Health, Safety, and Welfare

Miss. Code Ann. tit. 21, ch. 19
in effect

Miss. Code Ann. § 21-19-1 General powers of municipal governing authorities; collection and disposal of garbage and rubbish.

The municipal governing authorities of any municipality shall have the power to make regulations to secure the general health of the municipality; to prevent, remove, and abate nuisances; to regulate or prohibit the construction of privy vaults and cesspools, and to regulate or suppress those already constructed; to compel and regulate the connection of all property with sewers and drains; to suppress hog pens, slaughterhouses and stockyards, or to regulate the same and prescribe and enforce regulations for cleaning and keeping the same in order; to regulate and prescribe and enforce regulations for the cleaning and keeping in order of warehouses, stables, alleys, yards, private ways, outhouses, and other places where offensive matter is kept or permitted to accumulate; and to compel and regulate the removal of garbage and filth beyond the corporate limits. The municipal governing authorities are further authorized to adopt and enforce regulations governing the disposal of garbage and rubbish in sanitary landfills owned or leased by the municipality, whether located within or outside of the corporate limits of the municipality, to the extent that such regulations are not in conflict with or prohibited by regulations of the Commission on Environmental Quality adopted under Section 17-17-27. After December 31, 1992, the governing body of any municipality in the state shall provide for the collection and disposal of garbage and the disposal of rubbish, and for that purpose the governing body shall have the power to: Establish, operate and maintain a garbage and/or rubbish collection and disposal system or systems; Acquire property, real or personal, by contract, gift or purchase, necessary or proper for the maintenance and operation of such system; Make all necessary rules and regulations for the collection and disposal of garbage and/or rubbish not in conflict with or prohibited by rules and regulations of the Commission on Environmental Quality adopted under Section 17-17-27 and, if it so desires, establish, maintain and collect rates, fees and charges for collecting and disposing of such garbage and/or rubbish; and In its discretion, enter into contracts, in the manner required by law, with individuals, associations or corporations for the establishment, operation and maintenance of a garbage or rubbish disposal system or systems, and/or enter into contracts on such terms as the municipal governing body thinks proper with any other municipality, county or region enabling the municipality to use jointly with such other municipality, county or region any authorized rubbish landfill or permitted sanitary landfill operated by the other municipality, other county or region. As a necessary incident to such municipal governing authority’s power and authority to establish, maintain and collect such rates, fees and charges for collecting and disposing of such garbage and/or rubbish, and as a necessary incident to such municipal governing authority’s power and authority to establish, operate and maintain a garbage and/or rubbish disposal system or systems, the municipal governing authority of such municipality shall have the authority to initiate a civil action to recover any delinquent fees and charges for collecting and disposing of such rubbish, and all administrative and legal costs associated with collecting such fees and charges, in the event any person, firm or corporation, including any municipal corporation, shall fail or refuse to pay such fees and charges for collecting and disposing of garbage and/or rubbish; provided that such municipal governing authority may initiate such a civil action to recover such delinquent fees and charges whether or not such municipality has previously entered into a contract with such individual, firm or corporation, relating to the establishment, operation and maintenance of such garbage and/or rubbish disposal system or systems; provided further, that in a civil action to recover such delinquent fees and charges for collecting and disposing of such garbage and/or rubbish, and all administrative and legal costs associated with collecting such fees and charges, the municipality shall in all respects be a proper party to such suit as plaintiff and shall have the power to sue for and recover such unpaid fees and charges, and all administrative and legal costs associated with collecting such fees and charges from any person, firm or corporation, as may fail, refuse or default in the payment of such fees and charges.

Miss. Code Ann. § 21-19-2 Development of billing and collection system; defraying costs; increase in ad valorem tax; notice; joint and several liability of generator and property owner; liens.

To defray the cost of establishing, operating and maintaining the system provided for in Section 21-19-1, the governing authority of a municipality may develop a system for the billing and/or collection of any fees or charges imposed on each person furnished garbage and/or rubbish collection and/or disposal service by the municipality or at the expense of the municipality. The governing authority of the municipality shall provide for the collection of the fees or charges. The governing authority of a municipality may enter into a contract upon mutual agreement with a public or private corporation, nonprofit corporation, planning and development district or a public agency, association, utility or utility district within the area receiving garbage and/or rubbish collection and/or disposal services from the municipality for the purpose of developing, maintaining, operating and administering a system for the billing and/or collection of fees or charges imposed by the municipality for garbage and/or rubbish collection and/or disposal services. The entity with whom the governing authority of a municipality contracts shall notify the governing authority of the municipality monthly of any unpaid fees or charges assessed under this section. Any entity that contracts to provide a service to customers, within the area being served by the municipality’s garbage and/or rubbish collection and/or disposal system, may provide a list of its customers to the governing authority of the municipality upon the request of the governing authority. To defray the cost of establishing and operating the system provided for in Section 21-19-1, the governing body of a municipality may levy an ad valorem tax not to exceed four (4) mills on all taxable property within the area served by the municipality’s garbage and/or rubbish collection and/or disposal system. The service area may be comprised of incorporated and/or unincorporated areas within a county; however, no property shall be subject to this levy unless that property is within an area served by a municipality’s garbage and/or rubbish collection and/or disposal system. The rate of the ad valorem tax levied under this section shall be shown as a line item on the notice of ad valorem taxes on taxable property owed by the taxpayer. In addition to or in lieu of any other method authorized to defray the cost of establishing and operating the system provided for in Section 21-19-1, the governing body of a municipality that has established a garbage and/or rubbish collection and/or disposal system may assess and collect fees or charges to defray the costs of such services. The governing authority may assess and collect the fees or charges from each single family residential generator of garbage and/or rubbish. The governing authority also may assess and collect such fees or charges from each industrial, commercial and multi-family residential generator of garbage and/or rubbish for any time period that the generator has not otherwise contracted for the collection of garbage and/or rubbish that is ultimately disposed of at a permitted or authorized nonhazardous solid waste management facility. Before the adoption of any resolution or ordinance to increase the ad valorem tax assessment or fees or charges authorized by this section, the governing authority of a municipality shall have published a notice advertising their intent to increase the ad valorem tax assessment or fees or charges authorized by this section. The notice shall specify the purpose of the proposed increase, the proposed percentage increase and the proposed percentage increase in total revenues for garbage and/or rubbish collection and/or disposal services or shall contain a copy of any resolution by the governing authority stating their intent to increase the ad valorem tax assessment or fees or charges authorized by this section. The notice shall be published in a newspaper having general circulation in the municipality for no less than three (3) consecutive weeks before the adoption of the order. The notice shall be in print no less than the size of eighteen (18) point and shall be surrounded by a one-fourth (1/4) inch black border. The notice shall not be placed in the legal section notice of the newspaper. There shall be no language in the notice inferring a mandate from the Legislature. In addition to the requirement for publication of notice, the governing authority of a municipality shall notify each person furnished garbage and/or rubbish collection and/or disposal service of any increase in the ad valorem tax assessment or fees or charges authorized by this section. In the case of an increase of the ad valorem tax assessment, a notice shall be conspicuously placed on or attached to the first ad valorem tax bill on which the increased assessment is effective. In the case of an increase in fees or charges, a notice shall be conspicuously placed on or attached to the first bill for fees or charges on which the increased fees or charges are assessed. There shall be no language in any notice inferring a mandate from the Legislature. The governing authority of a municipality may adopt an ordinance authorizing the granting of exemptions from the fees or charges for certain generators of garbage and/or rubbish. The ordinance shall define clearly those generators that may be exempted and shall be interpreted consistently by the governing authority when determining whether to grant or withhold requested exemptions. The governing authority may borrow money for the purpose of defraying the expenses of the system in anticipation of: The tax levy authorized under this section; Revenues resulting from the assessment of any fees or charges for garbage and/or rubbish collection and/or disposal; or Any combination thereof. Fees or charges for garbage and/or rubbish collection and/or disposal shall be assessed jointly and severally against the generator of the garbage and/or rubbish and against the owner of the property furnished the service. However, any person who pays, as a part of a rental or lease agreement, an amount for garbage and/or rubbish collection and/or disposal services shall not be held liable upon the failure of the property owner to pay such fees. Every generator assessed the fees or charges provided for and limited by this section and the owner of the property occupied by that generator shall be jointly and severally liable for the fees and/or charges so assessed. The fees or charges shall be a lien upon the real property offered garbage and/or rubbish collection and/or disposal service. At the discretion of the governing body of the municipality, fees or charges assessed for the service may be assessed annually. If fees or charges are assessed annually, the fees or charges for each calendar year shall be a lien upon the real property offered the service beginning on January 1 of the next immediately succeeding calendar year. The person or entity owing the fees or charges, upon signing a form provided by the governing authority, may pay the fees or charges in equal installments. If fees or charges so assessed are assessed on a basis other than annually, the fees or charges shall become a lien on the real property offered the service on the date that the fees or charges become due and payable. No real or personal property shall be sold to satisfy any lien imposed under this section. The municipality shall mail a notice of the lien, including the amount of unpaid fees or charges and a description of the property subject to the lien, to the owner of the property subject to the lien. The municipal governing body shall notify the county tax collector of any unpaid fees or charges assessed under this section within ninety (90) days after such fees or charges are due. 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 or charges, unless such fees or charges, in addition to any other taxes or fees assessed against the motor vehicle, are paid. Liens created under this section may be discharged as follows: By filing with the municipal tax collector a receipt or acknowledgement, signed by the municipality, that the lien has been paid or discharged; or By depositing with the municipal tax collector money equal to the amount of the claim, which money shall be held for the benefit of the municipality.

Miss. Code Ann. § 21-19-3 Controlling contagious or infectious diseases; establishing pesthouses.

The governing authorities of municipalities shall have the power to make regulations to prevent the introduction and spread of contagious or infectious diseases; to make quarantine laws for that purpose, and to enforce the same within five miles of the corporate limits; and to establish pesthouses outside the corporate limits, and to provide for the support and government of the same.

Miss. Code Ann. § 21-19-5 Establishing hospitals, workhouses, and houses of correction.

The governing authorities of municipalities shall have the power and authority to erect, establish and regulate hospitals, workhouses, and houses of correction in the corporate limits, or within three miles thereof, and to provide for the government and support of same.

Miss. Code Ann. § 21-19-7 Donating to hospitals and benevolent institutions.

The governing authorities of municipalities shall have the power and authority to donate a sum, not to exceed One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) per month, to maintain a charity ward or wards in any hospital situated in the same county in which such municipality is located. All municipalities within the several counties of this state bordering on the tidewater of the Gulf of Mexico, are hereby authorized and empowered, in the discretion of the proper authorities thereof, to appropriate such a sum of money as said authorities shall deem reasonable, to provide and maintain a charity ward or wards, in any of the hospitals in said municipalities, or, in the discretion of said authorities, to make and enter into contracts with any such hospitals for the treatment and care in such hospitals of the indigent sick of said municipalities, and to pay therefor out of the general fund of such municipalities such sum or sums, as shall be a reasonable and just compensation to said hospital. In addition, the governing authorities of municipalities shall have the power and authority to donate and furnish free of charge lights, power and water from municipally-owned electric light and water plants to hospitals or benevolent institutions located within any such municipality.

Miss. Code Ann. § 21-19-9 Controlling running of animals at large; establishment of city pounds; cooperative agreements.

The governing authorities of municipalities shall have the power to prevent or regulate the running at large of animals of all kinds, and to cause such as may be running at large to be impounded and sold to discharge the costs and penalties provided for the violation of such regulations and the expense of impounding and keeping and selling the same; to regulate and provide for the taxing of owners and harborers of dogs, and to destroy dogs running at large, unless such dogs have proper identification indicating that said dogs have been vaccinated for rabies; and to provide for the erection of all needful pens, pounds and buildings for the use of the municipality, within or without the municipal limits, and to appoint and confirm keepers thereof, and to establish and enforce rules governing the same. The governing authorities of municipalities may enter into pacts, agreements or contracts with other municipalities to provide for cooperation in the use or erection of all pens, pounds and buildings to prevent or regulate the running at large of animals of all kinds.

Miss. Code Ann. § 21-19-11 Determination that property or parcel of land is menace; authorized municipal employee may make the determination that property or parcel of land is menace under certain circumstances; notification to property owner; hearing; cleaning private property; cost and penalty as assessment against property; appeal.

To determine whether property or parcel of land located within a municipality is in such a state of uncleanliness as to be a menace to the public health, safety and welfare of the community, a governing authority of any municipality shall conduct a hearing, on its own motion, or upon the receipt of a petition signed by a majority of the residents residing within four hundred (400) feet of any property or parcel of land alleged to be in need of the cleaning. Notice shall be provided to the property owner by: United States mail two (2) weeks before the date of the hearing mailed to the address of the subject property and to the address where the ad valorem tax notice for such property is sent by the office charged with collecting ad valorem tax; and Posting notice for at least two (2) weeks before the date of a hearing on the property or parcel of land alleged to be in need of cleaning and at city hall or another place in the municipality where such notices are posted. Any notice required by this section shall include language that informs the property owner that an adjudication at the hearing that the property or parcel of land is in need of cleaning will authorize the municipality to reenter the property or parcel of land for a period of one (1) year after final adjudication without any further hearing if notice is posted on the property or parcel of land and at city hall or another place in the municipality where such notices are generally posted at least seven (7) days before the property or parcel of land is reentered for cleaning. A copy of the required notice mailed and posted as required by this section shall be recorded in the minutes of the governing authority in conjunction with the hearing required by this section. If, at such hearing, the governing authority shall adjudicate the property or parcel of land in its then condition to be a menace to the public health, safety and welfare of the community, the governing authority, if the owner does not do so himself, shall proceed to clean the land, by the use of municipal employees or by contract, by cutting grass and weeds; filling cisterns; removing rubbish, abandoned or dilapidated fences, outside toilets, abandoned or dilapidated buildings, slabs, personal property, which removal of personal property shall not be subject to the provisions of Section 21-39-21, and other debris; and draining cesspools and standing water therefrom. The governing authority may by resolution adjudicate the actual cost of cleaning the property and may also impose a penalty not to exceed One Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($1,500.00) or fifty percent (50%) of the actual cost, whichever is more. The cost and any penalty may become a civil debt against the property owner, and/or, at the option of the governing authority, an assessment against the property. The “cost assessed against the property” means either the cost to the municipality of using its own employees to do the work or the cost to the municipality of any contract executed by the municipality to have the work done, and administrative costs and legal costs of the municipality. For subsequent cleaning within the one-year period after the date of the hearing at which the property or parcel of land was adjudicated in need of cleaning, upon seven (7) days’ notice posted both on the property or parcel of land adjudicated in need of cleaning and at city hall or another place in the municipality where such notices are generally posted, and consistent with the municipality’s adjudication as authorized in this subsection (1), a municipality may reenter the property or parcel of land to maintain cleanliness without further notice or hearing no more than six (6) times in any twelve-month period with respect to removing abandoned or dilapidated buildings, slabs, dilapidated fences and outside toilets, and no more than twelve (12) times in any twenty-four-month period with respect to cutting grass and weeds and removing rubbish, personal property and other debris on the land, and the expense of cleaning of the property, except as otherwise provided in this section for removal of hazardous substances, shall not exceed an aggregate amount of Twenty Thousand Dollars ($20,000.00) per year, or the fair market value of the property subsequent to cleaning, whichever is more. The aggregate cost of removing hazardous substances will be the actual cost of such removal to the municipality and shall not be subject to the Twenty Thousand Dollar ($20,000.00) limitation provided in this subsection. The governing authority may assess the same penalty for each time the property or land is cleaned as otherwise provided in this section. The penalty provided herein shall not be assessed against the State of Mississippi upon request for reimbursement under Section 29-1-145, nor shall a municipality clean a parcel owned by the State of Mississippi without first giving notice. When the fee or cost to clean property or a parcel of land that is one (1) acre or less does not exceed Two Hundred Fifty Dollars ($250.00), excluding administrative costs, and the property or parcel is located within a municipality having a population over twenty-five thousand (25,000), the governing authority of the municipality may authorize one or more of its employees to determine whether the property or parcel of land is in such a state of uncleanliness as to be a menace to the public health, safety and welfare of the community and the determination made by the authorized municipal employee shall be set forth and recorded in the minutes of the governing authority. Notice of this determination shall be provided to the property owner by: United States mail seven (7) days before the date of cleaning of the property or parcel of land mailed to the address of the subject property and to the address where the ad valorem tax notice for such property is sent by the office charged with collecting ad valorem tax; and Posting notice for at least seven (7) days before the cleaning of the property or parcel of land and at city hall or another place in the municipality where such notices are posted. Any notice required by this subsection shall include language that informs the property owner that the appropriate municipal official has determined that the property or parcel of land is a menace to the public health, safety and welfare of the community and in need of cleaning and the municipality is authorized to enter the property for cleaning and that the municipality is further authorized to reenter the property or parcel of land for a period of one (1) year after this cleaning without any further hearing or action if notice is posted on the property or parcel of land and at city hall or another place in the municipality where such notices are generally posted at least seven (7) days before the property or parcel of land is reentered for cleaning. A copy of the required notice mailed and posted as required by this subsection shall be recorded in the minutes of the governing authority in conjunction with the determination made by the municipal employee in this subsection (2). If an authorized municipal employee determines that the condition of property or parcel of land is a menace to the public health, safety and welfare of the community, the governing authority, if the owner does not do so himself, shall proceed to clean the land, by the use of municipal employees or by contract, by cutting grass and weeds; filling cisterns; removing rubbish, abandoned or dilapidated fences, outside toilets, abandoned or dilapidated buildings, slabs, personal property, which removal of personal property shall not be subject to the provisions of Section 21-39-21, and other debris; and draining cesspools and standing water therefrom. The governing authority shall by resolution adjudicate the actual cost of cleaning the property under this provision, provided the same does not exceed Two Hundred Fifty Dollars ($250.00). The cost may become a civil debt against the property owner, and/or, at the option of the governing authority, an assessment against the property. The “cost assessed against the property” means either the cost to the municipality of using its own employees to do the work or the cost to the municipality of any contract executed by the municipality to have the work done, and additionally may include administrative costs of the municipality not to exceed Fifty Dollars ($50.00). For subsequent cleaning within the one-year period set forth in this subsection (2), upon seven (7) days’ notice posted both on the property or parcel of land adjudicated in need of cleaning and at city hall or another place in the municipality where such notices are generally posted, and consistent with the municipal official’s determination as authorized in this subsection (2), a municipality may reenter the property or parcel of land to maintain cleanliness without further notice or hearing under this subsection (2) no more than six (6) times in any twelve-month period with respect to removing abandoned or dilapidated buildings, slabs, dilapidated fences and outside toilets, and no more than twelve (12) times in any twenty-four-month period with respect to cutting grass and weeds and removing rubbish, personal property and other debris on the land, and the expense of cleaning of the property shall not exceed an aggregate amount of One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) per year under this subsection (2). The governing authority may assess the same penalty for each time the property or land is cleaned as otherwise provided in this subsection (2). The penalty provided herein shall not be assessed against the State of Mississippi upon request for reimbursement under Section 29-1-145, nor shall a municipality clean a parcel owned by the State of Mississippi without first giving notice. A determination made by an appropriate municipal employee under this subsection (2) that the state or condition of property or a parcel of land is a menace to the public health, safety and welfare of the community shall not subsequently be used to replace a hearing if subsection (1) of this section is later utilized by a municipality when the prerequisites of this subsection (2) are not satisfied. If the governing authority declares, by resolution, that the cost and any penalty shall be collected as a civil debt, the governing authority may authorize the institution of a suit on open account against the owner of the property in a court of competent jurisdiction in the manner provided by law for the cost and any penalty, plus court costs, reasonable attorney’s fees and interest from the date that the property was cleaned. If the governing authority declares that the cost and any penalty shall be collected as an assessment against the property, then the assessment above provided for shall be a lien against the property and may be enrolled in the office of the circuit clerk of the county as other judgments are enrolled, and the tax collector of the municipality shall, upon order of the board of governing authorities, proceed to sell the land to satisfy the lien as now provided by law for the sale of lands for delinquent municipal taxes. The lien against the property shall be an encumbrance upon the property and shall follow title of the property. All assessments levied under the provisions of this section shall be included with municipal ad valorem taxes and payment shall be enforced in the same manner in which payment is enforced for municipal ad valorem taxes, and all statutes regulating the collection of other taxes in a municipality shall apply to the enforcement and collection of the assessments levied under the provisions of this section, including utilization of the procedures authorized under Sections 17-13-9(2) and 27-41-2. All assessments levied under the provisions of this section shall become delinquent at the same time municipal ad valorem taxes become delinquent. Delinquencies shall be collected in the same manner and at the same time delinquent ad valorem taxes are collected and shall bear the same penalties as those provided for delinquent taxes. If the property is sold for the nonpayment of an assessment under this section, it shall be sold in the manner that property is sold for the nonpayment of delinquent ad valorem taxes. If the property is sold for delinquent ad valorem taxes, the assessment under this section shall be added to the delinquent tax and collected at the same time and in the same manner. All decisions rendered under the provisions of this section may be appealed in the same manner as other appeals from municipal boards or courts are taken. However, an appeal from a decision of a municipal officer or official shall be made to the governing authority and such appeal shall be in writing, state the basis for the appeal and be filed with the city clerk no later than seven (7) days from the latest date of notice required under this section. Nothing contained under this section shall prevent any municipality from enacting criminal penalties for failure to maintain property so as not to constitute a menace to public health, safety and welfare.

Miss. Code Ann. § 21-19-12 Lien amnesty for nonprofits and others interested in developing blighted real estate.

The governing authority of any municipality may forgive liens imposed on real property for the costs, fines, penalties and other assessments associated with the municipality’s cleaning of real property pursuant to Section 21-19-11, Mississippi Code of 1972, subject to the following: The real property must be in a blighted condition if it has been vacant and in a deteriorated condition which necessitated the municipality’s imposition of a lien in order to correct specific code violations. The liens imposed by the municipality must have been in existence and declared uncollectible for a period of at least two (2) years. The real property must be purchased by a nonprofit entity or for-profit developer and converted from its blighted condition. For purposes of this section, “nonprofit” entity means an association, organization, or corporation which is a nonprofit organization in accordance with Section 501(c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code and provides proof of its tax exempt status. “For-profit developer” means an individual partnership or corporation other than the real property’s owner who purchases property considered to be in blighted condition and converts it to productive use. The nonprofit entity or for-profit developer must have obtained the blighted estate for a sum not exceeding seventy percent (70%) of the real estate’s appraised value. The for-profit developer or nonprofit entity must file an application with the municipality seeking lien amnesty. The application must include the following: The contract of sale; Appraisal reports from two (2) reputable real estate appraisers; and Plans for the real estate’s development and anticipated use. The for-profit developer or nonprofit entity may be granted conditional lien amnesty and allowed eighteen (18) months to develop the blighted real property. For good cause shown, the municipality may allow the for profit developer or nonprofit entity an additional six (6) to twelve (12) months to develop the blighted property. If the blighted property remains undeveloped after eighteen (18) months and the municipality has not extended the period for development of the real estate, the nonprofit entity or for-profit developer must pay the principal amount of the municipality’s lien plus interest at the rate of eight percent (8%) per annum. If the nonprofit entity or for-profit developer desires to sell or dispose of the real property prior to its development, the nonprofit entity or for-profit developer must first obtain the municipality’s approval. If the municipality approves the sale or disposal of the real estate prior to development, the nonprofit entity or for-profit developer shall pay the principal amount of the lien on or before the closing date of the sale unless a subsequent purchaser of the blighted real property has applied for and been granted conditional lien amnesty. If a for-profit developer or nonprofit entity sells or disposes of the real property prior to development from its blighted condition without the municipality’s approval, then the for-profit developer or nonprofit entity shall be liable to the city for the principal amount of the lien plus interest at the rate of eight percent (8%), and a penalty of One Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($1,500.00) will also be assessed against the developer. Conditional lien amnesty may not be sold, conveyed, transferred or assigned. No lien imposed upon real property pursuant to the provisions of Section 21-19-11 shall be finally released until real property in a blighted condition has been developed according to plan.

Miss. Code Ann. § 21-19-13 Changes of streams and bridges; clean drainage ditches and prevent erosion; levying taxes to pay for authorized works.

The governing authorities of municipalities shall have the power to establish, alter and change the channels of streams or other water courses, and to bridge the same, whenever so to do will promote the health, comfort and convenience of the inhabitants of such municipality. The governing authorities of any municipality shall also have the power and authority to incur costs and pay necessary expenses in providing labor, materials and supplies to clean or clear drainage ditches, creeks or channels, whether on public or private property, and to incur costs and pay necessary expenses in providing labor, materials and supplies in order to prevent erosion where such erosion has been caused or will be caused by such drainage ditches, creeks or channels. This paragraph shall not impose any obligation or duty upon the municipality and shall not create any additional rights for the benefit of any owner of public or private property. No additional taxes shall be imposed for the works authorized under subsections (1) and (2) of this section until the governing authorities shall adopt a resolution declaring its intention to levy the taxes and establishing the amount of the tax levies and the date on which the taxes initially will be levied and collected. This date shall be the first day of a month but not earlier than the first day of the second month from the date of adoption of the resolution. Notice of the proposed tax levies shall be published once each week for at least three (3) weeks in a newspaper having a general circulation in the municipality. The first publication of the notice shall be made not less than twenty-one (21) days before the date fixed in the resolution on which the governing authorities propose to levy the taxes, and the last publication of the notice shall be made not more than seven (7) days before that date. If, within the time of giving notice, fifteen percent (15%) or two thousand five hundred (2,500), whichever is less, of the qualified electors of the municipality file a written petition against the levy of the taxes, then the taxes shall not be levied unless authorized by three-fifths (3/5) of the qualified electors of the municipality voting at an election to be called and held for that purpose.

Miss. Code Ann. § 21-19-15 Enacting police regulations.

The governing authorities of municipalities shall have power to make all needful police regulations necessary for the preservation of good order and peace of the municipality and to prevent injury to, destruction of, or interference with public or private property. The governing authority of a municipality shall have the power to regulate or prohibit any mill, laundry or manufacturing plant from operating whereby the soot, cinders or smoke therefrom, or the unnecessary noises thereof, may do damage to or interfere with the use or occupation of public or private property. The governing authority of a municipality shall have the power to prohibit or regulate the sale or use of firecrackers, roman candles, torpedoes, sky rockets, and any and all explosives commonly known and referred to as fireworks; the term “fireworks” shall not include toy pistols, toy canes, toy guns, other devices in which paper caps manufactured in accordance with United States Interstate Commerce Commission regulations for packing and shipping of toy paper caps are used, or toy pistol paper caps manufactured as provided herein, the sale and use of which shall be permitted at all times. The governing authority of a municipality may enact an ordinance specifying the manner and means by which a motor vehicle may be immobilized due to failure of the record title owner of the motor vehicle to pay traffic or parking fines totaling over Two Hundred Dollars ($200.00). The governing authority of a municipality may enforce an ordinance regulating or restricting parking on any public street or roadway. However, signage that adequately describes the parking regulation or restriction must be posted.

Miss. Code Ann. § 21-19-17 Restricting movements of individuals where public safety is endangered.

The governing authorities of municipalities shall have the power to make regulations to protect property, health and lives and to enhance the general welfare of the community by restricting the movements of the citizens, or any group thereof, of such municipalities when there is eminent danger to the public safety because of freedom of movement thereof.

Miss. Code Ann. § 21-19-19 Regulating blind-tigers and disreputable places and practices.

The governing authority of any municipality shall have the power to restrain, prohibit and suppress blind-tigers, bucket-shops, slaughterhouses, houses of prostitution, disreputable houses, hotels and motels renting rooms on an hourly basis, games and gambling houses and rooms, dance houses and rooms, keno rooms, and all kinds of indecency and other disorderly practices, and disturbance of the peace, and to provide for the punishment of the persons engaged therein.

Miss. Code Ann. § 21-19-20 Proceedings to demolish or seize abandoned houses or buildings used for sale or use of drugs or constituting public hazard or nuisance; authority to sell, transfer, convey or use abandoned houses or buildings for suitable municipal purposes.

A municipality shall institute proceedings to have demolished or seized an abandoned house or building that is used for the sale or use of drugs. In addition, the governing authorities of a municipality may sell, transfer or otherwise convey or use an abandoned house or building for suitable municipal purposes. The local law enforcement authority of the municipality shall have documented proof of drug sales or use in the abandoned property before a municipality may initiate proceedings to have the property demolished or seized. A municipality shall institute proceedings under this section to have an abandoned house or building demolished or seized if the governing authority of the municipality determines that the house or building is a menace to the public health and safety of the community and that it constitutes a public hazard and nuisance. Upon the receipt of a petition requesting the municipality to demolish or seize an abandoned house or building that constitutes a public hazard and nuisance signed by a majority of the residents residing within four hundred (400) feet of the property, the governing authority of the municipality shall notify the property owner that the petition has been filed and that a date for a hearing on the petition has been set. Notice to the property owner shall be by United States mail, or if the property owner or the owner’s address is unknown, publication of the notice shall be made twice each week during two (2) successive weeks in a public newspaper of the county in which the municipality is located; where there is no newspaper in the county, the notice shall be published in a newspaper having a general circulation in the state. The hearing shall be held not less than thirty (30) nor more than sixty (60) days after service or completion of publication of the notice. At the hearing, the governing authority shall determine whether the property is a menace to the public health and safety of the community which constitutes a public hazard and nuisance. If the governing authority determines that the property is a public hazard and nuisance, the municipality shall institute proceedings under subsection (2) of this section to demolish or seize the abandoned house or building. The municipality shall file a petition to declare the abandoned property a public hazard and nuisance and to have the property demolished or seized with the circuit clerk of the county in which the property or some part of the property is located. All of the owners of the property involved, and any mortgagee, trustee, or other person having any interest in or lien on the property shall be made defendants to the proceedings. The circuit clerk shall present the petition to the circuit judge who, by written order directed to the circuit clerk, shall fix the time and place for the hearing of the matter in termtime or vacation. The time of the hearing shall be fixed on a date to allow sufficient time for each defendant named to be served with process, as otherwise provided by law, not less than thirty (30) days before the hearing. If a defendant or other party in interest is not served for the specified time before the date fixed, the hearing shall be continued to a day certain to allow the thirty-day period specified. Any cost incurred by a municipality under this section for demolishing or seizing abandoned property shall be paid by the owners of the property.

Miss. Code Ann. § 21-19-21 Enacting fire regulations.

The governing authorities of municipalities shall have the power to establish fire limits, and to regulate, restrain, or prohibit the erection of buildings made of sheet iron, wood, or any combustible material, within such limits as may be prescribed by ordinance, and to provide for the removal of the same at the expense of the owner thereof when erected contrary to the ordinances of the municipality. Such authorities shall have the power to regulate and prevent the storing of green hides and the carrying on of manufactures dangerous in causing or producing fires, injurious to health, or obnoxious or offensive to the inhabitants. Such authorities shall have the power to regulate the storage of powder, pitch, turpentine, resin, hemp, hay, cotton, and all other combustible and inflammable materials, and the storage of lumber in yards or on lots within the fire limits or as may be prescribed by ordinance. Such authorities shall have the power to regulate the use of lights and candles in stables, shops, and other places. Such authorities shall have the power to remove or prevent the construction of any fireplace, chimney, stove, oven, boiler, kettle, or any apparatus used in any house, building, manufactory, or business which may be dangerous in causing or producing fires. Such authorities shall have the power to direct the safe construction of deposits for ashes. Such authorities shall have the power to enter into and examine all dwelling houses, lots, yards, inclosures, and buildings of every description as well as other places, in order to ascertain whether any of them are in a dangerous state. Such authorities shall have the power to take down and remove buildings, walls, and superstructures that may become insecure or dangerous, and to require the owner of insecure or dangerous buildings, walls, and other erections to remove or render the same secure and safe at the cost of the owner of such property. Such authorities shall have the power to regulate and prescribe the manner and order the building of party, parapet, and fire-walls and party-fences, and to regulate and prescribe the construction and building of chimneys, smokestacks, and smoke and hot-air flues.

Miss. Code Ann. § 21-19-23 Entering mutual assistance pacts with other municipalities.

The governing authorities of municipalities may enter into mutual assistance pacts or agreements with other municipalities in the assignment of personnel, equipment, supplies and material for the purposes of combatting fires and natural and enemy disasters, and of preventing and alleviating riots or civil disturbances of the peace and tranquility within such municipalities. This section shall be liberally construed to effect the purposes thereof.

Miss. Code Ann. § 21-19-25 Adoption, amendment and revision of building and other codes.

Any municipality within the State of Mississippi may, in the discretion of its governing authority, adopt building codes, plumbing codes, electrical codes, gas codes, sanitary codes, or any other codes dealing with general public health, safety or welfare, or a combination of the same, by ordinance, in the manner prescribed in this section. Before any such code shall be adopted, it shall be either printed or typewritten, and it shall be presented in pamphlet form to the governing authority of the municipality at a regular meeting. The ordinance adopting the code shall not set out the code in full, but shall merely identify the same. The vote on passage of the ordinance shall be the same as on any other ordinances. After its adoption, the code shall be certified to by the mayor and clerk of the municipality, and shall be filed as a permanent record in the office of the clerk, who shall not be required to transcribe and record the same in the ordinance book as other ordinances. It shall not be necessary that the ordinance adopting the code or the code itself be published in full, but notice of the adoption of the code shall be given by publication in some newspaper of the municipality for one (1) time, or if there be no such newspaper, by posting at three (3) or more public places within the corporate limits, a notice in substantially the following form: Notice is given that the city (or town or village) of_______________ , on the (give date of ordinance adopting code), adopted (state type of code and other information serving to identify the same) code. If the governing authority of any municipality adopts or has adopted construction codes which do not have proper provisions to maintain up-to-date amendments, specifications in such codes for cements used in portland cement concrete shall be superseded by nationally recognized specifications referenced in any code adopted by the Mississippi Building Code Council. All the provisions of this section shall apply to amendments and revisions of the code mentioned in this section. Any code adopted in accordance with this section shall not be in force for one (1) month after its passage, unless the municipal authorities in the ordinance authorize to the contrary. The provisions of this section shall be in addition and supplemental to any existing laws authorizing the adoption, amendment or revision of municipal ordinances or codes. Notwithstanding any provision of this section to the contrary, any code adopted by a municipality before or after April 12, 2001, is subject to the provisions of Section 41-26-14(10). Notwithstanding any provision of this section to the contrary, the governing authorities of each municipality in Jackson, Harrison, Hancock, Stone and Pearl River Counties shall enforce the requirements imposed under Section 17-2-1 as provided in such section. The provisions of this section shall apply to all municipalities of this state, whether operating under the code charter, a special charter, commission form, or other form of government.

Miss. Code Ann. § 21-19-27 Compelling erection of barriers.

The governing authorities of municipalities shall have the power to compel owners of property adjacent to walks and ways to erect and maintain railings, safeguards, and barriers along the same in all cases where construction, repair, or other building activities on such premises create a dangerous or hazardous condition, and in all other cases where danger or hazard is created by the act of the property owner.

Miss. Code Ann. § 21-19-29 Regulating ingress and egress of buildings.

The governing authorities of municipalities shall have the power to regulate the entrances to public halls, churches, and buildings, and the way of ingress and egress to and from the same.

Miss. Code Ann. § 21-19-31 Regulation of public places, depots and common carriers.

The governing authorities of municipalities shall have the power to regulate parks, public grounds, depots, depot grounds, and places for storage of freight and goods within the corporate limits. Said authorities shall have the power to compel railroads and other common carriers of passengers to furnish and maintain sanitary water toilets, where the municipality has a waterworks system, the facilities of which are available to said railroad or other common carrier, and in other cases to have a sanitary toilet, in their depots or stations. Said authorities shall have the power to provide for and regulate the construction and passage of railways and street railroads through the streets, avenues, alleys, lanes, and public grounds of the municipality.

Miss. Code Ann. § 21-19-33 Regulations of circuses, shows, theaters, and other amusements.

The governing authorities of municipalities shall have the power to adopt reasonable ordinances for the regulation of circuses, shows, theaters, bowling alleys, concerts, theatrical exhibitions, skating rinks, pistol or shooting galleries, amusement parks and devices, and other similar things. Said authorities shall have the power and authority to regulate, prohibit, or suppress billiard tables, poolrooms, fortune-tellers, cane or knife racks, and slot machines and other gambling devices within the corporate limits. However, such governing authorities shall not be authorized to regulate, prohibit or suppress any gambling device, machine or equipment that is owned, possessed, controlled, installed, procured, repaired or transported within the corporate limits in accordance with subsection (4) of Section 97-33-7 or Section 75-76-34. In addition, such governing authorities shall not be authorized to regulate, prohibit or suppress the ownership and display of antique coin machines as defined in Section 27-27-12.

Miss. Code Ann. § 21-19-35 Regulation of transient vendors and photographers; power of counties and municipalities; application of county and municipal ordinances.

The governing authorities of municipalities shall have the power to adopt reasonable ordinances for the regulation of transient vendors not inconsistent with the provisions of Sections 75-85-1 through 75-85-19. However, said authorities shall not have the power to declare residential solicitations by transient vendors who are citizens of the State of Mississippi, or who are agents of corporations domiciled in the State of Mississippi, or who are agents of foreign corporations qualified to do business in the State of Mississippi, to be a public nuisance or a misdemeanor, unless said transient vendors are not in compliance with Sections 75-85-1 through 75-85-19 or local regulations. Before transacting any business, all transient vendors shall furnish to the municipality wherein said business is to be transacted, a good and sufficient penal bond in an amount not to exceed Two Thousand Dollars ($2,000.00) conditioned that if said transient vendor shall comply with all of the provisions of the municipal ordinances relating to transient vendors said obligation shall be void, otherwise, to remain in full force and effect. Any ordinance adopted by the governing authority of a municipality under the provisions of this section shall control as to the area within such municipality, regardless of the existence of a county ordinance.

Miss. Code Ann. § 21-19-37 Regulation of “going-out-of-business” sales, “fire” sales, and similar sales.

The governing authorities of any municipality within this state are hereby authorized and empowered to adopt ordinances in the manner now provided by law to regulate the sale of goods, wares, or merchandise within the corporate limits of such municipality, subject to the provisions hereinafter named. Such governing body is hereby authorized and empowered to enact an ordinance requiring any person, firm, or corporation desiring to conduct a sale commonly known as bankruptcy, insolvent, liquidation, assignee’s, receiver’s, trustee’s, adjuster’s, wholesale, manufacturer’s, or closing-out sale, or a sale of goods damaged by fire, smoke, or water, or otherwise, to file with such governing authorities a petition for the privilege of conducting such sale, showing: the nature of the sale and the length of time required by the petitioner for conducting said sale; whether or not it is the purpose of said petitioner to replenish his stock of goods, wares, and merchandise during the course of the sale, and to what extent it is proposed to replenish said stock; the place of sale and approximate value of goods to be sold. Such governing authorities may provide for a privilege tax in any sum not in excess of One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) for the privilege of conducting such sale, and may provide that such privilege tax shall be good and valid only for the conduct of a sale of goods in the manner and at the time and place set forth and prescribed in the application for the privilege of conducting such sale. Nothing in this section, however, shall be construed to authorize and empower municipal governing authorities to enact any ordinances to prevent or to interfere with any sale made by a trustee under a deed of trust or an assignment, or by sheriffs, constables, or other public or court officials, or by any other person or persons acting under the authority and/or direction of any court in the course of official duty, or by any duly licensed bona fide merchant of such municipality conducting a seasonal or special sale ordinarily conducted by merchants, or by any bona fide merchant who is closing out his stock of goods and advertises such sale to that effect, or by a bona fide merchant whose own stock of goods has been damaged by fire, smoke, water, or otherwise, and who advertises as such. Such municipal governing authorities may, by ordinance, prescribe penalties for the violation of such ordinance and may make such violation of said ordinances punishable in the manner provided by law for the punishment of misdemeanors. The provisions of this section shall apply to all municipalities of this state, whether operating under the code charter, a special charter, commission form, or other form of government.

Miss. Code Ann. § 21-19-39 Adoption of ordinances regulating sale at retail of goods and services on Sunday.

From and after July 1, 1986, the governing authorities of counties and municipalities may adopt, in the manner provided by law, ordinances regulating, restricting and prohibiting the sale of goods and services at retail on the day of the week commonly called “Sunday.” Such ordinances may regulate, restrict or prohibit such sales by types and kinds of goods and services and may also regulate and restrict the hours during which such goods and services may be sold or offered for sale. All valid ordinances of any county or municipality regulating, restricting or prohibiting the sale of goods and services on Sunday adopted prior to July 1, 1986, pursuant to the authority granted by and in conformity with the provisions of any of the laws amended or repealed by Chapter 302, Laws of 1986, shall be and the same are hereby declared to be null and void from and after July 1, 1986; provided, however, any ordinance adopted under the provisions of any other laws of this state shall not be affected.

Miss. Code Ann. § 21-19-41 Contributing to support of federal food stamp program.

Municipalities within the State of Mississippi are hereby authorized to contribute funds to the support of the federal food stamp program, operated under the direction of the United States Department of Agriculture, and administered in the State of Mississippi by the state department of public welfare. Contributions to the support of the federal food stamp program may be made by municipalities from general funds or from the proceeds of municipal sales taxes. However, no municipality shall establish a federal food stamp program where the county in which said municipality is situated has such a program in operation.

Miss. Code Ann. § 21-19-43 Encouraging establishment of industry.

The governing authorities of municipalities shall have the power and authority to aid and encourage the establishment of manufactures and other new enterprises mentioned in Section 27-31-101, Mississippi Code of 1972, and gas works, water works, and cooperative rural electrification associations, but not railroads, within the corporate limits of municipalities, by exempting all tangible property used in or necessary to the operation thereof for such purposes from municipal taxation for a period not exceeding ten years as authorized by Sections 27-31-101 and 27-31-115, Mississippi Code of 1972, and as authorized by Section 192 of the Constitution of the State of Mississippi.

Miss. Code Ann. § 21-19-44 Supporting certain local economic development organizations.

The municipal governing authorities of any municipality shall have the power and authority, in their discretion, to execute contracts and agreements with, and to appropriate, contribute and donate to, or expend budgeted funds for, local economic development organizations and designated Main Street programs.

Miss. Code Ann. § 21-19-44.1 1. Donating to Main Street Project, Incorporated.

The governing authorities of any municipality in this state are authorized, in their discretion, to contribute, donate or appropriate annually out of any money in the treasury of the municipality, to the municipality’s nonprofit corporation known as Main Street Project, Incorporated, for any economic development program or endeavor of the corporation, for the development of the municipality’s central business district or for any lawful purpose of the municipality. Further, the governing authorities are authorized, in their discretion, to execute contracts and agreements and to expend municipal funds in support of any project sponsored by the corporation, the municipality or any other nonprofit corporation engaged in local economic development.

Miss. Code Ann. § 21-19-45 Donating to nonprofit civic and development corporations by certain municipalities.

Any municipality in the state having a population of less than five hundred according to the 1960 decennial census and being situated in a county bordering the State of Tennessee and having a 1960 population in excess of fifteen thousand but less than twenty thousand, and any municipality having a population according to the 1960 federal decennial census in excess of two thousand but less than two thousand two hundred and being in a county bordering the Pearl River and having an area in excess of eight hundred twenty-five square miles, and all municipalities located in counties with two judicial districts in which municipalities Mississippi Highway 35 runs and which have a population according to the latest available federal census in excess of three hundred forty-two but less than one thousand, acting by and through the mayor and board of aldermen, is authorized and empowered, in its discretion, to pay a sum not to exceed Two Hundred Twenty-Five Dollars ($225.00) per month to any nonprofit civic and development corporation organized and existing under the laws of the State of Mississippi for the purposes set forth herein. The funds shall be expended by said nonprofit corporation for the purpose of building, equipping, maintaining and operating a community park, a community house, tennis courts, bowling lanes, lakes, golf courses and swimming pools, for the acquisition of land and facilities to be used for the aforesaid purposes, for the purchase of land and the making of improvements thereon for industrial development, and for other public purposes, and for the repayment of loans secured for the purposes set forth herein. This section, without reference to any other statutes, shall be full and complete authority to expend the money for the purposes enumerated herein, and all powers necessary to be exercised by the mayor and board of aldermen in order to carry out the purposes of this section are herein expressly conferred on said mayor and board. The mayor and board of aldermen are further authorized and empowered to adopt any and all lawful resolutions, orders, and/or ordinances, and to do and perform any and all acts and things necessary and requisite to carry out the purposes of this section.

Miss. Code Ann. § 21-19-46 Donating to Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA).

The governing authority of any municipality is authorized, in its discretion, to donate to any chapter of the Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) out of any funds in the municipal treasury; however, the cumulative sum of donations to a chapter may not exceed the amount generated in the municipality by one-fourth (1/4) mill on all of the taxable property within the municipality during the fiscal year in which the donations are made.Nothing in this section authorizes the imposition of additional tax.

Miss. Code Ann. § 21-19-47 Donating to support bands and orchestras.

The governing authorities of municipalities shall have the power to appropriate funds each year in the amount that they may deem advisable, to be paid out of the treasury of such municipalities, toward aiding, supporting and maintaining a band or concert orchestra for the amusement and entertainment of the citizens of such municipalities.

Miss. Code Ann. § 21-19-49 Appropriation of funds or conveyance of buildings and property to school districts by local governments; contracts for provision of additional police protection for schools; off-duty law enforcement officers authorized to use public uniforms and equipment for school security purposes; municipalities authorized to donate to public school districts for certain purposes.

The governing authority of any municipality or the board of supervisors of any county are hereby authorized and empowered to appropriate money or dedicate and convey municipally-owned buildings and property or county-owned buildings and property, as the case may be, to the school district or districts situated within that municipality or county for the purpose of erecting, purchasing or otherwise providing the school building or a site for such school building of such school district, in cases where the governing authority or board of supervisors are of the opinion that the location of such school building within the corporate limits of the municipality or the county, or in close proximity thereto, will be of special benefit to the inhabitants of the municipality or county. Municipalities, municipal police departments and the sheriffs’ departments may contract with the school board of any school district to provide additional Law Enforcement Officers Training Academy-certified police protection to said school district on such terms and for such reimbursement as the school district and the entity may agree in their discretion. The governing authority of any municipality or the board of supervisors of any county may allow off-duty municipal or county law enforcement officers who are hired individually for security purposes by the school district or districts within that municipality or county to use municipal or county law enforcement uniforms and equipment during such off-duty employment. The governing authority of any municipality, in its discretion, may donate funds, equipment or in-kind services to any school district located within the boundaries of the municipality to assist the voluntary character development or public service programs of that school district.

Miss. Code Ann. § 21-19-51 Donating to fair associations.

The governing authorities of municipalities shall have the power and authority, in their discretion, to contribute, appropriate or donate to fair associations, domiciled in their respective county, a sum of money not to exceed Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00) per annum for the purpose of advertising, displaying, exhibiting or promoting the agricultural or industrial resources of such municipality or its respective county. The expenditure of such money, when contributed, appropriated or donated, shall be under the control of the municipality, and such governing authorities are hereby authorized and empowered to appoint one or as many as three individuals, in their discretion, to represent the municipal authorities in the proper expenditure of such money for said purpose in conjunction with the fair association. Before contributing, appropriating or donating any money to any fair association, such governing authorities shall publish notice of their intention to contribute, appropriate or donate money to said fair association, giving the amount of, and the date of making said contribution, appropriation or donation, in some newspaper published in the municipality, or having a general circulation therein if none be there published, for three weeks ending not less than ten days prior to the making of any contribution, appropriation or donation. If, before the making of said contribution, appropriation or donation, twenty per centum of the adult taxpayers of the municipality shall petition against such contribution, appropriation or donation, then the said contribution, appropriation or donation shall not be made, unless authorized by a majority of the electors voting in an election to be ordered for that purpose. All of the expenses of publishing the notice herein provided for and of holding any election hereunder shall be paid out of the municipal treasury.

Miss. Code Ann. § 21-19-53 Donating to support historical museums by certain municipalities.

The mayor and board of aldermen of any municipality wherein there is located an historic museum operated by an historical society on a nonprofit basis and which municipality is situated in a county bordered by the Mississippi River and having therein a national military park and a national military cemetery are hereby authorized and empowered to donate a sum not exceeding One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) per annum to such historic museum.

Miss. Code Ann. § 21-19-55 Donating to patriotic organizations.

The council or board of aldermen of any municipality in the state is hereby authorized, in its discretion, to donate a sum not to exceed Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00) to build or aid any post of the American Legion or the chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, any chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, or any post, unit or chapter of any patriotic organization within the county in building a memorial to the veterans of World Wars I and II, and a sum not to exceed One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) to aid in defraying the cost of the erection of suitable memorials to deceased soldiers, sailors, and marines of the late world wars. Such appropriation may be made even though no provision has been made therefor in the municipal budget.

Miss. Code Ann. § 21-19-57 Donating to American Red Cross.

Any mayor and board of commissioners of any city and/or any mayor and board of aldermen of any municipality in this state, are hereby authorized and empowered, in their discretion, to donate annually, out of any moneys in the municipal treasury, to be drawn by warrant thereon, a sum not exceeding One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) per million of assessed valuation to the support of a local chapter of the American Red Cross, in said municipality.

Miss. Code Ann. § 21-19-58 Donating to Mississippi Burn Care Fund.

The board of supervisors of any county, and the governing authorities of any municipality in the state, are authorized and empowered, in their discretion, to make contributions to the Mississippi Department of Health, or the University of Mississippi Medical Center after the Mississippi Burn Center is operational, for deposit to the Mississippi Burn Care Fund from the general fund or federal revenue sharing funds of such county or municipality wherein such funds may be available.

Miss. Code Ann. § 21-19-59 Donating to state colleges or universities for support of airport by certain municipalities.

Every municipality of this state, in or near which a state university or other state-supported four-year college is now or hereafter may be located, in which there has been constructed or is contemplated, an airport for use by said university or college, as the case may be, may, in the discretion of its governing authorities, contribute funds and aid and assist by the donation of lands, furnishing of materials and labor, use of general municipal operating funds, or otherwise, in acquiring a site, erecting suitable buildings, and constructing, equipping, maintaining and operating an airport for use by the university or college, as the case may be, and for use by the general public in said municipality.

Miss. Code Ann. § 21-19-61 Advertising of municipal activities by certain municipalities.

Any municipality in this state which has a population in excess of one hundred thousand people may set aside, appropriate and expend moneys for the purpose of advertising and bringing to the attention of the citizens of such municipality the reasons for and status of any municipal activity, litigation, franchise, proposed bond issue, and any other municipal matter about which it is for the best interest of the people that they be fully informed. Such advertising and publicizing may be done by newspaper, magazine, radio, television, or by any combination of same, which in the judgment of the governing body of such municipality will be helpful toward advancing the moral, financial and other interests of such municipality.

Miss. Code Ann. § 21-19-63 Requiring maps of subdivisions to be furnished and approved; effect of dedication; easement declared abandoned.

The governing authorities of municipalities may provide that any person desiring to subdivide a tract of land within the corporate limits shall submit a map and plat of such subdivision, and a correct abstract of title of the land platted, to said governing authorities, to be approved by them before the same shall be filed for record in the land records of the county. Where the municipality has adopted an ordinance so providing, no such map or plat of any such subdivision shall be recorded by the chancery clerk unless same has been approved by said governing authorities. In all cases where a map or plat of the subdivision is submitted to the governing authorities of a municipality, and is by them approved, all streets, roads, alleys and other public ways set forth and shown on said map or plat shall be thereby dedicated to the public use, and shall not be used otherwise unless and until said map or plat is vacated in the manner provided by law, notwithstanding that said streets, roads, alleys or other public ways have not been actually opened for the use of the public. If any easement dedicated pursuant to the provisions of this section for a street, road, alley or other public purpose is determined to be not needed for the public purpose, the easement may be declared abandoned, and ownership of the fee underlying the easement shall revert, regardless of the date of dedication, to the adjoining property owner or owners at the time of abandonment. Ownership of the easement shall extend to the centerline of said abandoned street, road or public way. Such abandonment and reversion shall not affect any private easements which might exist.

Miss. Code Ann. § 21-19-65 Matching funds for social and community service programs.

The governing authorities of any municipality shall have the power to expend monies from the municipal general fund to match any other funds for the purpose of supporting social and community service programs including, but not limited to, juvenile residential treatment centers; juvenile and half-way houses; prenatal care facilities; child day care facilities; mentally ill and alcoholics half-way houses; child and adult emergency shelters; elderly home health aides programs.

Miss. Code Ann. § 21-19-67 Annual donations to chartered chapters of the Boys and Girls Clubs of America or the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA), or to certain certified farmers’ markets located within the municipality.

The governing authority of any municipality in the state, in its discretion, is authorized to donate annually, out of any funds in the municipal treasury, to: Boys and Girls Club.— Any chartered chapter of the Boys and Girls Clubs of America located within the municipality, provided that the cumulative sum of donations to all chapters within the municipality does not exceed the amount generated in the municipality by one-fourth (1/4) mill on all of the taxable property within the municipality, during the fiscal year in which the donations are made. Nothing in this paragraph authorizes the imposition of additional tax. Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA).— Any chartered chapter of the YMCA located within the municipality, out of any funds in the treasury of the municipality, provided that the cumulative sum of donations to all chapters within the municipality does not exceed the amount generated in the municipality by one-fourth (1/4) mill on all of the taxable property within the municipality, during the fiscal year in which the donations are made. Nothing in this paragraph authorizes the imposition of additional tax. Farmers’ markets.— Any farmers’ market that is certified by the Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce and operating within the municipality, not to exceed the amount that would be generated from the levy of a one-fourth (1/4) mill ad valorem tax upon all taxable property in the municipality.

Miss. Code Ann. § 21-19-69 Donating to support certified farmers’ market.

The governing authorities of any municipality of this state, in their discretion, may donate annually out of any money in the municipal treasury, such sums as deemed advisable to support any farmers’ market that is certified by the Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce and operating within the municipality, not to exceed the amount that would be generated from the levy of a one-fourth (1/4) mill ad valorem tax upon all taxable property in the municipality.

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