Senate Bill 2996

AN ACT TO AUTHORIZE THE GOVERNING AUTHORITIES OF THE CITY OF HATTIESBURG, MISSISSIPPI, TO LEVY A SPECIAL SALES TAX IF THE LEVY OF THE TAX IS APPROVED BY 3/5 OF THE QUALIFIED ELECTORS OF THE CITY VOTING AT AN ELECTION CALLED FOR SUCH PURPOSE; TO EXEMPT CERTAIN SALES FROM THE SPECIAL SALES TAX; TO PROVIDE THAT THE SPECIAL SALES TAX SHALL BE UTILIZED FOR CERTAIN PURPOSES; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. (1) As used in this section:

(a) "City" means the City of Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

(b) "Governing authorities" means the Mayor and City Council of the City of Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

(c) "Hotel" or "motel" means and includes a place of lodging that at any one time will accommodate transient guests on a daily or weekly basis and that is known to the trade as such.

SECTION 2. (1) The governing authorities of the City of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, may impose upon all persons as a privilege for engaging or continuing in business or doing business within the city, a special sales tax at the rate of not more than one percent (1%) of the gross proceeds of sales or gross income of the business, as the case may be, derived from any of the activities taxed at the rate of seven percent (7%) or more under the Mississippi Sales Tax Law, Section 27-65-1 et seq.

(2) Before any tax authorized under this act may be imposed, the governing authorities of the city shall adopt a resolution declaring its intention to levy the tax, setting forth the amount of the tax to be imposed, the purposes for which the revenue collected pursuant to the tax levy may be used and expended, the date upon which the tax shall become effective, the date upon which the tax shall be repealed, and calling for an election to be held on the question. The date of the election shall be August 12, 2014. 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, with the first publication of the notice to be made not less than twenty-one (21) days before the date fixed in the resolution for the election and the last publication to be made not more than seven (7) days before the election. At the election, all qualified electors of the city may vote. The ballots used at the election shall have printed thereon a brief description of the sales tax, the amount of the sales tax levy, a description of the purposes for which the tax revenue may be used and expended and the words "FOR THE LOCAL SALES TAX" and "AGAINST THE LOCAL SALES TAX" and the voter shall vote by placing a cross (X) or check mark (ü) opposite his choice on the proposition. When the results of the election have been canvassed by the election commissioners of the city and certified by them to the governing authorities, it shall be the duty of such governing authorities to determine and adjudicate whether at least three-fifths (3/5) of the qualified electors who voted in the election voted in favor of the tax. If at least three-fifths (3/5) of the qualified electors who voted in the election voted in favor of the tax, the governing authorities shall adopt a resolution declaring the levy and collection of the tax provided in this section and shall set the first day of the second month following the date of such adoption as the effective date of the tax levy. A certified copy of this resolution, together with the result of the election, shall be furnished to the Department of Revenue not less than sixty (60) days before the effective date of the levy.

(3) The tax levied under this act shall not apply to:

(i) Sales exempted by Sections 27-65-19, 27-65-101, 27-65-103, 27-65-105, 27-65-107, 27-65-109 and 27-65-111 of the Mississippi Sales Tax Law;

(ii) Gross proceeds of sales or gross income of restaurants derived from the sale of food and beverages;

(iii) Gross proceeds of sales or gross income of hotels and motels derived from the sale of hotel rooms and motel rooms for lodging purposes; and

(iv) Retail sales of packaged liquor;

(v) Retail sales of food for human consumption not purchased with food stamps issued by the United States Department of Agriculture, or other federal agency, but which would be exempt under Section 27-65-111(o) from the taxes imposed by this chapter if the food items were purchased with food stamps.

(4) The revenue collected pursuant to the tax levy imposed under this act may be expended for the purposes authorized in Section (4) of this act.

SECTION 3. (1) The special sales tax authorized by this act shall be collected by the Department of Revenue, shall be accounted for separately from the amount of sales tax collected for the state in the municipality and shall be paid to the municipality. The Department of Revenue may retain three percent (3%) of the proceeds of such tax for the purpose of defraying the costs incurred by the department in the collection of the tax. Payments to the municipality shall be made by the Department of Revenue on or before the fifteenth day of the month following the month in which the tax was collected. The Department of Revenue shall certify to the city the time at which the payment to the city of revenue from the special sales tax authorized by this act exceeds Three Hundred Million Dollars ($300,000,000.00) in the aggregate. Upon receipt of this certification from the Department of Revenue, the tax shall be discontinued by order or resolution of the governing authorities within thirty (30) days.

SECTION 4. (1) The proceeds of the special sales tax shall be placed into a special municipal fund apart from the municipal general fund and any other funds of the city, and shall be expended by the city solely for the purposes of:

(a) Establishing sanitary, storm, drainage or sewerage systems and repairing and improving such systems;

(b) Protecting the city, its streets and sidewalks from overflow, caving banks and similar dangers;

(c) Constructing, improving or paving streets, sidewalks, driveways, parkways, walkways, public parking facilities or public facilities and purchasing land therefor;

(d) Constructing bridges and culverts; and

(e) Altering or changing the channels of streams and water courses to control, deflect or guide the current thereof.

(2) The revenue in the special municipal fund shall not be pledged as security for or otherwise used to fund the debt service on any bonds of the city.

SECTION 5. All provisions of the Mississippi Sales Tax Law applicable to filing of returns, discounts to the taxpayer, remittances to the Department of Revenue, enforced collection, rights of taxpayers, recovery of improper taxes, refunds of overpaid taxes or other provisions of law providing for imposition and collection of the state sales tax shall apply to the special sales tax authorized by this act, except where there is a conflict, in which case the provisions of this act shall control. Any damages, penalties or interest collected for the nonpayment of taxes imposed under this act, or for noncompliance with the provisions of this act, shall be paid to the city on the same basis and in the same manner as the tax proceeds. Any overpayment of tax for any reason that has been disbursed to the city or any payment of the tax to the city in error may be adjusted by the Department of Revenue on any subsequent payment to the municipality pursuant to the provisions of the Mississippi Sales Tax Law.

SECTION 6. This act shall be liberally construed for the purposes set forth in this act and shall be construed as additional, cumulative and supplemental to any power granted to the city by a general or local and private act.

SECTION 7. The city may enter into any interlocal agreements that may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this act.

SECTION 8. This act shall be repealed from and after September 30, 2043.

SECTION 9. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage.