Bill Text: MS SB2240 | 2016 | Regular Session | Enrolled
Bill Title: Sales of land for taxes; authorize tax collector to conduct sales by online auction.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2016-04-04 - Approved by Governor [SB2240 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2016-SB2240-Enrolled.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2016 Regular Session
To: Finance
By: Senator(s) Fillingane
Senate Bill 2240
(As Sent to Governor)
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 27-41-59, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO AUTHORIZE TAX COLLECTORS TO ENTER INTO AGREEMENTS WITH ONLINE PROVIDERS TO CONDUCT SALES OF LAND FOR UNPAID TAXES USING AN ONLINE BIDDING AND SALE PROCEDURE; TO PROVIDE THAT UPON RATIFICATION OF THE AGREEMENT BY THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS, TAX COLLECTORS MAY CONDUCT TAX SALES USING AN ONLINE BIDDING AND SALE PROCEDURE; TO REQUIRE THAT THE TIMES DURING WHICH ONLINE BIDS MAY BE MADE AT AN ONLINE TAX SALE MUST BE SPECIFIED IN THE AGREEMENT; TO AMEND SECTION 27-41-55, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT IF A TAX SALE IS TO BE CONDUCTED ONLINE, THE ADVERTISEMENT FOR SUCH TAX SALE OF LAND INCLUDE INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO BID INCLUDING THE TIMES DURING WHICH ONLINE BIDS MAY BE MADE; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 27-41-59, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
27-41-59. (1) Except as
otherwise provided in Section 27-41-2, on the first Monday of April, if the tax
collector has exercised his option to hold a tax sale on that day, and on the
last Monday of August, as the case may be, if the taxes remain unpaid, the tax
collector shall proceed to sell, for the payment of taxes then remaining due
and unpaid, together with all fees, penalties and damages provided by law, the
land or so much and such parts of the land of each delinquent taxpayer to the
highest and best bidder for cash as will pay the amount of taxes due by him and
all costs and charges. He shall first offer one hundred sixty (160) acres or a
smaller separately described subdivision, if the land is less than one hundred
sixty (160) acres. If the first parcel so offered does not produce the amount
due, then he shall offer as an entirety all the land constituting one (1)
tract. Each separate assessment as it appears and is described on the
assessment roll shall constitute one (1) tract for the purpose of sale for
taxes, notwithstanding the fact that the person who is the owner thereof, or to
whom it is assessed, is the owner of or is assessed with other lands, the whole
of which constitutes one (1) entire tract but appears on the assessment roll in
separate subdivisions. Upon offering the land of any delinquent taxpayer
constituting one (1) tract, if no person will bid for it, the whole amount of
taxes and all costs incident to the sale, the tax collector shall strike it off
to the state. Except as otherwise provided in subsection (2) of this
section, the sale shall be continued from day to day within the hours from
8:30 o'clock in the forenoon and 4:30 o'clock in the afternoon until completed * * *.
(2) * * * The tax collector is
authorized to enter into an agreement with an online provider to conduct tax
sales using online bidding and sale. Such agreement must be ratified by the
county board of supervisors in order to be binding. Upon ratification of the
agreement by the county board of supervisors, the tax collector may conduct the
tax sale online as provided in this section. The time during which online bids
can be made at a tax sale conducted under this subsection shall be established
in the agreement and, if the tax sale is to be conducted using the procedure
authorized by this subsection, the time during which online bids can be made at
the sale shall be included in the advertisement required by Section 27-41-55.
In counties having two (2) court districts, the online tax sale shall separate
the court districts into two (2) separate portals to distinguish each district.
(3) A failure to
advertise, * * *
an error in the advertisement, * * * or an error in conducting the sale * * * shall not invalidate a sale at the
proper time and place for taxes of any land on which the taxes were due and not
paid, but a sale made at the wrong time or at the wrong place shall be void.
Any person sustaining damages by reason of any failure or error by the tax
collector may recover damages therefor on his official bond.
SECTION 2. Section 27-41-55, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
27-41-55. Except as
otherwise provided in Sections 27-41-2 and 27-41-59(2), after the
fifth day of August in each year hereafter, the tax collector shall advertise
all lands in his county on which all the taxes due and in arrears have not been
paid, as provided by law, as well as all land which is liable to sale for the
other taxes which have matured, as required by law, for sale at the door of the
courthouse of his county or any place within the courthouse that the tax
collector deems suitable to hold such sale * * *. The place or method
of * * * the
sale shall be designated by the tax collector in the advertisement of the
notice of tax sale on the last Monday of August. If the sale is to be
conducted online pursuant to Section 27-41-59(2), the advertisement shall
contain instructions on how to bid, including, but not limited to, the times
during which online bids may be made at the online sale. * * * The advertisement shall be
inserted for two (2) weeks in some newspaper published in the county, if there
be one, but in counties having two (2) court districts the lands shall be
advertised and sold in the district in which * * * the lands are situated and put up
at the courthouse door thereof, or as provided for in Section 27-41-59 for
tax sales conducted online, and shall contain a list of the lands to be
sold in alphabetical order by owner or in numerical order as they are contained
in the assessment roll, in substance as follows:
Name of Division of Town- State County Total
Owner SECTION Section ship Range Tax Tax Tax
or by such other description as
it may be assessed. Land in cities and towns shall be described in the
advertisement as it is described on the assessment roll. Errors in
alphabetical or numerical order in the published or posted list of lands to be
sold shall not invalidate any sale made pursuant to * * * the notice.
In addition to the foregoing
provisions, and at the option of the tax collector, advertisement for the sale
of * * *
county lands may be made after the fifteenth day of February in each year with
the sale of * * *
the lands to be held on the first Monday of April in each year, and all
of the provisions which relate to the tax sale held in August of each year
shall apply thereto.
SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2016.
