MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2018 Regular Session
To: Ways and Means
By: Representative Snowden
AN ACT TO BRING FORWARD SECTIONS 27-35-301, 27-35-303, 27-35-305, 27-35-307, 27-35-309, 27-35-310, 27-35-311, 27-35-313, 27-35-315, 27-35-319, 27-35-321, 27-35-325, 27-35-327, 27-35-331, 27-35-333, 27-35-335, 27-35-337, 27-35-339, 27-35-341 and 27-35-343, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH RELATE TO THE ASSESSMENT OF PROPERTY OF RAILROADS AND OTHER PUBLIC SERVICE CORPORATIONS FOR THE PURPOSE OF AD VALOREM TAXATION, FOR THE PURPOSES OF POSSIBLE AMENDMENT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 27-35-301, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
27-35-301. The members of the State Tax Commission are constituted state assessors of railroads and other public service corporations, and they shall, upon the receipt or making of the schedules hereinafter provided for, assess the property of railroads, telegraph, telephone, sleeping car, express, electric power and light companies and other public service corporations liable to taxation in the state, affixing its true value so that such property shall bear its just proportion of taxation, taking into consideration the value of the franchise and the capital engaged in the business in this state. The state assessors of railroads and other public service corporations may adopt other and further rules necessary and proper to ascertain the value of property to be assessed by them, including the value of the franchise and amount of capital engaged in the business in this state. Provided, however, the members of the State Tax Commission shall be assessors of railroad and Class IV public service property, but shall not be the assessors of the types and kinds of properties owned by the public service corporations and appraised and assessed by county tax assessors pursuant to Sections 27-35-331 through 27-35-341.
SECTION 2. Section 27-35-303, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
27-35-303. (1) Each person, firm, company or corporation owning and/or operating a railroad, oil or gas pipeline company, electric company or any other company listed in Section 27-35-301, owning property not situated wholly in one (1) county; and any telephone company owning property in more than six (6) counties shall, on or before the first Monday in April in each year, file with the State Tax Commission a complete schedule, under oath, on forms prescribed and furnished by the State Tax Commission, of all its property, real or personal, taxable and nontaxable, owned by it on the first day of the preceding January, setting forth therein the value of the whole, the total amount of capital stock, its par value and its actual value, and the value of its franchise, the gross amount of receipts in the year preceding; all real, personal or mixed property belonging to the company within the state, not enumerated, with its value; a list of all lands in this state owned, describing the same and giving the value thereof, the gross amount of receipts the year preceding earned within and from this state; and if any of said property is claimed to be exempt from taxation, it shall be separately stated and valued, and the law cited under which the claim is made. It shall not be necessary that a rendition on any motor vehicles be made as defined by the "Motor Vehicle Ad Valorem Tax Law of 1958." In addition to these required schedules, the State Tax Commission may require each person, firm, company or corporation to file with the State Tax Commission a copy of any annual report or form required to be filed by him with any federal regulatory agency. The State Tax Commission may grant an extension of up to thirty (30) days for the filing of the schedules required by this section.
(2) The State Tax Commission shall have the power to adopt, amend or repeal such rules and regulations as necessary to implement tax duties assigned to it in this section.
SECTION 3. Section 27-35-305, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
27-35-305. If any company, corporation, firm or person, who is required by law to render schedules of its, their or his property to the State Tax Commission, as provided by Section 27-35-303, Mississippi Code of 1972, for the purposes of assessment for taxation, shall fail, refuse or neglect to render the schedules, as required, such company, corporation, firm or person shall pay a penalty up to ten percent (10%) of the assessment as computed by the tax commission, and in case of such failure, refusal or neglect, the commission shall make out such schedules from the best information obtainable.
SECTION 4. Section 27-35-307, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
27-35-307. If in any case the state railroad assessors have reason to believe that any person, firm, company or corporation which under this chapter is to be assessed by the State Tax Commission has rendered a false or fraudulent schedule, so that an assessment predicated thereon would relieve such person, firm, company or corporation of a just share of taxation, the commission shall not, in making the assessment be bound thereby, but shall make out a proper schedule as if none had been rendered, first giving such person, company, firm or corporation five (5) days' notice to come forward at a time and place to be named, and show cause why such a course should not be pursued. Such notice shall be served and returned as a summons from a court, but the failure to receive such notice shall not render the assessment void.
SECTION 5. Section 27-35-309, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
27-35-309. (1) The Department of Revenue shall, if practicable, on or before the first Monday of June of each year, make out for each person, firm, company or corporation listed in Section 27-35-303, Mississippi Code of 1972, an assessment of the company's property, both real and personal, tangible and intangible. The Department of Revenue shall apportion the assessment of value of each company's property according to the provisions of this article, except as provided in subsection (3) of this section, as follows:
(a) When the property of such public service company is located in more than one (1) county in this state, the Department of Revenue shall direct the company to apportion the assessed value between the counties and municipalities and all other taxing districts therein, in the proportion which the property located therein bears to the entire value of the property of such company as valued by the department, so that to each county, municipality and taxing district therein, there shall be apportioned such part of the entire valuation as will fairly equalize the relative value of the property therein located to the whole value thereof.
(b) When the property of such public utility required to be assessed by the provisions of this article is located in more than one (1) state, the assessed value thereof shall be apportioned by the Department of Revenue in such manner as will fairly and equitably determine the principal sum for the value thereof in this state, and after ascertaining such value it shall be apportioned by them as herein provided.
The assessment roll shall contain all the property of any such public service company, railroad, person, firm or corporation and the value thereof, and so made that each county, municipality, and taxing district shall receive its just share of taxes proportionately to the amount of property therein situated.
(2) (a) The assessment when made shall remain open for thirty (30) days in the Office of the Department of Revenue, and be for such time subject to the objections thereto which may be filed with the Executive Director of the Board of Tax Appeals; but real estate belonging to railroads and which forms no part of the road, and is wholly disconnected from its railroad business, shall not be assessed by the Department of Revenue, but shall be assessed as other real estate is assessed by the tax assessor of the county where situated.
(b) The apportionment of the assessed value as required by this section shall be filed with the Department of Revenue by such public service company on or before the first day of August in each year. If such company shall fail, refuse or neglect to render the apportionment of assessed value as required by this section, such company shall be subject to the penalties provided for in Section 27-35-305. The filing of an objection by such public service company shall not preclude such company from filing the property apportionment as required by this section.
(3) Any nuclear generating plant which is located in the state, which is owned or operated by a public utility rendering electric service within the state and not exempt from ad valorem taxation under any other statute and which is not owned or operated by an instrumentality of the federal government shall be exempt from county, municipal and district ad valorem taxes. In lieu of the payment of county, municipal and district ad valorem taxes, such public utility shall pay to the Department of Revenue a sum based on the assessed value of such nuclear generating plant in an amount to be determined and distributed as follows:
(a) The Department of Revenue shall annually assign an assessed value to any nuclear generating plant described in this subsection in the same manner as for ad valorem tax purposes by using accepted industry methods for appraising and assessing public utility property. The assessed value assigned shall be used for the purpose of determining the in-lieu tax due under this section and shall not be included on the ad valorem tax rolls of the situs taxing authority nor be subject to ad valorem taxation by the situs taxing authority nor shall the assessed value assigned be used in determining the debt limit of the situs taxing authority. However, the assessed value so assigned may be used by the situs taxing authority for the purpose of determining salaries of its public officials.
(b) On or before February 1, 1987, for the 1986 taxable year and on or before February 1 of each year through the 1989 taxable year, such utility shall pay to the Department of Revenue a sum equal to two percent (2%) of the assessed value as ascertained by the Department of Revenue, but such payment shall not be less than Sixteen Million Dollars ($16,000,000.00) for any of the four (4) taxable years; all such payments in excess of Sixteen Million Dollars ($16,000,000.00) for these four (4) taxable years shall be paid into the General Fund of the state. On or before February 1, 1991, for the 1990 taxable year and on or before February 1 of each year thereafter, such utility shall pay to the Department of Revenue a sum equal to two percent (2%) of the assessed value as ascertained by the Department of Revenue, but such payment shall not be less than Twenty Million Dollars ($20,000,000.00) for any taxable year for as long as such nuclear power plant is licensed to operate and is not being permanently decommissioned; all such payments in excess of Sixteen Million Dollars ($16,000,000.00) for taxable years 1990 and thereafter shall be paid as follows:
(i) An amount of Three Million Forty Thousand Dollars ($3,040,000.00) annually, beginning with fiscal year 1991, shall be transferred by the Department of Revenue to Claiborne County. Such payments may be expended by the Board of Supervisors of Claiborne County for any purpose for which a county is authorized by law to levy an ad valorem tax and shall not be included or considered as proceeds of ad valorem taxes for the purposes of the growth limitation on ad valorem taxes under Sections 27-39-305 and 27-39-321. However, should the Board of Supervisors of Claiborne County withdraw its support of the Grand Gulf Nuclear Station off-site emergency plan or otherwise fail to satisfy its off-site emergency plan commitments as determined by the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($500,000.00) annually of the funds designated for Claiborne County as described by this subsection (i) shall be deposited in the Grand Gulf Disaster Assistance Fund as provided in Section 33-15-51.
(ii) An amount of One Hundred Sixty Thousand Dollars ($160,000.00) annually, beginning with fiscal year 1991, shall be transferred by the Department of Revenue to the City of Port Gibson, Mississippi. Such payments may be expended by the Board of Aldermen of the City of Port Gibson for any purpose for which a municipality is authorized by law to levy an ad valorem tax and shall not be included or considered as proceeds of ad valorem taxes for the purposes of the growth limitation on ad valorem taxes under Sections 27-39-305 and 27-39-321. However, should the Board of Aldermen of the City of Port Gibson withdraw its support of the Grand Gulf Nuclear Station off-site emergency plan or otherwise fail to satisfy its off-site emergency plan commitment, as determined by the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000.00) annually of the funds designated for the City of Port Gibson as described by this subsection (ii) shall be deposited in the Grand Gulf Disaster Assistance Fund as provided in Section 33-15-51.
(iii) The remaining balance of the payments in excess of Sixteen Million Dollars ($16,000,000.00) annually, less amounts transferred under (i) and (ii) of this subsection, beginning with fiscal year 1991, shall be allocated in accordance with subsection (3)(f) of this section.
(c) Pursuant to certification by the Attorney General to the State Treasurer and the State Tax Commission that the suit against the State of Mississippi pending on the effective date of House Bill 8, First Extraordinary Session of 1990, [Laws, 1990 Ex Session, Ch. 12, eff June 26, 1990], in the Chancery Court for the First Judicial District of Hinds County, Mississippi, styled Albert Butler et al v. the Mississippi State Tax Commission et al, has been voluntarily dismissed with prejudice as to all plaintiffs at the request of the complainants and that no attorney's fees or court costs have been assessed against the state and each of the parties, including Claiborne County and each municipality and school district located in the county, have signed and delivered to the Attorney General a full and complete release in favor of the State of Mississippi and its elected officials of all claims that have been asserted or may be asserted in the suit pending on the effective date of House Bill 8, First Extraordinary Session of 1990, [Laws, 1990 Ex Session, Ch. 12, eff June 26, 1990], in the Chancery Court for the First Judicial District of Hinds County, Mississippi, styled Albert Butler et al v. the Mississippi State Tax Commission et al, and the deposit into the State General Fund of in-lieu payments and interest thereon due the state under subsection (3)(b) of this section but placed in escrow because of the lawsuit described above, the state shall promptly transfer to the Board of Supervisors of Claiborne County out of the State General Fund an amount of Two Million Dollars ($2,000,000.00) which shall be a one-time distribution to Claiborne County from the state. Such payment may be expended by the Board of Supervisors of Claiborne County for any purposes for which a county is authorized by law to levy an ad valorem tax and shall not be included or considered as proceeds of ad valorem taxes for the purposes of the growth limitation on ad valorem taxes for the 1991 fiscal year under Sections 27-39-321 and 27-39-305.
(d) After distribution of the one-time payment to Claiborne County as set forth in subsection (3)(c) of this section, the Department of Revenue upon certification that the pending lawsuit as described in subsection (3)(c) of this section has been voluntarily dismissed shall promptly deposit an amount of Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($500,000.00) into the Grand Gulf Disaster Assistance Trust Fund as provided for in Section 33-15-51, which shall be a one-time payment, to be utilized in accordance with the provisions of such section.
(e) After distribution of the one-time payment to Claiborne County as set forth in subsection (3)(c) of this section and the payment to the Grand Gulf Disaster Assistance Trust Fund as set forth in subsection (3)(d) of this section, the Department of Revenue upon certification that the pending lawsuit as described in subsection (3)(c) of this section has been voluntarily dismissed shall promptly distribute ten percent (10%) of the remainder of the prior payments remaining in escrow to the General Fund of the state and the balance of the prior payments remaining in escrow shall be distributed to the counties and municipalities in this state wherein such public utility has rendered electric service in the proportion that the amount of electric energy consumed by the retail customers of such public utility in each county, excluding municipalities therein, and in each municipality, for the next preceding fiscal year bears to the total amount of electric energy consumed by all retail customers of such public utility in the State of Mississippi for the next preceding fiscal year. The payments distributed to the counties and municipalities under this paragraph (e) may be expended by such counties and municipalities for any lawful purpose and shall not be included or considered as proceeds of ad valorem taxes for the purposes of the growth limitation on ad valorem taxes under Sections 27-39-321 and 27-39-305.
(f) After distribution of the payments for fiscal year 1991 as set forth in Section 19-9-151 and distribution of the payments as provided for in subsection (3)(b) of this section, the Department of Revenue shall distribute ten percent (10%) of the remainder of the payments to the General Fund of the state and the balance to the counties and municipalities in this state wherein such public utility renders electric service in the proportion that the amount of electric energy consumed by the retail customers of such public utility in each county, excluding municipalities therein, and in each municipality for the next preceding fiscal year bears to the total amount of electric energy consumed by all retail customers of such public utility in the State of Mississippi for the next preceding fiscal year.
(g) No county, including municipalities therein, shall receive in excess of twenty percent (20%) of the funds distributed under paragraph (f) of this subsection.
(h) The revenues received by counties and municipalities under paragraph (f) of this subsection shall not be included or considered as proceeds of ad valorem taxes for the purposes of the growth limitation on ad valorem taxes under Sections 27-39-305 and 27-39-321.
SECTION 6. Section 27-35-310, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
27-35-310. All nuclear power plant property that has been abandoned and written off the books of the public utility owning such property and is no longer considered operating property of such utility by the State Tax Commission or is being permanently decommissioned shall be exempted from all ad valorem taxes now levied or hereafter levied by the State of Mississippi, or any county, municipality, levee district, school or any other taxing district within the state.
SECTION 7. Section 27-35-311, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
27-35-311. (1) It shall be the duty of the Board of Tax Appeals to hear and determine objections to assessments made by the Department of Revenue for ad valorem tax purposes. They may, if they think objections just, sustain the same and amend assessments, if necessary accordingly.
(2) Any objection shall be in writing and filed with the Executive Director of the Board of Tax Appeals within the thirty-day period set out in Section 27-35-309(2)(a). At the time of filing the objection with the Executive Director of the Board of Tax Appeals, the taxpayer shall also file a copy of his written objection with the Department of Revenue.
SECTION 8. Section 27-35-313, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
27-35-313. So soon as the assessment rolls have remained subject to objection for thirty (30) days, and when all objections, if any, are disposed of, the assessment rolls shall be approved by the Department of Revenue, and a certified copy of the assessment rolls shall be sent immediately to the clerks of the board of supervisors of the respective counties, who shall file and preserve it as a record.
SECTION 9. Section 27-35-315, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
27-35-315. The clerk of the board of supervisors shall make one copy of the said assessment rolls, and shall certify and deliver the same to the tax collector which when done shall have the same force and effect as other certified copies of tax rolls placed in the hands of the tax collector.
SECTION 10. Section 27-35-319, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
27-35-319. Notwithstanding the provisions of Sections 27-35-31, 27-35-309, 27-35-317 and 27-35-323, when all the property of a telephone company is located in not more than six (6) counties, it shall be assessed and taxed as that of a person; and the laws, providing for the assessment and collection of taxes on the property of persons, shall apply to the assessment and collection of taxes on the property of such companies. All shares or certificates of stock issued by any such corporation or company shall be exempt from taxation and shall not be returned for assessment. Its land and tangible personal property shall be assessed and taxed where situated on the first day of January of the year.
SECTION 11. Section 27-35-321, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
27-35-321. Any corporation owning, possessing, holding or operating a toll bridge structure located partly but not wholly within one county of this state and any substantial part of which so situated in this state is used or operated, howsoever, by or in connection with any common carrier railroad, as an instrumentality or facility for the conduct by such common carrier railroad of interstate commerce or its interstate transportation business, shall be considered and the same is hereby declared and defined to be a public service corporation as to all of its property situated in this state and which is liable to taxation in this state; and such property shall be wholly and exclusively subject to valuation and assessment for the purposes of taxation by the state tax commission of Mississippi, which commission is by law constituted state assessor of railroads and other public service corporations. Such property of said corporation shall be assessed to the extent and in like manner as the property of other public service corporations and public utilities now subject to the authority and jurisdiction of said commission; and said toll bridge corporations shall make and file schedules in time and manner as provided by Sections 27-35-309, 27-35-317 and 27-35-323 and under penalties as therein provided.
Such property of all persons, partnerships or associations of persons, so owned, held, possessed, operated, situated and utilized, however, shall, likewise, be valued and assessed for the purposes of taxation by the said state tax commission of Mississippi.
SECTION 12. Section 27-35-325, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
27-35-325. The Department of Revenue is hereby authorized and empowered and it shall be its duty to assess any property required to be assessed by the Department of Revenue as the state assessor of railroads, which it discovers escaping taxation in former years by reason of not being assessed; and to assess or cause to be assessed and taxed, any such property which it discovers escaping taxation by reason of not being assessed in or for the benefit of any road district, school district, or other taxing district or municipality, although the property may have been assessed and taxed for state and general county taxes; however, the right to so assess property shall expire at the end of seven (7) years from the date when the right so to do first accrued. When any property is discovered escaping assessment and taxation which, under the law, is required to be assessed by the Department of Revenue as state assessor of railroads, the Department of Revenue shall assess the same for such purpose and for the years it has escaped taxation, and shall give notice by United States mail, or otherwise, by the Commissioner of Revenue of the Department of Revenue to the owner of the property, or agent, of such owner, showing what property has escaped assessment and for what years, and all other proper information, and the owner shall have thirty (30) days in which to file objections. The Department of Revenue shall deal with the assessment in all respects with the same powers as if made at the time regular assessment of such property is made, and shall have power to require such information as it may desire for the correct determination of all questions before it. When any objection is heard and determined, the Board of Tax Appeals shall by order approve or disapprove, or may modify the assessment, and make it final. If no objection is made in regard to the assessment or if the assessment is approved or modified by the Board of Tax Appeals, the Department of Revenue shall certify it to the clerk of the board of supervisors of the county or counties where the property is located, and such assessment shall be dealt with by the clerk and tax collector as is required in cases of assessments when made at the regular time. In all cases where suit is necessary, it shall be the duty of the Attorney General to represent the Department of Revenue whenever requested to do so.
SECTION 13. Section 27-35-327, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
27-35-327. Complete and full records shall be kept and preserved by the state tax commission of all things done under the authority vested in it as the state assessor of railroads, and public utilities.
SECTION 14. Section 27-35-331, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
27-35-331. The public service corporations to which Sections 27-35-331 through 27-35-343 apply are persons, individuals, partnerships, corporations, associations or entities that own, control, manage or operate a business engaged in:
(a) The generation, manufacture, transmission or distribution of electricity to or for the public for compensation.
(b) The distribution or sale of natural or artificial gas to the public for compensation; provided, however, Sections 27-35-331 through 27-35-343 shall not apply to entities engaged in the interstate transmission of gas by pipeline.
(c) The transmission, conveyance or reception of any message over wire or by radio, or otherwise, of writing, signs, signals, pictures and sounds of all kinds by or for the public for compensation; provided, however, Sections 27-35-331 through 27-35-343 shall not apply to telephone companies whose properties are located in not more than six (6) counties as provided in Section 27-35-319, Mississippi Code of 1972.
SECTION 15. Section 27-35-333, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
27-35-333. The properties of public service corporations which are subject to Sections 27-35-331 through 27-35-343 are limited to:
(a) Vacant and unimproved real estate owned in fee simple.
(b) Buildings and the land on which they are situated utilized solely for the purpose of housing the managerial offices of such corporations, and the office furniture and facilities located therein.
(c) Buildings and the land on which they are situated utilized for the warehousing or storage of materials and supplies; provided, however, Sections 27-35-331 through 27-35-343 do not apply to the materials, supplies, equipment and facilities warehoused or stored therein.
(d) Buildings and the land on which they are situated utilized for the purpose of conducting the merchandising and sale of appliances utilizing the utility service furnished by such entity, together with inventories of such goods and appliances.
SECTION 16. Section 27-35-335, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
27-35-335. Sections 27-35-331 through 27-35-343 do not apply to properties owned by such public service corporations utilized in the furnishing of the utility service in which such public service corporations are engaged. This exclusion includes, but is not restricted to, the following: electric generating plants and related facilities; electric transmission and distribution facilities; electric substations; telephone exchanges; communication facilities by means of which communication service is effected; communication relay facilities; gas mains, pumping stations; metering facilities; compression stations; all facilities and equipment by means of which gas is received from the supplier and delivered to the consumer. It is the intent of Sections 27-35-331 through 27-35-343 to vest in county tax assessors the jurisdiction to assess only those types and kinds of properties enumerated in Section 27-35-333, and no other.
SECTION 17. Section 27-35-337, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
27-35-337. It shall be the duty of public service corporations subject to Sections 27-35-331 through 27-35-343 to report to the county tax assessor of the counties in which any property subject to Sections 27-35-331 through 27-35-343 is located the same information and data, at the same time as such data and information has heretofore been reported to the State Tax Commission. Reports to the State Tax Commission may, after the effective date of Sections 27-35-331 through 27-35-343, eliminate the data and information which will be reported to county tax assessors pursuant to this section.
SECTION 18. Section 27-35-339, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
27-35-339. All property, as described in Section 27-35-333, of public service corporations subject to Sections 27-35-331 through 27-35-343 shall be appraised by county tax assessors and assessed in proportion to its true value in the same manner as is provided by law for other properties subject to the jurisdiction of the county tax assessors and at the same assessment ratio as established for other public service corporation property.
SECTION 19. Section 27-35-341, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
27-35-341. With respect to properties appraised and assessed by county tax assessors pursuant to Sections 27-35-331 through 27-35-343, the assessments so made shall constitute the assessment thereof for purposes of ad valorem taxes imposed by municipalities or other taxing districts on properties located therein. Assessing jurisdiction over such properties is specifically not conferred upon municipal authorities or authorities of other taxing districts.
SECTION 20. Section 27-35-343, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
27-35-343. Sections 27-35-331 through 27-35-343 shall apply to the assessment of public service corporation properties for the calendar year 1987 and thereafter.
SECTION 21. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2018.