Senate Bill 2314

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 19-5-22, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO ALLOW THE COLLECTION OF GARBAGE FEES AND SPECIAL ASSESSMENTS DUE AND UNPAID TO BE COLLECTED AT THE TAX SALE OF THE PROPERTY AND REMITTED TO THE COUNTY; TO AMEND SECTIONS 27-41-59 AND 27-45-1, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CONFORM; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. Section 19-5-22, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

19-5-22. (1) Fees for garbage or rubbish collection or disposal shall be assessed jointly and severally against the generator of the garbage or rubbish and against the owner of the property furnished the service. Any person who pays, as a part of a rental or lease agreement, an amount for garbage or rubbish collection or disposal services shall not be held liable upon the failure of the property owner to pay those fees.

(2) Every generator assessed the fees authorized by Section 19-5-21 and the owner of the property occupied by that generator shall be jointly and severally liable for the fees. The fees shall be a lien upon the real property offered garbage or rubbish collection or disposal service.

The board of supervisors may assess the fees annually. If the fees are assessed annually, the fees for each calendar year shall be a lien upon the real property beginning on January 1 of the next immediately succeeding calendar year. The person or entity owing the fees, upon signing a form provided by the board of supervisors, may pay the fees in equal installments.

If fees are assessed on a basis other than annually, the fees shall become a lien on the real property offered the service on the date that the fees become due and payable.

No real or personal property shall be sold to satisfy any lien imposed under this subsection (2).

The county shall mail a notice of the lien, including the amount of unpaid fees and a description of the property subject to the lien, to the owner of the property.

(3) The circuit clerk shall maintain a lien docket of the garbage liens created under subsection (2) of this section. Liens created under subsection (2) may be discharged by filing with the circuit clerk a receipt or acknowledgement, signed by the designated county official or billing and collection entity, that the lien has been paid or discharged.

(4) (a) The board of supervisors may notify the tax collector of any unpaid fees assessed under Section 19-5-21 within ninety (90) days after the fees are due. Before notifying the tax collector, the board of supervisors shall provide notice of the delinquency to the person who owes the delinquent fees and shall afford an opportunity for a hearing, that complies with the due process protections the board deems necessary, consistent with the Constitutions of the United States and the State of Mississippi. The board of supervisors shall establish procedures for the manner in which notice shall be given and the contents of the notice; however, each notice shall include the amount of fees and shall prescribe the procedure required for payment of the delinquent fees. The board of supervisors may designate a disinterested individual to serve as hearing officer.

(b) Upon receipt of a delinquency notice, the tax collector shall not issue or renew a motor vehicle road and bridge privilege license for any motor vehicle owned by a person who is delinquent in the payment of fees unless those fees in addition to any other taxes or fees assessed against the motor vehicle are paid. Payment of all delinquent garbage fees shall be deemed a condition of receiving a motor vehicle road and privilege license tag.

(c) The tax collector may forward the motor vehicle road and privilege license tag renewal notices to the designated county official or entity that is responsible for the billing and collection of the county garbage fees. The designated county official or the billing and collection entity shall identify those license tags that shall not be issued due to delinquent garbage fees. The designated county official or the billing and collection entity shall stamp a message on the license tag renewal notices that the tag will not be renewed until delinquent garbage fees are paid. The designated county official or the billing and collection entity shall return the license tag notices to the tax collector before the first of the month.

(d) Any appeal from a decision of the board of supervisors under this section regarding payment of delinquent garbage fees may be taken as provided in Section 11-51-75.

(5) The board of supervisors may levy the garbage fees as a special assessment against the property in lieu of the lien authorized in this section. The board of supervisors shall certify to the tax collector the assessment due from the owner of the property. The tax collector shall enter the assessment upon the annual tax roll of the county and shall collect the assessment at the same time he collects the county ad valorem taxes on the property.

No real or personal property shall be sold to satisfy any assessment imposed under this subsection (5).

(6) The assessment fees that become a lien under this section and the special assessments in lieu of liens and entered on the annual tax roll shall be collected if the property is sold for taxes.

SECTION 2. Section 27-41-59, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

27-41-59. * * *~~(1)~~ Except as otherwise provided in Section 27-41-2, on the first Monday of April, if the tax collector has exercised his option to hold a tax sale on that day, and on the last Monday of August, as the case may be, if the taxes remain unpaid, the tax collector shall proceed to sell, for the payment of taxes then remaining due and unpaid, together with all fees, penalties and damages provided by law, and the liens and special assessments due and unpaid under Section 19-5-22, the land or so much and such parts of the land of each delinquent taxpayer to the highest and best bidder for cash as will pay the amount of taxes due by him and all costs and charges. He shall first offer one hundred sixty (160) acres or a smaller separately described subdivision, if the land is less than one hundred sixty (160) acres. If the first parcel so offered does not produce the amount due, then he shall offer as an entirety all the land constituting one (1) tract. Each separate assessment as it appears and is described on the assessment roll shall constitute one (1) tract for the purpose of sale for taxes, notwithstanding the fact that the person who is the owner thereof, or to whom it is assessed, is the owner of or is assessed with other lands, the whole of which constitutes one (1) entire tract but appears on the assessment roll in separate subdivisions. Upon offering the land of any delinquent taxpayer constituting one (1) tract, if no person will bid for it, the whole amount of taxes and all costs incident to the sale, the tax collector shall strike it off to the state. The sale shall be continued from day to day within the hours from 8:30 o'clock in the forenoon and 4:30 o'clock in the afternoon until completed; but neither a failure to advertise, nor error in the advertisement, nor error in conducting the sale, shall invalidate a sale at the proper time and place for taxes of any land on which the taxes were due and not paid, but a sale made at the wrong time or at the wrong place shall be void. Any person sustaining damages by reason of any failure or error by the tax collector may recover damages therefor on his official bond.

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SECTION 3. Section 27-45-1, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

27-45-1. Redemption of land sold for taxes shall be made through the chancery clerks of the respective counties. Where the land was sold to the state, the clerk, out of the amount necessary to redeem, shall first pay to the officers entitled thereto the costs, fees and damages which are allowed those officers by law in cases of lands sold to individuals; second, he shall pay the state the amount of state taxes with the interest and additional charges thereon allowed by law to the state; and, third, he shall pay to the county the sums computed in like manner which belong to the county and the various taxing districts thereof. Where the land was sold to an individual, the clerk shall pay:

(a) First, to the state the amount of state taxes with the interest and additional charges thereon allowed by law, unless same has been paid previously by the tax purchaser or some other person;

(b) Second, to the county the sums computed in like manner which belong to the county and the various taxing districts thereof, unless same has been paid previously by the tax purchaser or some other person;

(c) Third, to the county the five percent (5%) damages on the amount of the taxes for which the land was sold; * * *~~and~~

(d) Fourth, to the county the amount of the garbage liens and special assessments levied under Section 19-5-22 that are due and unpaid; and

( * * *de) * * *~~Fourth~~ Fifth, the balance to the purchaser.

The clerk shall make his redemption settlements within twenty (20) days after the end of each month and shall make a complete report thereof to the board of supervisors. For a failure so to report or to pay over the sums to the parties entitled thereto as herein required, he shall be liable on his official bond to a penalty of one percent (1%) per month on the amount withheld. The chancery clerk shall also note each redemption on the public record of delinquent tax lands, on the day payment of taxes is made, with the date, name and the amount of redemption money paid.

SECTION 4. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2015.