Senate Bill 2805

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 19-5-105, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REVISE THE METHOD OF GIVING NOTICE BY A COUNTY TO THE OWNER OF UNSAFE OR DILAPIDATED PROPERTY THAT THE COUNTY INTENDS TO CLEAN THE PROPERTY AND ASSESS THE COST THEREOF TO THE PROPERTY OWNER; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. Section 19-5-105, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

19-5-105. (1) To determine whether property or a 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, the board of supervisors of any county is hereby authorized and empowered on its own motion, or upon the receipt of a petition requesting the board of supervisors to so act signed by a majority of the residents eighteen (18) years of age or older, residing upon any street or alley, or in reasonable proximity thereto, within seven hundred fifty (750) feet of the precise location of the alleged menace situated on any parcel of land which is located in a populated area or in a housing subdivision and alleged to be in need of cleaning, to give notice to the property owner by:

(a) 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

(b) 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 the county courthouse or another place in the county 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 county to reenter the property or parcel of land for a period of one (1) year after the hearing without any further hearing if notice is posted on the property or parcel of land and at the county courthouse or another place in the county 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 board of supervisors in conjunction with the hearing required by this section.

If at the hearing the board of supervisors 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 board of supervisors may, if the owner does not do so himself, proceed to clean the land, by the use of county employees or by contract, by cutting grass and weeds; filling cisterns; removing rubbish, dilapidated fences, outside toilets, dilapidated buildings, personal property, which removal of personal property shall not be subject to the provisions of Section 19-7-5, and other debris; and draining cesspools and standing water therefrom. The board of supervisors 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, or, at the option of the board of supervisors, an assessment against the property. The "cost assessed against the property" means either the cost to the county of using its own employees to do the work or the cost to the county of any contract executed by the county to have the work done, and administrative costs and legal costs of the county. 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 the county courthouse or another place in the county where such notices are generally posted, and consistent with the county's adjudication as authorized in this subsection (1), a county 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 dilapidated buildings, 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 Twenty Thousand Dollars ($20,000.00) per year, or the fair market value of the property subsequent to cleaning, whichever is less. The board of supervisors 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 county clean a parcel owned by the State of Mississippi without first giving notice.

(2) If the board of supervisors declares, by resolution, that the cost and any penalty shall be collected as a civil debt, the board of supervisors 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.

(3) (a) If the board of supervisors does not declare that the cost and any penalty shall be collected as a civil debt, 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 county shall, upon order of the board of supervisors, proceed to sell the land to satisfy the lien as now provided by law for the sale of lands for delinquent ad valorem taxes.

(b) (i) All assessments levied under the provisions of this section shall be included with ad valorem taxes and payment shall be enforced in the same manner in which payment is enforced for ad valorem taxes, and all statutes regulating the collection of other taxes in a county 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.

(ii) All assessments levied under the provisions of this section shall become delinquent at the same time 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.

(4) All decisions rendered under the provisions of this section may be appealed in the same manner as other appeals from actions of the board of supervisors are taken.

(5) Nothing contained under this section shall prevent any county from enacting criminal penalties for failure to maintain property so as not to constitute a menace to public health, safety and welfare.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after October 1, 2011.