MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2024 Regular Session
To: Appropriations
By: Senator(s) Hopson, Polk, Michel, Turner-Ford, Wiggins
AN ACT MAKING AN APPROPRIATION FOR THE PURPOSE OF DEFRAYING THE EXPENSES OF THE MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE, INCLUDING THE HOMESTEAD EXEMPTION DIVISION, THE MOTOR VEHICLE COMPTROLLER FUNCTIONS, THE ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE CONTROL DIVISION LIQUOR DISTRIBUTION CENTER, THE ENFORCEMENT DIVISION, AND FOR THE PURPOSE OF REIMBURSING THE COUNTIES, COUNTY DISTRICTS AND MUNICIPAL SEPARATE SCHOOL DISTRICTS FOR TAX LOSSES INCURRED BY REASON OF THE EXEMPTION OF HOMES FROM CERTAIN AD VALOREM TAXES, AND FOR THE PURPOSE OF PURCHASING MOTOR VEHICLE LICENSE TAGS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2025.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. The following sum, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated out of any money in the State General Fund not otherwise appropriated, for the purpose of defraying the expenses of the Mississippi Department of Revenue, including the Homestead Exemption Division, the Motor Vehicle Comptroller functions, the Alcoholic Beverage Control Division Liquor Distribution Center, and The Enforcement Division for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2024, and ending June 30, 2025...........................................
............................................ $ 53,990,195.00.
SECTION 2. The following sum, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated out of any money in the special fund in the State Treasury to the credit of the Mississippi Department of Revenue which are collected by or otherwise become available for the purpose of defraying the expenses of the department for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2024, and ending June 30, 2025........ $ 22,259,786.00.
SECTION 3. Of the funds appropriated under the provisions of this act, the following positions are authorized:
AUTHORIZED HEADCOUNT:
Permanent: 613
Time-Limited: 0
With the funds herein appropriated, it shall be the agency's responsibility to make certain that funds required for Personal Services for Fiscal Year 2026 do not exceed Fiscal Year 2025 funds appropriated for that purpose unless programs or positions are added to the agency's Fiscal Year 2025 budget by the Mississippi Legislature. The Legislature shall determine the agency's personal services appropriation, which the State Personnel Board shall publish. In accordance with applicable laws, if an agency determines that its personal services amount is insufficient, the agency must contact the State Personnel Board. Any adjustment to the personal services amount must be approved by the State Personnel Director and the State Fiscal Officer after consultation with the Legislative Budget Office. Any adjustment shall be reported to the Legislative Budget Office and the House and Senate Appropriations Chairmen. The agency's personal services appropriation may consist of restricted funds for approved vacancies for Fiscal Year 2025 that may not be utilized for active Fiscal Year 2024 headcount. It shall be the agency's responsibility to ensure that the funds provided for vacancies are used to increase headcount and not for promotions, title changes, in-range salary adjustments, or any other mechanism for increasing salaries for current employees. If the State Personnel Board determines that an agency has used provided vacancy funds for any of the mechanisms previously listed, the State Personnel Board shall not process any additional salary actions for the agency in the current fiscal year, except for new hires determined by the State Personnel Board to be essential for the agency. It is the Legislature's intention that no employee salary falls below the minimum salary established by the Mississippi State Personnel Board.
Additionally, the State Personnel Board shall determine and publish the projected annualized payroll costs based on current employees. It shall be the responsibility of the agency head to ensure that actual personnel expenditures for Fiscal Year 2025 do not exceed the data provided by the Legislative Budget Office. If the agency's projected cost for Fiscal Year 2025 exceeds the annualized costs, no salary actions shall be processed by the State Personnel Board except for new hires determined to be essential for the agency.
Any transfers or escalations shall be made in accordance with the terms, conditions, and procedures established by law or allowable under the terms set forth within this act. The State Personnel Board shall not escalate positions without written approval from the Department of Finance and Administration. The Department of Finance and Administration shall not provide written approval to escalate any funds for salaries and/or positions without proof of availability of new or additional funds above the appropriated level.
No general funds authorized to be expended herein shall be used to replace federal funds and/or other special funds used for salaries authorized under the provisions of this act and which are withdrawn and no longer available.
None of the funds herein appropriated shall be used in violation of the Internal Revenue Service's Publication 15-A relating to the reporting of income paid to contract employees, as interpreted by the Office of the State Auditor.
SECTION 4. It shall be the duty of the Chairman of the Mississippi Department of Revenue, and he is hereby empowered to select in the manner provided by Section 27-3-13, Mississippi Code of 1972, such employees as may be necessary to the administration of all acts relating to the exemption of homesteads and the reimbursement of tax losses to the several taxing units of the state, and to assign them to the use of the Mississippi Department of Revenue.
SECTION 5. The money herein appropriated may be used for any expenses which the commission may legally incur. Provided, however, that no part of the money herein appropriated shall be used for the payment of attorney's fees, except upon recommendation of the Governor with the approval of the Attorney General, nor shall any of said funds be used either directly or indirectly for the purpose of paying any clerk, stenographer, assistant, deputy or other employee who may be related by blood or marriage within the third degree, computed by the rule of civil law, to the official employing or having the right of employment or selection thereof, except that when the relationship is by affinity and the person is dead through whom the relationship was established, this rule shall not apply. In the event of any such payment, then the official or person approving and making such payment shall be liable to return to the State of Mississippi and to pay into the State Treasury to the credit of the General Fund three (3) times any such amount so paid to be recovered at suit by the Attorney General.
SECTION 6. In compliance with the "Mississippi Performance Budget and Strategic Planning Act of 1994," it is the intent of the Legislature that the funds provided herein shall be utilized in the most efficient and effective manner possible to achieve the intended mission of this agency. Based on the funding authorized, this agency shall make every effort to attain the targeted performance measures provided below:
FY2025
Performance Measures Target
Tax Administration
Cost per Unit of Work (Item/Case/Call) 12.67
Cost per Call Center Call Answered 3.87
Audit
Cost per Audit 932.14
Tax Production per Audit 5,909.09
Tax Enforcement
Cost per Dollar Collected in Recovery
Actions 0.06
General Administration
Average Cost per Return Processed 4.95
ROI - Revenue Collected per Dollar of
Expense 150.25
Property & Motor Vehicle Services
Cost per Homestead Exemption Application 3.60
Cost per Title Issued 2.79
Abc Liquor Distribution Center
Cost per Case Shipped 2.48
ROI - GF Dollars Returned per Dollar of Cost 11.32
Enforcement
Number of Permits-Alcohol 2,400
Number of Permits-Medical Cannabis 130
Number of Violations-Medical Cannabis 20
Average Number of Days to Issue
Permit-Alcohol 23
Average Number of Days to Issue
Permit-Medical Cannabis 25
Enforcement and Permitting Cost-Alcohol 1,387.70
Enforcement and Permitting Cost-Medical
Cannabis 4,388.44
Percent Of Medical Cannabis Permits
Receiving Administrative Action 5.00
Percent of Medical Cannabis Permits
Receiving Criminal Action 10.00
Percent of Medical Cannabis Permits
Inspected 100.00
Percent of Permit Applications
Approved-Medical Cannabis 90.00
A reporting of the degree to which the performance targets set above have been or are being achieved shall be provided in the agency's budget request submitted to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee for Fiscal Year 2026.
SECTION 7. In addition to all other sums herein appropriated, the following sum, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated out of any money in the State General Fund not otherwise appropriated, to the Mississippi Department of Revenue for the purpose of reimbursing the counties of the state, the road districts and school districts therein and the municipal separate school districts, for tax losses incurred by reason of the exemption of homes from certain ad valorem taxes under the provisions of Section 27-33-1 et seq., Mississippi Code of 1972, for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2024, and ending June 30, 2025......................... $ 92,000,000.00.
SECTION 8. Each county, road district, school district and municipal separate school district which has incurred a tax loss that is reimbursable under Section 7 of this act shall be reimbursed a sum which is equivalent to the amount of tax loss produced by the application of tax rates annually fixed for maintenance and current expenses to the assessed value of homes, or so much thereof as has been lawfully authorized under the provisions of Section 27-33-1 et seq., Mississippi Code of 1972.
The disbursements from the funds appropriated under the provisions of Section 7 of this act shall be based upon the certificates required of the clerks of the county boards of supervisors and of the clerks of the municipalities, which certificates shall conform strictly in every respect to the requirements of the provisions of Section 27-33-1 et seq., Mississippi Code of 1972.
All disbursements from the funds appropriated under the provisions of Section 7 of this act shall be made strictly in accordance with the provisions of Section 27-33-1 et seq., Mississippi Code of 1972, and no disbursements other than those clearly authorized by those sections shall be made, the provisions of any other law to the contrary notwithstanding.
SECTION 9. None of the funds appropriated under the provisions of Section 7 of this act may be distributed to any county, municipality, school district or other taxing district in which the assessed valuation of the taxing district has increased as a result of reappraisal of the property of the taxing district unless the governing board of the taxing district has published a notice in a newspaper having a general circulation in the taxing district, stating the lower millage rate that would produce the same amount of revenue from ad valorem taxation on property of the taxing district that was produced in the fiscal year before the property of the taxing district was reappraised.
SECTION 10. In addition to all other sums herein appropriated, the following sum, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated out of any money in the State Treasury to the credit of the Mississippi Department of Revenue – License Tag Commission from any other special source funds made available to the License Tag Commission, for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2024, and ending June 30, 2025.
............................................ $ 6,000,000.00.
SECTION 11. None of the funds appropriated in Section 10 of this act shall be expended to purchase motor vehicle license tags made or manufactured by any department, agency or instrumentality of a state other than the State of Mississippi. None of the funds appropriated in this section shall be used for the purchase of bolts, nuts or other fastening devices for attaching said motor vehicle license tags. Provided further, that all motor vehicles belonging to any state department, agency, commission, institution or any other division of state government shall have license tags which shall bear the words "Government" at the bottom of such license tags.
SECTION 12. It is the intention of the Legislature that whenever two (2) or more bids are received by this agency for the purchase of commodities or equipment, and whenever all things stated in such received bids are equal with respect to price, quality and service, the Mississippi Industries for the Blind shall be given preference. A similar preference shall be given to the Mississippi Industries for the Blind whenever purchases are made without competitive bids.
SECTION 13. It is the intention of the Legislature that the Mississippi Department of Revenue shall maintain complete accounting and personnel records related to the expenditure of all funds appropriated under this act and that such records shall be in the same format and level of detail as maintained for Fiscal Year 2024. It is further the intention of the Legislature that the agency's budget request for Fiscal Year 2026 shall be submitted to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee in a format and level of detail comparable to the format and level of detail provided during the Fiscal Year 2025 budget request process.
SECTION 14. Of the funds appropriated in this act, it is the intention of the Legislature that up to Eight Hundred Eleven Thousand Seven Hundred Forty Dollars ($811,740.00) shall be allocated as follows: to the Municipal Court Collections Program Four Hundred Five Thousand Eight Hundred Seventy Dollars ($405,870.00) and to the Justice Court Collections Program Four Hundred Five Thousand Eight Hundred Seventy Dollars ($405,870.00) to be supported from General Fund court assessments.
SECTION 15. It is the intention of the Legislature that the funds herein appropriated shall be expended in compliance with Section 27-104-25, Mississippi Code of 1972, that no state agency shall incur obligations or indebtedness in excess of their appropriation and that the responsible officers, either personally or upon their official bonds, shall be held responsible for actions contrary to this provision.
SECTION 16. The following sum, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is reappropriated out of any money in the Capital Expense Fund not otherwise appropriated for the Department of Revenue for the purpose of reauthorizing the expenditure of Capital Expense Funds, to defray the expenses of the Department of Revenue, as authorized in SB 3022, 2023 Regular Session for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2024, and ending June 30, 2025..................................................
.............................................. $ 3,239,000.00.
This appropriation is made for the purpose of reauthorizing the expenditure of funds as allocated herein:
(a) IT infrastructure, facility repairs, and equipment upgrades.............................................. $ 829,000.00.
(b) Mississippi Medical Cannabis Act operational
expenses....................................... $ 380,000.00.
(c) Provisions pursuant to Section 67-1-205(2), Mississippi Code of 1972, related to contracting with a third-party entity to operate the Alcohol Beverage Control Liquor Distribution Center
.............................................. $ 930,000.00.
(d) Computer hardware and equipment....... $ 1,100,000.00.
Notwithstanding the amount reappropriated under this section, the amount that may be expended under the authority of this section, shall not exceed the unexpended balance of the funds remaining as of June 30, 2024, from the amount authorized for the previous fiscal year. In addition, this reappropriation shall not change the purpose for which the funds were originally authorized.
SECTION 17. The money herein appropriated shall be paid by the State Treasurer out of any money in the State Treasury to the credit of the proper fund or funds as set forth in this act, upon warrants issued by the State Fiscal Officer; and the Fiscal Officer shall issue his warrants upon requisitions signed by the proper person, officer or officers, in the manner provided by law.
SECTION 18. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2024, and shall stand repealed from and after June 30, 2024.