2016 Mississippi Code
Title 19 - Counties and County Officers
Chapter 13 - Contracts, Claims and Transaction of Business With Counties
In General (§§ 19-13-1 - 19-13-55)
§ 19-13-17. Purchase of road equipment

[With regard to any county that is exempt from the provisions of Section 19-2-3, this section shall read as follows:]

A board of supervisors purchasing tractors, trucks and other machinery or equipment for constructing, reconstructing and maintaining the public roads shall not pay, or agree or contract to pay, more therefor than the then prevailing manufacturer's retail list price at the factory, plus freight and sales tax, any federal excise tax, and a reasonable service and assembly charge. The board may provide for the payment of all or any portion of such price over the useful life of the property as determined according to the most recent asset depreciation range (ADR) guidelines for the Class Life Asset Depreciation Range System established by the Internal Revenue Service pursuant to the United States Internal Revenue Code and regulations thereunder or comparable depreciation guidelines with respect to any equipment not covered by ADR guidelines; provided, however, that no installment contract described in this sentence may be executed by the board during the last year of the board's term of office. All such deferred payments shall be represented by notes of the county, or a separate road district or supervisors district thereof, as the case may be, to be dated at or after the time of delivery of the machinery, bearing interest at a rate not exceeding that allowed in Section 75-17-105, from date until paid, and payable to the seller of the machinery, or the purchaser of the notes, out of the road fund of the county or district. All such notes for any purchase shall be payable on the fifteenth day of June or the fifteenth day of December, the first to be payable not more than one (1) year after date. Said notes shall be signed by the president of the board, and countersigned by the clerk thereof, under the seal of the county. Said notes may be validated in the manner provided by law, and may be delivered to the seller of the machinery, or to any person who will purchase the same at a lower rate of interest than said seller is willing to accept, or at a like rate of interest plus a premium, any money received from a sale of such notes to be applied to the payment of the balance due on said machinery, and any surplus to be paid into the road fund of the county or district, as the case may be. On the first business day of each month in which any such note matures, the clerk shall docket the principal amount of such note, with interest thereon to maturity, as a claim against the county, in favor of the last known holder of such note, and the board shall allow the same at its regular meeting held that month without further presentation, proof or demand, to be paid as other claims in its proper order.

In all advertisements for bids for road machinery or equipment under this section, the board of supervisors shall insert in such advertisements a statement as to whether or not the road machinery or equipment purchased is to be paid for in cash, or is to be purchased upon installment payments as authorized herein. All indebtedness incurred under the provisions hereof may be incurred by the board without the necessity of calling an election thereon, receiving a petition therefor, or giving notice of the intention of the board to incur such indebtedness. However, no indebtedness shall be hereafter incurred under the provisions of this section which, when added to the amount of notes incurred hereunder which are then outstanding shall require the use in the retirement of such notes in any one (1) year of more than fifty percent (50%) of the amount available to the county, separate road district, or supervisors district, as the case may be, for the maintenance of roads and bridges for the preceding fiscal year. The amount available for the maintenance of roads and bridges shall be deemed to be the sum of the amounts produced by the county's or district's share of the state gasoline and motor vehicle privilege license tax, less that amount required by law to be set aside for the payment of bonds, together with the amount produced by the road and/or bridge ad valorem tax levy for such county or district, as the case may be. Nothing herein, however, shall be construed to invalidate any indebtedness previously incurred and now outstanding.

When any county, separate road district, or supervisors district has heretofore incurred, or shall hereafter incur an indebtedness under the provisions of this section for the purchase of road machinery or equipment, it shall be the duty of the chancery clerk of such county to deduct each month from the distribution of the state gasoline tax which would otherwise be paid to such county or district (but not from the amount required by law to be set aside for the payment of bonds) a proportionate amount of the sum which will be due as the principal of and interest upon the next installment to be paid on such indebtedness, it being the intention of this section to provide that if the indebtedness be payable in semiannual installments then there shall be set aside each month out of said distribution of state gasoline tax one-sixth ( 1/6) of the amount which will be necessary to pay the principal of and any interest upon the next installment to become due, and that a like method of computation shall be followed in all cases in determining the amount to be so set aside. All amounts so deducted under the provisions of this section shall be kept in a separate fund of the county, separate road district, or supervisors district, as the case may be, and shall be expended for no other purpose than the payment of the principal and interest of said indebtedness until the same be paid. Should said separate fund so created not be sufficient for the payment of the next maturing installment of principal and interest when the same becomes due, there shall be transferred thereto from the road and bridge fund such amount as will make the separate fund sufficient for the purpose.

If any person, firm, corporation or association, or any agent or employee thereof, shall willfully claim and receive any amount from any county, separate road district, or supervisors district, as the purchase price of, or as any installment upon the purchase price of, any road machinery or equipment where the provisions of this section have not been complied with, or if any member of the board of supervisors shall knowingly vote for the payment of any unauthorized claim for the purchase price, or any installment upon the purchase price, of any road machinery or equipment, then such person, firm, corporation, association or member of the board of supervisors, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding double the amount of such unauthorized claim, or by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than six (6) months, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

[With regard to any county that is required to operate on a countywide system of road administration as described in Section 19-2-3, this section shall read as follows:]

A board of supervisors purchasing tractors, trucks and other machinery or equipment for constructing, reconstructing and maintaining the public roads may provide for the payment of all or any portion of the price thereof over the useful life of the property as determined according to the most recent asset depreciation range (ADR) guidelines for the Class Life Asset Depreciation Range System established by the Internal Revenue Service pursuant to the United States Internal Revenue Code and regulations thereunder or comparable depreciation guidelines with respect to any equipment not covered by ADR guidelines; provided, however, that no installment contract described in this sentence may be executed by the board during the last year of the board's term of office. All such deferred payments shall be represented by notes of the county, to be dated at or after the time of delivery of the machinery, bearing interest at a rate not exceeding that allowed in Section 75-17-105, from date until paid, and payable to the seller of the machinery, or the purchaser of the notes, out of the road fund of the county. All such notes for any purchase shall be payable on June 15 or December 15, the first to be payable not more than one (1) year after date. Said notes shall be signed by the president of the board, and countersigned by the clerk thereof, under the seal of the county. Said notes may be validated in the manner provided by law, and may be delivered to the seller of the machinery, or to any person who will purchase the same at a lower rate of interest than said seller is willing to accept, or at a like rate of interest plus a premium, any money received from a sale of such notes to be applied to the payment of the balance due on said machinery, and any surplus to be paid into the road fund of the county. On the first business day of each month in which any such note matures, the clerk shall docket the principal amount of such note, with interest thereon to maturity, as a claim against the county, in favor of the last known holder of such note, and the board shall allow the same at its regular meeting held that month without further presentation, proof or demand, to be paid as other claims in its proper order.

In all advertisements for bids for road machinery or equipment under this section, the board of supervisors shall insert in such advertisements a statement as to whether or not the road machinery or equipment purchased is to be paid for in cash, or is to be purchased upon installment payments as authorized herein. All indebtedness incurred under the provisions hereof may be incurred by the board without the necessity of calling an election thereon, receiving a petition therefor, or giving notice of the intention of the board to incur such indebtedness. However, no indebtedness shall be hereafter incurred under the provisions of this section which, when added to the amount of notes incurred hereunder which are then outstanding shall require the use in the retirement of such notes in any one (1) year of more than fifty percent (50%) of the amount available to the county for the maintenance of roads and bridges for the preceding fiscal year. The amount available for the maintenance of roads and bridges shall be deemed to be the sum of the amounts produced by the county's share of the state gasoline and motor vehicle privilege license tax, less that amount required by law to be set aside for the payment of bonds, together with the amount produced by the road and/or bridge ad valorem tax levy for such county. Nothing herein, however, shall be construed to invalidate any indebtedness previously incurred and now outstanding.

When any county has heretofore incurred, or shall hereafter incur an indebtedness under the provisions of this section for the purchase of road machinery or equipment, it shall be the duty of the chancery clerk as county treasurer to pay the principal of and interest upon the indebtedness in semiannual installments from the road maintenance and bridge funds.

If any person, firm, corporation or association, or any agent or employee thereof, shall willfully claim and receive any amount from any county as the purchase price of, or as any installment upon the purchase price of, any road machinery or equipment where the provisions of this section have not been complied with, then such person, firm, corporation or association shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding double the amount of such unauthorized claim or by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than six (6) months, or by both such fine and imprisonment.