Senate Bill 2612

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 27-25-11, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REVISE DISTRIBUTION OF TIMBER SEVERANCE TAX TO COUNTIES FOR RETIRING BONDS ISSUED FOR ROAD REPAIR; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. Section 27-25-11, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

27-25-11. All taxes herein levied shall be collected by the Commissioner of Revenue and shall be deposited in the State Treasury in accordance with Section 7-9-21. For the 1984 fiscal year and each fiscal year thereafter, seventy percent (70%) of such collections shall be credited to the Forest Resources Development Fund and thirty percent (30%) of such collections shall be returned to the counties from which the timber or its products was severed. The State Treasurer upon receipt of said funds shall transfer those funds to be credited to the Forest Resources Development Fund and shall remit the counties' share of said funds on or before the fifteenth day of the month next succeeding the month in which such collections are made.

The commissioner shall determine amounts due the counties from which the timber or its products was severed and shall certify to the State Treasurer the amount due each county or special fund. The State Treasurer shall requisition monies from such accounts in such amounts as determined and certified by the commissioner. The State Auditor shall deliver the warrant to the State Treasurer, who shall transfer such funds to each county or special fund by warrant or by electronic funds transfer on the due date.

The commissioner shall deliver on or before the fifteenth day of the month next succeeding the month in which such collections are made, a report to the county receiving said funds, showing from whom said tax was collected. Upon receipt of said funds the county shall place same to the credit of its general fund, to be expended as follows: The monies placed in the general fund of the counties by this article, not required by law to be otherwise expended, may, in the discretion of the boards of supervisors, be expended in maintaining county roads and bridges or for retiring general county bonds and they are hereby authorized to apportion these funds to the various taxing districts of the county in a just and equitable manner for the payment of bonds and interest, or school and road maintenance purposes, in proportion to the amount of timber or its products severed therefrom. Provided further, that any additional funds which accrue to any county as a result of the increase in tax provided in this article shall not be chargeable to the county in determining the state funds needed annually to support the minimum educational program under Section 37-19-37.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2012.