be filed and shall certify to the Department of Revenue a statement showing such failure and the time necessary to complete the roll or rolls.
(3) Upon receipt of such certificate from the board of supervisors of any county, the Department of Revenue shall provide when such roll shall be completed and filed and the date when the board of supervisors shall meet to equalize the roll or rolls * * *. When such roll or rolls shall be filed, they shall be dealt with in all respects as now provided by law except as to the time.
SECTION 4. Section 27-35-83, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
27-35-83. The board of supervisors shall immediately at the July meeting proceed to equalize such rolls and shall complete such equalization at least ten (10) days before the August meeting, and shall immediately by newspaper publication notify the public that such rolls so equalized are ready for inspection and examination. * * *
SECTION 5. Section 27-35-87, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
27-35-87. At the meeting for the equalization of assessments, the board of supervisors shall carefully examine the roll or rolls, and shall then and there cause to be assessed any person or thing that may be found to be omitted, and anything found to be undervalued may be correctly valued. In the year in which the land assessment is made, the board shall carefully examine the land roll and see that it embraces all the land in the county, and correctly represents it as being the property of individuals or the state or United States, according to the fact, and taxable or not taxable according to law, and that all is correctly described so as to be identified with certainty, and that there are no double assessments. All land improperly omitted from the roll shall be added thereto by the board or under its direction, and land incorrectly or insufficiently described shall be properly described, and land which is not classed correctly or undervalued shall be properly classified and valued. The board shall cause all corrections to be made in the rolls, which, being done, the board shall enter an order approving the assessments, with or without corrections, as the case may be, subject to the right of parties in interest to appeal to the Board of Tax Appeals as provided in Section 27-35-89.
SECTION 6. Section 27-35-89, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
27-35-89. (1) Any taxpayer who objects to an assessment of real or personal property on the county assessment roll shall be authorized to appeal the assessment to the Board of Tax Appeals. Beginning on the first Monday of August, the Board of Tax Appeals shall hear taxpayer objections to * * * assessments of real or personal property on the county assessment rolls. The board shall examine the assessment rolls, and hear and determine all objections to the rolls, and shall meet from day to day until all objections have been disposed of, and all proper corrections made, or may take objections under advisement as provided in subsection (2) of this section. The board * * * may increase or diminish the valuation of any property, so that property of the same value is assessed for an equal sum. If the board increases or decreases an individual assessment, the board shall send immediate notice in writing * * * by mail to the person whose assessment is increased or decreased and to the clerk of the board of supervisors in which the property is located. The decision of the Board of Tax Appeals in any taxpayer objections to assessments of real or personal property on the county assessment rolls is final.
(2) The Board of Tax Appeals may take an objection under advisement to allow the taxpayer or his designee, the tax assessor or the board of supervisors of the county to compile information relating to the objection; however, the Board of Tax Appeals shall enter an order on the objection on or before the first Monday of September.
(3) If the Board of Tax Appeals increases or decreases an individual assessment, the board of supervisors in which the property is located shall revise the assessment roll of the county to reflect the increase or decrease in the assessment.
(4) If a person does not file an objection to the assessment rolls with the Board of Tax Appeals as provided in this section, the person shall be bound by the assessment and precluded from questioning its validity after its final approval by the board of supervisors or by operation of law, except minors and persons non compos mentis.
SECTION 7. Section 27-35-91, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
27-35-91. It shall be the duty of the assessor of Harrison County to file with the chancery clerk of the county two (2) copies each of the land and personal rolls of the county, filing one (1) of each with the * * * clerk at his office at Gulfport and one (1) of each at his office at Biloxi, and the board of supervisors, in passing on * * * assessment rolls, shall at the proper meeting held by them at Biloxi, approve such of the rolls that relate to and embrace property included and being in the second district, and at the proper meeting held in Gulfport shall approve such of the rolls that relate to and embrace property included in the first district, and in all instances acting upon the rolls, insofar as the territory embraced in each of the respective districts is concerned, in the same manner as though the action or approval of the assessment rolls related to the approval thereof of different counties. The assessor and clerk shall provide suitable copies of the entire rolls, as finally approved, in all instances where required by law, as though the rolls related to different counties; however, only one (1) copy of each shall be required to be filed with any state office, in which * * * roll shall be required to be filed under the law now or hereafter existing, insofar as the same shall relate to each of the districts.
* * *
SECTION 8. Section 27-35-97, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
27-35-97. The board of supervisors may require any person, firm, corporation, or bank to bring their books before them while sitting as an equalization board * * * or when sitting to carry out the orders of the Department of Revenue, and such other papers as will fully inform them as to the true value of the property to be assessed. Any person or concern failing or refusing to comply with such demand of the board of supervisors shall be precluded from objecting to any such assessment with the Board of Tax Appeals.
SECTION 9. Section 27-35-111, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
27-35-111. Within ten (10) days after the Board of Tax Appeals has notified the board of supervisors of any increases or decreases in individual assessments, the board of supervisors shall transmit directly to the Department of Revenue two (2) copies of the recapitulation of its assessment, as equalized on forms to be prescribed by the department. If the board of supervisors fails to send in the recapitulation * * * provided for in this section, the individual members shall be liable on their bonds for such failure and a suit may be brought by the department.
SECTION 10. Section 27-35-129, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
27-35-129. The board of supervisors, at its July meeting, shall carefully examine the assessment roll, or rolls, returned by the tax assessor and shall then decide if a new assessment be necessary. If it is found that the assessor is incapable, or that his assessment is so imperfect that it ought not to be approved, even if objections are not filed, the board may appoint some suitable person to proceed immediately to make the assessment. The board of supervisors shall in such case adopt an order setting forth the true facts and conditions and the time necessary for making of a new assessment roll, or rolls, and shall certify the order to the Department of Revenue. The Department of Revenue shall, upon receipt of the certificate from the board of supervisors, determine and notify the board of supervisors when the roll, or rolls, shall be filed and the time for equalization by the board of supervisors * * *. The person appointed to make the assessment shall proceed immediately to make the assessment in the same manner and with the same powers of the tax assessor when assessments are made at the time provided by law, and shall prepare and file the assessment roll, or rolls, within the time prescribed by the order of the department. The person so appointed and discharging the duty shall be allowed the compensation allowed by law to the assessor for like services, and shall have the same deputies allowed by law to the tax assessor. The board of supervisors shall require of the persons appointed the same bond as is required of the tax assessor. The roll, or rolls, made under the provisions of this section shall be the legal assessment roll and the old one shall be * * * annulled.
SECTION 11. Section 27-35-131, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
27-35-131. (1) An assessment roll, or rolls, made by a person appointed by the board of supervisors for that purpose * * * as provided in section 27-35-129 shall be made and returned at the time prescribed by the order of the Department of Revenue, and at the time designated by the order of the department, the board shall immediately assemble, receive and examine the same, and shall do all things which the law directs to be done if the roll had been received and equalized at the July meeting, except as to the time. The board of supervisors shall have power to increase or decrease the assessment of any property or person and shall cause to be added to the roll by the tax assessor, or the person appointed, any person or property omitted therefrom. Such equalization shall be completed within ten (10) days of the time designated by the department, and shall immediately, by newspaper publication, give notice that such roll, or rolls, so equalized are ready and open for inspection and examination by any taxpayer. * * *
(2) Any taxpayer who objects to an assessment of real or personal property on the county assessment roll shall be authorized to appeal the assessment to the Board of Tax Appeals in the same manner as provided in Section 27-35-89. When the Board of Tax Appeals has heard all objections to such roll, made its final determinations on those objections, and notified the board of supervisors of any increases or decreases in individual assessments, the board of supervisors shall forward to the Department of Revenue, as provided by law, a recapitulation of the roll, or rolls; and the roll, or rolls, shall be dealt with in all respects as now provided by law for rolls made and filed on the first Monday of July, except as to the time.
SECTION 12. Section 27-35-135, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
27-35-135. When the land roll is ordered by the board to be declared in force for the year following the year in which it was made, the assessor shall assemble, for presentation to the board, all necessary information which is obtainable with respect to the taxable real property in the county, and shall present to the board at its July meeting his recommendation of the changes which include the addition of buildings not on the roll, changes in ownership, subdivisions of tracts of land, and destruction of buildings, and other information which is pertinent to the circumstances enumerated in Sections 27-35-143 and 27-35-147, or as may be requested by the board, to enable it to make such changes as will cause the taxes to be charged to the person or property liable therefor, and to fix the assessments of property according to the value thereof, to the end that all property shall be assessed and taxed uniformly and equally. The board shall proceed to consider the land assessment roll along with the personal property assessment roll as is required by Sections 27-35-83 and 27-35-87 in the same manner as is done in the year in which the land roll is made. The board shall make a record of its changes, and if expedient the board may prepare, or have prepared, new pages to replace any page or pages in the roll where changes are so numerous as to cause confusion and uncertainty in the description of any property and of any individual assessment. The pages which are replaced shall be marked void by the clerk, who shall place the new pages in the roll at the place in the roll immediately following the pages marked void, and shall certify copies of the new pages, one (1) to the tax collector, and one (1) to the Department of Revenue. The tax collector and the department shall place the pages received in their respective copies of the roll.
The board shall publish a notice to the taxpayers as required by Section 27-35-83 that the roll is open for inspection and that objections may be made by appeal to the Board of Tax Appeals as provided in Section 27-35-89. When the Board of Tax Appeals has heard all objections to the roll, made its final determinations on those objections, and notified the board of supervisors of any increases or decreases in individual assessments, the board of supervisors shall approve finally, by order, the roll as so corrected and revised, and the clerk of the board shall prepare a new recapitulation and a new certificate for the corrected roll and deliver one (1) copy to the tax collector and one (1) copy to the Department of Revenue. The roll so approved shall be the legal roll, and the values thus fixed shall be the legal value of the property described for the payment of taxes, and it shall be the duty of each and every taxpayer to pay his taxes thereon according to such value.
SECTION 13. Section 27-35-147, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
27-35-147. The board of supervisors, upon its own motion, or upon notice from the tax assessor, the Department of Revenue, or other officer authorized to assess, or have assessed property escaping taxation, shall have power, at any time in the current year that an assessment roll is in force, to increase an assessment subject to approval as hereinafter provided, or to assess property or persons omitted from such roll or rolls under the following circumstances:
(a) When lands have been assessed and buildings and improvements thereon have been omitted from the roll.
(b) When the value of lands, assessed according to the number of acres or as an entire tract, has increased because actually subdivided into lots or smaller tracts, on or before the preceding tax lien date.
(c) When the value of the lands has been increased by reason of changes or improvements made in or on adjacent lands before the preceding tax lien date, and the lands have been assessed without taking into consideration the changed conditions.
(d) When lands or improvements thereon have been listed as exempt from taxation, but were subject to assessment and taxation on the preceding tax lien date.
(e) When the property is liable for a special district levy tax but has not been assessed for the benefit of such district.
When the board of supervisors * * * changes any assessment as provided in this section, it shall require its clerk to give ten (10) days' notice in writing, and the notice may be given by mail to the last known address of the party, or by newspaper publication, and * * * the party affected by the order may appeal from the decision of the board to the Board of Tax Appeals in the manner provided in Section 27-35-89.
SECTION 14. Section 27-35-157, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
27-35-157. When the assessor * * * assesses the persons or property, as provided in Section 27-35-155 and * * * files the same with the clerk as therein provided, the clerk shall enter the same on the last approved roll or rolls in his hands, separately for former years, and for the current year. The clerk shall immediately give ten (10) days' notice in writing, to the person or corporation whose property is thus assessed, that all objections to such assessment must be made to the Board of Tax Appeals in the manner provided in Section 27-35-89. * * * If the assessment is approved and no appeal is taken to the Board of Tax Appeals, or after the Board of Tax Appeals has heard the objections to the assessment, made its final determinations on those objections, and notified the board of its decision, the clerk shall certify the * * * assessment to the tax collector, setting forth in his certificate the year or years for which such assessment is made, and separately the current assessment, the name of the municipality, road district, school district, or other taxing district in which the same is located. Taxes for the current year shall be collected as provided by law for other nondelinquent taxes. The tax collector shall proceed forthwith to collect all taxes due on the assessment for the former year or years at the rates fixed by law and, in addition thereto, shall collect as a penalty ten percent (10%) of the amount of the taxes due for each year, together with interest at six percent (6%) per annum computed from the first day of February on which the taxes should have been paid. If the taxes, penalties and interest shall not be paid within thirty (30) days after the final assessment is certified to him, the property, if it is real estate, shall be sold as provided by law, and if it is personal property, the tax collector shall proceed to collect by distress, or otherwise, as provided by law.
SECTION 15. Section 21-33-10, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
21-33-10. The governing authority of any municipality which adopts the part of the county assessment roll containing the property located within the municipality as provided in Sections 21-33-9 and 27-35-167 shall not correct or revise such assessment roll except for the purpose of conforming the municipal assessment roll to corrections or revisions made to the county assessment roll. The governing authority of such municipality shall not meet to hear objections to the assessment roll. All objections to the municipal assessment roll shall be heard by the Board of Tax Appeals at the time and in the manner that objections to the county assessment roll are heard. The board of supervisors shall notify, in writing, the municipal governing authority and the municipal tax assessor of any corrections or revisions made by the Board of Tax Appeals to the part of the county assessment roll adopted as the municipal assessment roll. * * *
SECTION 16. Section 21-33-29, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
21-33-29. Except as otherwise provided in Section 21-33-10, the governing authorities of every municipality shall, at a regular or special meeting to be held in September or October in each year (unless a different time be fixed by order), receive the assessment rolls of real and personal property from the assessor and shall proceed to change, correct, revise, and equalize said assessments in the same manner and with the same powers as is provided for the equalization of assessments by county boards of supervisors. When the equalization has been completed, the governing authorities shall give ten (10) days' notice that all objections to the equalization must be made to the Board of Tax Appeals in the manner provided in Section 27-35-89. The notice shall be given by publication at least one (1) time in a legal newspaper, if there is one published in the municipality, and if no such newspaper is published in the municipality, the notice shall be given by posting written notices thereof in five (5) or more public places in the municipality.
SECTION 17. Section 21-33-31, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
21-33-31. The governing authorities, upon completion of the equalization, correction and revision of the assessment roll or rolls, shall enter an order approving the rolls and the assessments therein contained, subject to the right of parties in interest to be heard on objections by appeal to the Board of Tax Appeals. The order adopted, approving the rolls and the assessment, shall state the total assessment of the land roll and separately of the personal roll, but this shall not be required in the case of towns and villages.
SECTION 18. Section 21-33-35, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
21-33-35. The governing authorities, after the Board of Tax Appeals has heard and determined all objections to the assessment roll, or rolls, and the assessments therein contained, shall approve the same by an order entered on the minutes. Such order shall state the grand total of the personal roll and the grand total of the land roll. If the municipality has added territory, the order shall recite, separately, the above totals for the municipality, for the added territory, and the grand total for the separate school district.
SECTION 19. Section 21-33-37, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
21-33-37. Except as otherwise provided in Section 21-33-10, if the governing authorities of the municipality fail to hold any meeting for the equalization of assessment rolls * * * or if the governing authorities fail to give the proper notice to the taxpayers, they shall immediately proceed to give the required notice and to hold the necessary meetings and do the necessary things in connection with the completion of the assessment roll. When the notice has been given as required by law, the governing authorities shall proceed to deal with the rolls with all the powers and duties as are now prescribed by law, except as to the time. If the governing authorities fail to hold any meeting, or give any notice, or to perform any other duty in reference to the assessment rolls, at the time required by law, such duty shall be performed at a later date upon the giving of legal and proper notice to the persons affected.
SECTION 20. Section 21-33-55, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
21-33-55. The governing authorities of all municipalities in this state, including private charter municipalities, are * * * authorized and empowered to cause all taxable property, whether real or personal, within the corporate limits, and liable to taxation, which from any cause has escaped taxation within the past seven (7) years, to be assessed for taxes for each year in which such property has escaped taxation. In all cases of the assessment of property under this section, the governing authorities of any municipality ordering such assessment * * * shall cause the municipal clerk to give to the property owner ten (10) days' written notice, by mail, if the post office address of the owner be known, that any objection to the assessment must be made to the Board of Tax Appeals in the manner provided in Section 27-35-89. If the post office address of the owner is unknown, notice shall be given by posting notice for at least ten (10) days in five (5) public places in the municipality * * *.
If it is discovered that the property of any railroad, or other public service corporation required by law to be assessed by the state railroad assessors, has escaped assessment and taxation for any reason, the assessor, upon his own motion, or upon request of the governing authorities of the municipality, shall notify the state railroad assessors of such fact, and state the name of the owner and the kind of property escaping assessment and taxation. The state railroad assessors shall proceed to assess such property as provided by Section 27-35-325.
No leasehold interest in any property, real or personal, belonging to the State of Mississippi, counties, districts, municipalities or any political subdivisions, shall be subjected to ad valorem taxation for any past year on the basis of it having been omitted from the ad valorem tax rolls.
SECTION 21. Section 21-33-59, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
21-33-59. In all cases where property situated within a municipality has been sold for delinquent taxes, if it * * * afterward appears to the governing authorities of such municipality that such sale was void on account of an insufficient or erroneous description, or for other cause, the governing authorities of such municipality may, by resolution entered upon their minutes, declare such sale to be void and thereby relinquish the title or claim of the municipality acquired under or by virtue of such void sale. In such event the governing authorities of such municipality shall be authorized and empowered to cause such property to be properly and legally assessed for each of the years for which such taxes have not been paid, and shall be authorized and empowered to change, revise, correct and revalue such property for each of the years for which such taxes have not been paid, and shall be authorized and empowered to enter a proper order directing that such assessments be changed, revised and corrected, and to cause such changed, revised and corrected assessments to be entered upon the assessment roll in force for the year in which such order is entered. In all such cases notice of such change and correction in the assessment, or of such new assessment, shall be given to the property owner in the manner provided by law, and the notice shall state that any objection to the assessment must be made to the Board of Tax Appeals in the manner provided in Section 27-35-89. Such notice may be waived, however, by the property owner. After the Board of Tax Appeals has heard the objection to the assessment, made its final determinations on that objection, and notified the governing authorities of its decision, the governing authorities of such municipality shall then be authorized to enter an order approving such assessments and making the same final, and such property may be sold for such taxes, if necessary, in accordance with law.
This section and Section 21-33-57 shall also apply to all cases of void sales of property for taxes, and the governing authorities, in all cases where a tax sale is void from any cause, may proceed to cause a legal sale to be made, and to cause property to be assessed in all cases after a void sale where assessment may have become necessary, and to cause sale to be made, if necessary, by complying with Sections 21-33-55 and 21-33-57.
SECTION 22. Sections 27-35-93, 25-25-95, 27-35-119, 27-35-121 and 21-33-33, Mississippi Code of 1972, which relate to objections of property assessments before the board of supervisors or municipal governing authorities, are repealed.
SECTION 23. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2010.