MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2015 Regular Session
To: Transportation; Ways and Means
By: Representative Espy
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTIONS 27-17-35, 27-19-3, 27-19-9, 27-19-43, 27-19-127, 63-1-5 AND 63-15-5, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT TRANSPORTATION NETWORK COMPANY VEHICLES ARE REGULATED IN THE SAME MANNER AS TAXICABS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 27-17-35, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
27-17-35. Upon each person operating a taxicab, transportation network company vehicle, U-drive-it, or other forms of renting motor vehicles (for the transportation of persons for hire), whether driven by the person renting same, or by driver furnished by the person operating the station, for each automobile so operated, as follows:
In municipalities of Class 1 $15.00
In municipalities of Class 2 $10.00
In municipalities of Classes 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and elsewhere in the county $5.00
SECTION 2. Section 27-19-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
27-19-3. (a) The following words and phrases when used in this article for the purpose of this article have the meanings respectively ascribed to them in this section, except in those instances where the context clearly describes and indicates a different meaning:
(1) "Vehicle" means every device in, upon or by which any person or property is or may be transported or drawn upon a public highway, except devices moved by muscular power or used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks.
(2) "Commercial vehicle" means every vehicle used or operated upon the public roads, highways or bridges in connection with any business function.
(3) "Motor vehicle" means every vehicle as defined in this section which is self-propelled, including trackless street or trolley cars. The term "motor vehicle" shall not include electric personal assistive mobility devices as defined in Section 63-3-103.
(4) "Tractor" means every vehicle designed, constructed or used for drawing other vehicles.
(5) "Motorcycle" means every vehicle designed to travel on not more than three (3) wheels in contact with the ground, except vehicles included within the term "tractor" as herein classified and defined.
(6) "Truck tractor" means every motor vehicle designed and used for drawing other vehicles and so constructed as to carry a load other than a part of the weight of the vehicle and load so drawn and has a gross vehicle weight (GVW) in excess of ten thousand (10,000) pounds.
(7) "Trailer" means every vehicle without motive power, designed to carry property or passengers wholly on its structure and which is drawn by a motor vehicle.
(8) "Semitrailer" means every vehicle (of the trailer type) so designed and used in conjunction with a truck tractor.
(9) "Foreign vehicle" means every motor vehicle, trailer or semitrailer, which shall be brought into the state otherwise than by or through a manufacturer or dealer for resale and which has not been registered in this state.
(10) "Pneumatic tires" means all tires inflated with compressed air.
(11) "Solid rubber tires" means every tire made of rubber other than pneumatic tires.
(12) "Solid tires" means all tires, the surface of which in contact with the highway is wholly or partly of metal or other hard, nonresilient material.
(13) "Person" means every natural person, firm, copartnership, corporation, joint-stock or other association or organization.
(14) "Owner" means a person who holds the legal title of a vehicle or in the event a vehicle is the subject of an agreement for the conditional sale, lease or transfer of the possession, the person with the right of purchase upon performance of conditions stated in the agreement, and with an immediate right of possession vested in the conditional vendee, lessee, possessor or in the event such or similar transaction is had by means of a mortgage, and the mortgagor of a vehicle is entitled to possession, then such conditional vendee, lessee, possessor or mortgagor shall be deemed the owner for the purposes of this article.
(15) "School bus" means every motor vehicle engaged solely in transporting school children or school children and teachers to and from schools; however, such vehicles may transport passengers on weekends and legal holidays and during summer months between the terms of school for compensation when the transportation of passengers is over a route of which not more than fifty percent (50%) traverses the route of a common carrier of passengers by motor vehicle and when no passengers are picked up on the route of any such carrier.
(16) "Dealer" means every person engaged regularly in the business of buying, selling or exchanging motor vehicles, trailers, semitrailers, trucks, tractors or other character of commercial or industrial motor vehicles in this state, and having an established place of business in this state.
(17) "Highway" means and includes every way or place of whatever nature, including public roads, streets and alleys of this state generally open to the use of the public or to be opened or reopened to the use of the public for the purpose of vehicular travel, and notwithstanding that the same may be temporarily closed for the purpose of construction, reconstruction, maintenance or repair.
(18) "State Tax Commission," "commission" or "department" means the Commissioner of Revenue of the Department of Revenue of this state, acting directly or through his duly authorized officers, agents, representatives and employees.
(19) "Common carrier by motor vehicle" means any person who or which undertakes, whether directly or by a lease or any other arrangement, to transport passengers or property or any class or classes of property for the general public in interstate or intrastate commerce on the public highways of this state by motor vehicles for compensation, whether over regular or irregular routes. The term "common carrier by motor vehicle" shall not include passenger buses operating within the corporate limits of a municipality in this state or not exceeding five (5) miles beyond the corporate limits of the municipality, and hearses, ambulances, and school buses as such. In addition, this definition shall not include taxicabs or TNCVs.
(20) "Contract carrier by motor vehicle" means any person who or which under the special and individual contract or agreements, and whether directly or by a lease or any other arrangement, transports passengers or property in interstate or intrastate commerce on the public highways of this state by motor vehicle for compensation. The term "contract carrier by motor vehicle" shall not include passenger buses operating wholly within the corporate limits of a municipality in this state or not exceeding five (5) miles beyond the corporate limits of the municipality, and hearses, ambulances, and school buses as such. In addition, this definition shall not include taxicabs or TNCVs.
(21) "Private commercial and noncommercial carrier of property by motor vehicle" means any person not included in the terms "common carrier by motor vehicle" or "contract carrier by motor vehicle," who or which transports in interstate or intrastate commerce on the public highways of this state by motor vehicle, property of which such person is the owner, lessee, or bailee, other than for hire. The term "private commercial and noncommercial carrier of private property by motor vehicle" shall not include passenger buses operated wholly within the corporate limits of a municipality of this state, or not exceeding five (5) miles beyond the corporate limits of the municipality, and hearses, ambulances, and school buses as such. In addition, this definition shall not include taxicabs or TNCVs.
Haulers of fertilizer shall be classified as private commercial carriers of property by motor vehicle.
(22) "Private carrier of passengers" means all other passenger motor vehicle carriers not included in the above definitions. The term "private carrier of passengers" shall not include passenger buses operating wholly within the corporate limits of a municipality in this state, or not exceeding five (5) miles beyond the corporate limits of the municipality, and hearses, ambulances, and school buses as such. In addition, this definition shall not include taxicabs or TNCVs.
(23) "Operator" means any person, partnership, joint-stock company or corporation operating on the public highways of the state one or more motor vehicles as the beneficial owner or lessee.
(24) "Driver" means the person actually driving or operating such motor vehicle at any given time.
(25) "Private carrier of property" means any person transporting property on the highways of this state as defined below:
( * * *i) Any person, or any employee of such
person, transporting farm products, farm supplies, materials and/or equipment
used in the growing or production of his own agricultural products in his own
truck.
( * * *ii) Any person transporting his own
fish, including shellfish, in his own truck.
( * * *iii) Any person, or any employee of
such person, transporting unprocessed forest products, or timber harvesting
equipment wherein ownership remains the same, in his own truck.
(26) "Taxicab" means any passenger motor vehicle for hire with a seating capacity not greater than ten (10) passengers. For purposes of this paragraph (26), seating capacity shall be determined according to the manufacturer's suggested seating capacity for a vehicle. If there is no manufacturer's suggested seating capacity for a vehicle, the seating capacity for the vehicle shall be determined according to regulations established by the Department of Revenue.
(27) "Passenger coach" means any passenger motor vehicle with a seating capacity greater than ten (10) passengers, operating wholly within the corporate limits of a municipality of this state or within five (5) miles of the corporate limits of the municipality, or motor vehicles substituted for abandoned electric railway systems in or between municipalities. For purposes of this paragraph (27), seating capacity shall be determined according to the manufacturer's suggested seating capacity for a vehicle. If there is no manufacturer's suggested seating capacity for a vehicle, the seating capacity for the vehicle shall be determined according to regulations established by the Department of Revenue.
(28) "Empty weight" means the actual weight of a vehicle including fixtures and equipment necessary for the transportation of load hauled or to be hauled.
(29) "Gross weight" means the empty weight of the vehicle, as defined herein, plus any load being transported or to be transported.
(30) "Ambulance and hearse" shall have the meaning generally ascribed to them. A hearse or funeral coach shall be classified as a light carrier of property, as defined in Section 27-51-101.
(31) "Regular seats" means each seat ordinarily and customarily used by one (1) passenger, including all temporary, emergency, and collapsible seats. Where any seats are not distinguished or separated by separate cushions and backs, a seat shall be counted for each eighteen (18) inches of space on such seats or major fraction thereof. In the case of a regular passenger-type automobile which is used as a common or contract carrier of passengers, three (3) seats shall be counted for the rear seat of such automobile and one (1) seat shall be counted for the front seat of such automobile.
(32) "Ton" means two thousand (2,000) pounds avoirdupois.
(33) "Bus" means any passenger vehicle with a seating capacity of more than ten (10) but shall not include "private carrier of passengers" and "school bus" as defined in paragraphs (15) and (22) of this section. For purposes of this paragraph (33), seating capacity shall be determined according to the manufacturer's suggested seating capacity for a vehicle. If there is no manufacturer's suggested seating capacity for a vehicle, the seating capacity for the vehicle shall be determined according to regulations established by the Department of Revenue.
(34) "Corporate fleet" means a group of two hundred (200) or more marked private carriers of passengers or light carriers of property, as defined in Section 27-51-101, trailers, semitrailers, or motor vehicles in excess of ten thousand (10,000) pounds gross vehicle weight, except for those vehicles registered for interstate travel, owned or leased on a long-term basis by a corporation or other legal entity. In order to be considered marked, the motor vehicle must have a name, trademark or logo located either on the sides or the rear of the vehicle in sharp contrast to the background, and of a size, shape and color that is legible during daylight hours from a distance of fifty (50) feet.
(35) "Individual fleet" means a group of five (5) or more private carriers of passengers or light carriers of property, as defined in Section 27-51-101, owned or leased by the same person and principally garaged in the same county.
(36) "Trailer fleet" means a group of fifty (50) or more utility trailers each with a gross vehicle weight of six thousand (6,000) pounds or less.
(37) "Transportation network company" (TNC) means an organization whether a corporation, partnership, sole proprietor, or other form, that offers prearranged transportation services for compensation using an online-enabled TNC application or platform to connect passengers with drivers using their personal vehicles.
(38) "Transportation network company vehicle" (TNCV) means a personal motor vehicle used for the transportation of passengers for compensation that is affiliated with a transportation network company.
(b) (1) No lease shall be recognized under the provisions of this article unless it shall be in writing and shall fully define a bona fide relationship of lessor and lessee, signed by both parties, dated and be in the possession of the driver of the leased vehicle at all times.
(2) Leased vehicles shall be considered as domiciled at the place in the State of Mississippi from which they operate in interstate or intrastate commerce, and for the purposes of this article shall be considered as owned by the lessee, who shall furnish all insurance on the vehicles and the driver of the vehicles shall be considered as an agent of the lessee for all purposes of this article.
SECTION 3. Section 27-19-9, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
27-19-9. On each operator there is hereby levied an annual highway privilege tax for each of the following motor vehicles as follows:
(a) On each hearse and on each ambulance,
per annum............................................... $ 25.00
(b) On each church-owned bus, per annum........ 10.00
(c) On each school bus used exclusively as such,
excluding school buses owned by a school district in the state, per annum 10.00
Provided, however, that any motor vehicle used otherwise, and on which there has been paid the privilege tax at a higher rate as provided in this article, may also be used as a school bus without the further payment of a road and bridge tax, and provided further, that in the event a person pays a flat privilege tax of Ten Dollars ($10.00), as levied in this subparagraph (c), and later desires to use his school bus for other purposes, and purchases a privilege tag for same as provided in this article, he shall be given credit on his new privilege tag purchased for the unearned part of the privilege tax paid.
(d) On each taxicab and TNCV, per annum........ 35.00
SECTION 4. Section 27-19-43, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
27-19-43. (1) License tags, substitute tags and decals for individual fleets and for private carriers of passengers, school buses (excluding school buses owned by a school district in the state), church buses, taxicabs, TNCVs, ambulances, hearses, motorcycles and private carriers of property, and private commercial carriers of property of a gross weight of ten thousand (10,000) pounds and less, shall be sold and issued by the tax collectors of the several counties.
(2) Applications for license tags for motor vehicles in a corporate fleet registered under Section 27-19-66 and trailers in a fleet registered under Section 27-19-66.1, and applications for all other license tags, substitute tags and decals shall be filed with the department or the local tax collector of the respective counties and forwarded to the department for issuance to the applicant. All tags and decals for vehicles owned by the state or any agency or instrumentality thereof, and vehicles owned by a fire protection district, school district or a county or municipality, and all vehicles owned by a road, drainage or levee district shall be issued by the department.
(3) In addition to the privilege taxes levied herein, there shall be collected the following registration or tag fee:
(a) For the issuance of both a license tag and two (2) decals, a fee of Five Dollars ($5.00).
(b) For the issuance of up to two (2) decals only, a fee of Three Dollars and Seventy-five Cents ($3.75).
(c) Additionally, the tax collector or the department, as the case may be, shall assess and collect a fee of Four Dollars ($4.00) upon each set of license tags and two (2) decals issued, or upon each set of two (2) decals issued, and that sum shall be deposited in the Mississippi Trauma Care Systems Fund established in Section 41-59-75, to be used for the purposes set out in that section.
No tag or decal shall be issued either by a tax collector or by the department without the collection of such registration fee except substitute tags and decals and license tags for vehicles owned by the State of Mississippi.
Beginning July 1, 1987, and until the date specified in Section 65-39-35, there shall be levied a registration fee of Five Dollars ($5.00) in addition to the regular registration fee imposed in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this subsection. Such additional registration fee shall be levied in the same manner as the regular registration fee.
SECTION 5. Section 27-19-127, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
27-19-127. All duties,
powers and authority relating to the enforcement of the motor tax laws for
Mississippi shall be vested solely in the * * * Department of Revenue,
except that the administration and enforcement of such laws as are applicable
to the collection of license taxes due on private commercial carriers of
property and private carriers of property of a gross weight of ten thousand
(10,000) pounds and less, and on private passenger vehicles, school buses,
taxicabs, TNCVs, ambulances and hearses, shall be jointly administered
by the * * * Department
of Revenue and the tax collectors of the several counties. If any sheriff,
constable or municipal law enforcement officer shall enforce the collection of
any delinquent motor vehicle privilege license tax, together with the penalty
thereon provided by law, then such sheriff, constable or municipal law
enforcement officer shall be entitled to one-half (1/2) of said delinquency and
penalty, but he shall not be entitled to such one-half (1/2) of such delinquency
and penalty unless he actually and directly enforced the collection thereof.
Provided, however, the one-half (1/2) of the delinquency and penalty due the
sheriff or municipal law enforcement officer shall be paid into a special fund
of the county or municipality, as the case may be, and may be appropriated and
expended by the governing authorities of the county or municipality for any
lawful purpose. No persons other than those named in this article shall ever be
entitled to receive any portion of a delinquency or penalty on motor vehicle
privilege license taxes for the collection of same. All delinquent privilege
taxes and penalties imposed and collected under the provisions of this article
shall be handled and disposed of in the same manner as the regular taxes.
SECTION 6. Section 63-1-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
63-1-5. (1) (a) No person shall drive or operate a motor vehicle upon the highways of the State of Mississippi without first securing an operator's license to drive on the highways of the state, unless specifically exempted by Section 63-1-7.
(b) The types of operator's licenses are:
(i) Class R;
(ii) Class D;
(iii) Class A, B or C commercial license governed by Article 5 of this chapter;
(iv) Intermediate license; and
(v) Ignition-interlock-restricted license as prescribed in Section 63-11-31.
(2) (a) Every person who makes application for an original license or a renewal license to operate any single vehicle with a gross weight rating of less than twenty-six thousand one (26,001) pounds or any vehicle towing a vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating not in excess of ten thousand (10,000) pounds other than vehicles included in Class C, vehicles which require a special endorsement, or to operate a vehicle as a common carrier by motor vehicle, taxicab, TNCV, passenger coach, dray, contract carrier or private commercial carrier as defined in Section 27-19-3, other than those vehicles for which a Class A, B or C license is required under Article 5 of this chapter, may, in lieu of the Class R regular driver's license, apply for and obtain a Class D driver's license. The fee for the issuance of a Class D driver's license shall be as set forth in Section 63-1-43 and the Class D license shall be valid for the term prescribed in Section 63-1-47. Except as required under Article 5 of this chapter, no driver of a pickup truck shall be required to have a Class D or a commercial license regardless of the purpose for which the pickup truck is used.
(b) Persons operating vehicles listed in paragraph (a) of this subsection for private purposes or in emergencies need not obtain a Class D license.
(3) An iginition-interlock-restricted license allows a person to drive only a motor vehicle equipped with an iginition-interlock device.
(4) A person who violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, may be punished by imprisonment for not less than two (2) days nor more than six (6) months, by a fine of not less than Two Hundred Dollars ($200.00) nor more than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00), or both.
SECTION 7. Section 63-15-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
63-15-5. This chapter shall not apply with respect to any motor vehicle owned by the United States, the State of Mississippi or any political subdivision of this state. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed so as to exclude from this chapter its applicability to taxicabs, TNCVs, jitneys or other vehicles for hire operating under franchise or permit of any incorporated city, town or village.
SECTION 8. Nothing in this act shall affect or defeat any claim, assessment, appeal, suit, right or cause of action for taxes due or accrued under the sales tax laws before the date on which this act becomes effective, whether such claims, assessments, appeals, suits or actions have been begun before the date on which this act becomes effective or are begun thereafter; and the provisions of the sales tax laws are expressly continued in full force, effect and operation for the purpose of the assessment, collection and enrollment of liens for any taxes due or accrued and the execution of any warrant under such laws before the date on which this act becomes effective, and for the imposition of any penalties, forfeitures or claims for failure to comply with such laws.
SECTION 9. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2015.