Harbor Improvements by Coast Counties

Miss. Code Ann. tit. 59, ch. 13
in effect

Miss. Code Ann. § 59-13-1 Harbor improvements by coast counties authorized.

The board of supervisors of any county in the State of Mississippi, bordering on the Mississippi Sound or Gulf of Mexico, having an assessed valuation in excess of eight million dollars ($8,000,000.00) according to the last completed assessment; and any county in the state bordering on the Mississippi Sound or Gulf of Mexico having an assessed valuation of less than five million dollars ($5,000,000.00), according to the last completed assessment, be, and it is hereby authorized, in its discretion, and subject to complying with the provisions of this chapter, to use and expend for public harbor improvements, harbor development, breakwaters, wharves and docks, recreational centers and all buildings in connection therewith deemed necessary or appropriate by such board, and for the purchase of necessary lands and rights of way in the county or in any supervisor’s district therein bordering on the Mississippi Sound or Gulf of Mexico, any funds received from the sale of bonds issued under the provisions of this chapter.

Miss. Code Ann. § 59-13-3 Employment of engineers, architects, etc.; adoption of order giving notice of intent to issue bonds.

The board of supervisors of any county described in Section 59-13-1 shall have authority to employ competent engineers or architects to make necessary plans and specifications for such harbor improvements and buildings which the board may deem necessary and proper to be constructed in connection therewith and said plans and specifications, after the same have been approved by said board, shall be filed with its clerk and the board shall adopt an order to be spread upon its minutes giving notice of its intention to issue bonds to provide funds for such improvements, or any of them, as shown by said plans and specifications.

Miss. Code Ann. § 59-13-5 Publication of order giving notice of intent to issue bonds; election on bond issue.

Upon the adoption of such order by the board of supervisors, as provided for in Section 59-13-3, the clerk of such board shall publish in two weekly issues of some newspaper having a general circulation in the county, a notice of intention to issue bonds for said purposes; if, within fifteen days after the first publication of a copy of such notice twenty-five per cent of the qualified electors of the county if the bonds to be issued are to be county-wide bonds, or twenty-five per cent of the qualified electors of the supervisor’s district if the bonds to be issued are to be district bonds, petition the board of supervisors for an election to determine whether or not such bonds shall be issued, such election shall be ordered by said board of supervisors in which the qualified electors of the county, if the bonds to be issued are county-wide bonds, or of the supervisor’s district, if the bonds to be issued are district bonds, shall be eligible to participate, and if at such election a majority of those voting vote in favor of the issuance of such bonds the same shall be issued, but if a majority shall vote against the issuance of such bonds the same shall not be issued. Such election shall be held and conducted and the returns thereof made as provided by law for other county or district elections. If no such petition be presented within fifteen days after the first publication of such notice, the bonds shall be issued in the manner provided by law. However, in any case where an election has heretofore been held in any county or supervisors district, pursuant to the provisions of this chapter on the question of issuing bonds of such county or supervisors district for the purpose of providing and constructing public harbor improvements, harbor developments, breakwaters, wharves and docks, recreational centers and all buildings in connection therewith, and providing necessary rights of way, and a majority of those who participated in such election voted in favor of the issuance of such bonds, and such bonds have not for any reason been issued, the board of supervisors of such county in which such supervisors district is situated, as the case may be, may, by resolution of such board, adopted at any time within twelve months from and after the passage of this chapter, authorize and direct the issuance of bonds of such county or district under the provisions of this chapter, in an amount not exceeding the amount set forth in the proposition submitted at such election, and for the purposes authorized by this chapter, without the giving of any notice required in this section and without any further election on the issuance thereof.

Miss. Code Ann. § 59-13-7 Limitations on amount of bond issues; prerequisites for issuance of bonds.

The board of supervisors of any county in Mississippi bordering on the Mississippi Sound or Gulf of Mexico, and having an assessed valuation in excess of eight million dollars ($8,000,000.00) may, in its discretion, issue and sell the bonds of any supervisor’s district therein bordering on the Mississippi Sound or Gulf of Mexico, in an amount not exceeding two hundred thousand ($200,000) dollars, and the board of supervisors of any such county having an assessed valuation of less than five million dollars ($5,000,000.00) may, in its discretion, issue and sell the bonds of such county in an amount not exceeding two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000) and the proceeds of such bonds shall be used to construct the improvements as shown by the aforesaid approved plans and specifications, and to pay all costs and expenses necessarily incident thereto, except as provided in Section 59-13-5. Such bonds shall not be issued until notice of intention to issue and sell the same shall have been made in the manner provided for giving notice in said section, and all of the provisions of said section as to petition for election, time to file petitions for election, ordering and holding an election, shall apply to issuance of such bonds; if no petition for an election be filed in the time fixed, or if an election be called and a majority of those voting thereat vote in favor of the issuance of such bonds, the bonds shall be issued and sold at such time and in such manner as the board of supervisors shall determine.

Miss. Code Ann. § 59-13-9 Terms and conditions of bonds; tax levy for payment of bonds; execution of bonds.

Bonds issued under the authority of this chapter shall be full faith and credit obligations of the county or supervisors district for which the same are issued and the board of supervisors shall annually levy upon all taxable property within such county or supervisors district, as the case may be, an ad valorem tax sufficient to pay said bonds at maturity and the interest thereon as it accrues. Said bonds shall bear interest at a rate to maturity not to exceed that allowed in Section 75-17-101, shall be payable semiannually, shall mature within twenty (20) years of the date of issuance in such annual maturities and denominations and shall be in such form as the board of supervisors may direct and such bonds shall not be subject to any limitation relative to amount of bonded debt. Said bonds shall be executed by the signature of the president of the board of supervisors, countersigned by the clerk thereof, under the seal of such board.

Miss. Code Ann. § 59-13-11 Purchase of land and rights of way; eminent domain.

The board of supervisors of any county in which any harbor improvements may be constructed under the provisions of this chapter, may purchase lands and rights of way necessary therefor and pay for the same out of the proceeds of bonds herein provided; and for the purpose of carrying out the provision of this chapter said boards of supervisors are hereby clothed with the power and authority, and it is made their duty, to exercise the right of eminent domain, in their discretion, in the acquisition of such lands and rights of way.

Miss. Code Ann. § 59-13-13 Operation of harbor facilities; collection of charges.

The board of supervisors of any county after having constructed improvements under this chapter is hereby authorized and empowered to operate and maintain such harbor facilities and to make and enforce all rules and regulations necessary for such operation and maintenance, and such board may also fix and collect charges for the use of such facilities and may, in its resolution or order directing the issuance of bonds under this chapter, irrevocably pledge to the payment of the principal of and the interest on such bonds the net income and revenue resulting from the operation of such facilities.

Miss. Code Ann. § 59-13-15 Levy of tax by certain coast counties for aiding in development and improvement of harbor or channel.

The board of supervisors of any county in the State of Mississippi bordering on the Mississippi Sound or Gulf of Mexico having an assessed valuation at its last completed assessment in excess of $45,000,000.00 and having within its borders a city in which there is maintained a harbor or channel with a depth of not less than four and one-half feet, and in which city there is operated seasonally one or more canning plants for canning, processing or freezing shrimp, oysters or other seafoods, is hereby authorized, in its discretion, to annually levy a tax not to exceed one mill on each dollar of the assessed valuation of all of the taxable property within such county, for the purpose of aiding in the development and improvement of such harbor or channel of said city. The proceeds of said levy shall be paid to the governing authorities of the city wherein such channel or harbor is located and shall be deposited in the city depository in a special account to be designated as “port fund” of such city and the same shall be expended by the governing authorities of such city for the development and improvement of said channel or harbor, for the purposes and in the manner set out in the general laws of Mississippi, including Section 21-37-15, Mississippi Code of 1972. No reimbursement shall be made under the Homestead Exemption Law of 1946 Sections 27-33-1 through 27-33-65, Mississippi Code of 1972, for any tax levy made under the provisions of this chapter.

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