Acquisition of Public Buildings, Facilities, and Equipment Through Rental Contracts

Miss. Code Ann. tit. 31, ch. 8
in effect

Miss. Code Ann. § 31-8-1 Legislative purpose; construction of chapter.

The purpose of this chapter is to provide a method to enable counties and municipalities to acquire public buildings, facilities and equipment through the use of rental contracts. This chapter shall be construed in conformity with such intention and shall be an alternative to those methods which may be otherwise provided by law.

Miss. Code Ann. § 31-8-3 Purposes for which counties and municipalities may lease facilities.

The counties and municipalities of this state, acting by and through the governing authorities thereof, are hereby authorized and empowered to enter into lease agreements with any corporation, partnership, limited partnership, joint venture or individual under which the county or municipality may agree to lease a facility for use by the lessor for any of the following purposes for a primary term not to exceed twenty (20) years: Public buildings; Courthouses; Office buildings; Jails; Auditoriums; Community centers; Civic art centers; Public libraries; Gymnasiums; and Machinery and equipment for use in connection with any of the above, but shall not include office furniture and/or office machines, provided that the primary term of a lease with respect to machinery and equipment shall not exceed the estimated useful economic life of such machinery and equipment, as such useful economic life is mutually agreed upon by the lessor and lessee. Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize the acquisition of public school buildings through the use of rental contracts.

Miss. Code Ann. § 31-8-5 Option to purchase.

All such leases shall contain an option granting to the county or municipality the right to purchase the leased property upon the expiration of the primary term, or upon such earlier date as may be agreed upon, at a price not to exceed the unpaid principal balance at such time.

Miss. Code Ann. § 31-8-7 Lease of real property by municipality to private concern for construction or renovation of buildings or facilities; subleases to United States Postal Service or to any other state or federal agency.

The counties and municipalities of the state are authorized to lease publicly owned real property to any corporation, partnership, limited partnership, joint venture or individual for the purpose of enabling such person to construct or renovate thereon any of the buildings or facilities described in Section 31-8-1 and to lease such buildings and facilities to the county or municipality. No such ground lease shall be for a primary term in excess of the primary term of the lease with respect to the buildings and facilities to be constructed thereon. The counties and municipalities of the state are authorized to sublease buildings and facilities leased pursuant to subsection (1) of this section to the United States Postal Service or to any state or federal governmental agency. Any sublease entered into pursuant to this subsection may contain an option granting the sublessee the right to purchase the leased property upon the expiration of the primary term of the sublease, or upon such earlier date as may be agreed upon, at a price not to exceed the unpaid principal balance at such time. Before entering into any lease agreement pursuant to this subsection, the board of supervisors or the governing authorities of the municipality shall follow and be subject to the same procedures regarding publishing notice, filing protest and holding an election specified for lease agreements under Section 31-8-11, except that the notice shall not state that the rental is a continuing obligation and a charge against the general credit and leasing power of the county or municipality.

Miss. Code Ann. § 31-8-9 Term of lease; pledge of full faith and credit; limitation of obligation to money appropriated.

Subject to the provisions of this chapter, any such lease agreement may extend over any period, notwithstanding any provision or rule of law to the contrary, and any such lease agreement shall be binding upon the county or municipality and any other party thereto in accordance with its terms. Any such lease agreement may include, at the discretion of the governing authorities entering into the same, a pledge of the full faith and credit of such county or municipality for the payment of its monetary obligations thereunder; or may contain a provision that so long as no default of any monetary obligation of the lessee has occurred, the lessee’s obligation to pay any amounts due or perform any covenants requiring or resulting in the expenditure of money shall be contingent and expressly limited to the extent of any specific appropriation made by the governing authorities to fund such lease agreement, and that nothing contained in the lease agreement shall be construed as creating any monetary obligation on the part of the lessee beyond such current and specific appropriation. Obligations incurred by a county or municipality under the provisions of this chapter secured by a pledge of its full faith and credit shall be included within the limitation on bonded indebtedness established by law for counties and municipalities.

Miss. Code Ann. § 31-8-11 Notice of intent to lease; protest; election; advertisement of lease agreement; award of lease.

Before entering into any lease agreement pursuant to this chapter secured by a pledge of its full faith and credit, the governing authorities of any county or municipality shall publish notice of their intention to receive suitable proposals for the leasing of such buildings, facilities or equipment. Such notice shall specify the nature of the proposed building, facility or equipment, the general geographic area in which the same is to be located, the term of the proposed lease agreement, that the obligation to pay rentals during the primary term is to be a continuing obligation of and a charge against the general credit and leasing power of the county or municipality, and the date and hour on or before which such proposals may be received. Such notice shall be published by municipalities and counties in the same manner as required for publishing notice of intention to issue general obligation bonds of the county or municipality, as appropriate. If at least twenty percent (20%), or fifteen hundred (1500), of the qualified electors of a county, whichever is less, or at least ten percent (10%), or fifteen hundred (1500), of the qualified electors of a municipality, whichever is less, file a written protest with the appropriate governing authorities, then an election shall be called by the county in the same manner as provided for the issuance of county general obligation bonds in Sections 19-9-11 through 19-9-17, Mississippi Code of 1972, or by a municipality in the same manner as provided for the issuance of municipal general obligation bonds in Sections 21-33-307 through 21-33-311, Mississippi Code of 1972, to determine whether or not the proposed lease agreement may be executed by the county or municipality. The lease agreement shall be advertised for competitive sealed proposals once each week for two (2) consecutive weeks in a regular newspaper published or having a general circulation in the county or municipality of the governing authority. The date as published for the proposal opening shall be not less than five (5) working days after the last published notice. The lease shall be awarded to the person submitting the lowest and best proposal; however, all proposals may be rejected.

Miss. Code Ann. § 31-8-13 Full and complete authority for leases.

This chapter, without reference to any other statute, shall be deemed to be full and complete authority for the authorization, execution and delivery of lease agreements authorized hereunder, and shall be construed as an additional and alternative method therefor, and none of the present restrictions, requirements, conditions and limitations of law applicable to the acquisition, construction and drawing of buildings or facilities in this state shall apply to lease agreements under this chapter, and no proceedings shall be required for the authorization, execution and delivery of such leases other than those required herein, and all powers necessary to be exercised in order to carry out the provisions of this chapter are hereby conferred.

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