MCA Chapter 15

in effect

Miss. Code Ann. § 65-15-1 Funds for roads and bridges.

[With regard to any county which is required to operate on a countywide system of road administration as described in Section 19-2-3, this section shall read as follows:] The board of supervisors may raise funds for working, constructing, reconstructing and maintaining public roads or for building bridges by an ad valorem tax on all assessed taxable property in the county, or by a bond issue, or by either or both of said methods.

Miss. Code Ann. § 65-15-3 Tax for construction and maintenance of highways.

The board shall levy annually a tax upon the taxable property of such county to be used for road and bridge purposes; and the tax collector shall collect such taxes at the time and in the manner state, county, and other taxes are collected. All laws for the enforcement of the collection of other taxes shall apply to the collection of such taxes, and the tax collector’s bond shall cover the same in like manner. When such taxes are collected, they shall be paid into the county depository as other taxes, and in like manner shall be covered by the bond of the county depository. Such funds shall be kept as a separate road fund and shall be paid out only on allowances and warrants of the board of supervisors for said purposes.

Miss. Code Ann. § 65-15-5 Validity of assessment.

No failure to strictly comply with the provisions of this chapter, such as the invalidity of any contract or other like irregularity, shall in any manner affect the validity of the assessment of the ad valorem tax hereby provided, but the validity of such assessments shall be tested by the same rules of law that the validity of other assessments are determined by.

Miss. Code Ann. § 65-15-7 Tax for bridges and culverts.

The board of supervisors of any county may, in its discretion, levy annually an ad valorem tax on all taxable property of the county, to be used for constructing and maintaining all bridges and culverts on the public roads throughout the county.

Miss. Code Ann. § 65-15-9 Gasoline tax in payment of road bond issues.

[With regard to any county which is required to operate on a countywide system of road administration as described in Section 19-2-3, this section shall read as follows:] The board of supervisors of any county in the state in which there are county road bonds, seawall bonds, or road protection bonds outstanding which were issued for the purpose of building bridges or constructing public roads may, in its discretion, in addition to all other lawful uses, use such county’s share, or any part thereof, of the funds heretofore or hereafter derived from the tax on gasoline and the road and bridge privilege tax for the further purpose of paying interest and principal of such county road bonds heretofore issued for any of the said above stated purposes. However, nothing in this section shall in anywise affect Section 65-33-45.

Miss. Code Ann. § 65-15-11 Board of supervisors not required to set aside gasoline tax where sufficient amount on hand to pay bonds.

[With regard to any county which is required to operate on a countywide system of road administration as described in Section 19-2-3, this section shall read as follows:] In any county having road or bridge bonds outstanding, and having on hand in the county treasury to the credit of a special fund set aside from the county’s share of the gasoline tax for the payment of the principal and interest of such bonds, or to the credit of bond and interest sinking funds, a sufficient amount to pay the principal of and interest on all such road or bridge bonds outstanding, the board of supervisors shall no longer be required to set aside any part of the county’s share of the gasoline tax or the county’s share of motor vehicle privilege taxes, to be used in paying the principal and interest of such road or bridge bonds as they mature. In any such case, however, the funds already set aside from the county’s share of the gasoline tax or the county’s share of the motor vehicle privilege taxes, for the payment of the principal and interest of said bonds, shall be applied to the payment of the principal and interest of said bonds as they mature and shall not be used by the board of supervisors for any other purpose; however, when all of said bonds shall have been paid, any balance remaining in said funds may be transferred by the board of supervisors to the county road or bridge maintenance fund.

Miss. Code Ann. § 65-15-13 Use of gasoline tax not to affect other financing.

[With regard to any county which is required to operate on a countywide system of road administration as described in Section 19-2-3, this section shall read as follows:] No existing law providing methods for the construction or maintenance of any public highway, bridges or culverts of the county shall be affected by Section 65-15-9; and it does not supersede or impair the obligation of any county to levy a sufficient legal ad valorem tax for the purpose of construction and maintenance of public highways, bridges or culverts, or a sufficient ad valorem tax to pay the interest or principal of any bonds heretofore or hereafter issued for the purpose of building bridges and constructing public roads. Nor does it supersede or impair any right to issue bonds for any purpose, and it shall not alter, amend or repeal any statute except insofar as such statutes are inconsistent herewith.

Miss. Code Ann. § 65-15-15 Tax for payment of bonds and interest.

The board shall levy annually, when other taxes are levied, a special tax to be used exclusively in paying the interest on such road bonds and in providing a sinking fund for their redemption.

Miss. Code Ann. § 65-15-17 Special fund paid into general fund.

In counties which have heretofore created special or general road funds under then existing laws, the boards of supervisors may use such funds as if originally collected hereunder. In case the board of supervisors shall, in availing themselves of this provision, relieve from the operation of the contract system any part of a county entitled to a special fund, the board may also order that such special fund shall become a part of the general fund.

Miss. Code Ann. § 65-15-19 Balance in sinking fund after payment of bonds.

[With regard to any county which is required to operate on a countywide system of road administration as described in Section 19-2-3, this section shall read as follows:] Where bonds have been issued by any road district, separate road district or special road district, and said bonds and interest thereon have been paid and there remains in the sinking fund or maintenance fund of such district any balance of funds collected for the purpose of paying such bonds or interest, the board of supervisors of the county in which such district or districts are located shall transfer any or all of said funds to the county road or bridge fund to be used and expended in working and maintaining the roads of the county.

Miss. Code Ann. § 65-15-21 Refund to municipalities.

[With regard to any county which is required to operate on a countywide system of road administration as described in Section 19-2-3, this section shall read as follows:] One-half (1/2) of all ad valorem taxes collected by or for a county on property within a municipality (the streets of which are worked at the expense of the municipal treasury, or worked by municipal authority) for road purposes of such county, not including taxes for the purposes of paying bonds issued for road purposes or the interest thereon or for creating a bond and interest fund for retiring the same, shall be paid over to the treasurer of such municipality for said municipality. Any municipality may contract with its board of supervisors, whereby work may be performed on the streets maintained by said municipality in lieu of the refund of one-half (1/2) of the road taxes collected under this section, and in such event such agreement shall be spread at large upon the minutes of both the governing authorities of such municipality and the board of supervisors of such county.

Miss. Code Ann. § 65-15-23 Payment of municipal refund.

Where a levy is made for road purposes as provided in Section 65-15-21, the tax assessor of the county shall set up a column on the assessment rolls of said county or district, which shall show the exact amount of the assessed valuation of the property within the corporate limits of a municipality which maintains its own streets and which pays the road taxes authorized to be levied under the aforesaid section. When said taxes are collected by the tax collector of the county, he shall isolate and separate the proportionate part of said taxes going to said municipality under the provisions of said section and shall cover same into the municipal treasury monthly, as provided by law. Where any municipality may be entitled to a portion of any road tax under the laws in effect prior to the adoption of this section which has not yet been paid to it, such municipality shall be entitled to receive payment thereof on application to the board of supervisors of the county in which it is located, and the board of supervisors is hereby authorized to pay to such municipality its portion of such tax.

Miss. Code Ann. § 65-15-25 Authority to transfer surplus tolls to county road and bridge fund.

In any county where tolls collected for the use of a bridge or bridges are allocated to the payment of the bonds issued for the construction of said bridge, interest, sinking fund, and the expense of operating and maintaining said bridge or bridges, if the tolls so collected are more than sufficient to meet the payment of said bonds as they severally mature, the interest thereon, the sinking fund, and the expenses of operating and maintaining said bridge or bridges, the board of supervisors may, in their discretion, transfer to the county road and bridge fund any excess of tolls collected over and above the amount necessary to pay the maturing bonds, interest, sinking fund, and expenses of maintaining and operating said bridge or bridges.