City of Richland; extend repealer on bar and restaurant tourism tax.

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To: Local and Private
Legislation
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026

By: Representative Varner

HOUSE BILL NO. 4146

AN ACT TO AMEND CHAPTER 938, LOCAL AND PRIVATE LAWS OF 1998, 1
AS LAST AMENDED BY CHAPTER 903, LOCAL AND PRIVATE LAWS OF 2022, TO 2
EXTEND THE REPEALER ON THE PROVISION OF LAW THAT AUTHORIZES THE 3
GOVERNING AUTHORITIES OF THE CITY OF RICHLAND, MISSISSIPPI, TO 4
IMPOSE A TAX UPON THE GROSS SALES OF BARS AND RESTAURANTS IN AN 5
AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED TWO PERCENT FOR THE PURPOSE OF PROVIDING 6
FUNDS FOR THE PROMOTION OF TOURISM, PARKS AND RECREATION WITHIN 7
THE CITY; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 8
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 9
SECTION 1. Chapter 938, Local and Private Laws of 1998, as 10
amended by Chapter 981, Local and Private Laws of 1999, as amended 11
by Chapter 960, Local and Private Laws of 2001, as amended by 12
Chapter 923, Local and Private Laws of 2018, as amended by Chapter 13
903, Local and Private Laws of 2022, is amended as follows: 14
Section 1. As used in this act, the following terms shall 15
have the meanings ascribed to them in this section unless a 16
different meaning is clearly indicated by the context in which 17
they are used: 18
(a) "Governing authorities" means the governing 19
authorities of the City of Richland, Mississippi. 20
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(b) "Bar" means all places, required by law to possess 21
an on-premises Alcoholic Beverage Control permit, where beer 22
and/or alcoholic beverages are sold for consumption on the 23
premises. 24
(c) "Restaurant" means all places where prepared food 25
and beverages, including beer and alcoholic beverages, are sold 26
for consumption, whether such food is consumed on the premises or 27
not. The term "restaurant" does not include any school, hospital, 28
convalescent or nursing home, or any restaurant-like facility 29
operated by or in connection with a school, hospital, medical 30
clinic, convalescent or nursing home providing food for students, 31
patients, visitors or their families. 32
Section 2. (1) For the purpose of providing funds (i) for 33
the amortization or defraying of any indebtedness incurred by the 34
City of Richland in connection with the construction of a 35
multipurpose building to be used for a community center and (ii) 36
to promote tourism, parks and recreation within the city, after 37
the costs connected with the construction of the multipurpose 38
building are paid and completely satisfied and after an election 39
is held approving the funds being used to promote tourism, parks 40
and recreation, the governing authorities of the City of Richland 41
are authorized, in their discretion, to levy and collect from the 42
following persons a tax, which shall be in addition to all of the 43
taxes and assessments imposed. The tax shall be imposed on the 44
following persons: 45
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(a) A tax upon every person, firm or corporation 46
operating a bar in the City of Richland, at a rate not to exceed 47
two percent (2%) of the gross proceeds of the sales of such bar; 48
and 49
(b) A tax upon every person, firm or corporation 50
operating a restaurant in the City of Richland, at a rate not to 51
exceed two percent (2%) of the gross proceeds of the sales of beer 52
and alcoholic beverages sold for consumption on the premises and 53
all prepared foods of such restaurant. 54
(2) Persons, firms or corporations liable for the levy 55
imposed under subsection (1) of this section shall add the amount 56
of the levy to the sales price of the products and services set 57
out in subsection (1) of this section and shall collect, insofar 58
as is practicable, the amount of the tax due by them from the 59
person receiving the services or product at the time of payment 60
therefor. 61
(3) Such tax shall be collected by and paid to the 62
Department of Revenue on a form prescribed by the Department of 63
Revenue in the manner that state sales taxes are computed, 64
collected and paid; and full enforcement provisions and all other 65
provisions of Chapter 65, Title 27, Mississippi Code of 1972, 66
shall apply as necessary to the implementation and administration 67
of this act. 68
(4) The proceeds of such tax, less three percent (3%) 69
thereof which shall be retained by the Department of Revenue to 70
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defray the cost of collection, shall be paid to the governing 71
authorities of the City of Richland, on or before the fifteenth 72
day of the month in which collected. 73
(5) The proceeds of such tax shall not be considered by the 74
City of Richland as general fund revenues but shall be dedicated 75
to and expended solely for the purposes specified in this section. 76
Section 3. Before any tax authorized under this act may be 77
imposed, the governing authorities shall adopt a resolution 78
declaring its intention to levy the tax, setting forth the amount 79
of such tax to be imposed, the date upon which such tax shall 80
become effective and calling for a referendum to be held on the 81
question. The date of the election shall be the first Tuesday 82
after the first Monday in November 1998. Notice of such intention 83
shall be published once each week for at least three (3) 84
consecutive weeks in a newspaper published or having a general 85
circulation in the county, with the first publication of such 86
notice to be made not less than twenty-one (21) days before the 87
date fixed in the resolution for the election and the last 88
publication to be made not more than seven (7) days before the 89
election. At the election, all qualified electors of the City of 90
Richland may vote, and the ballots used in such election shall 91
have printed thereon a brief statement of the amount and purposes 92
of the proposed tax levy and the words "FOR THE ECONOMIC AND 93
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT TAX" and, on a separate line, "AGAINST THE 94
ECONOMIC AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT TAX," and the voters shall vote 95
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by placing a cross (X) or check (✓) opposite their choice on the 96
proposition. When the results of any such election shall have 97
been canvassed by the election commission of the county and 98
certified, the city may levy the tax beginning on the first day of 99
January 1999, if a majority of the qualified electors who vote in 100
the election vote in favor of the tax. 101
Section 4. Accounting for receipts and expenditures of the 102
funds described in this act must be made separately from the 103
accounting of receipts and expenditures of the general fund and 104
any other funds of the City of Richland. The records reflecting 105
the receipts and expenditures of the funds prescribed in this act 106
shall be audited annually by an independent certified public 107
accountant, and the accountant shall make a written report of his 108
audit to the governing authorities. The audit shall be made and 109
completed as soon as practicable after the close of the fiscal 110
year, and expenses of such audit shall be paid from the funds 111
derived pursuant to this act. 112
Section 5. (a) The authority for the purpose of providing 113
funds, as prescribed in Section 2(1)(i) of this act, shall be 114
repealed the multipurpose building authorized to be constructed by 115
this act has been completed, and either all principal, interest, 116
costs and other expenses for all bonds, notes or other borrowings 117
to pay the cost of constructing such building have been paid and 118
are completely satisfied, or there exists in any special account 119
established to retire such bonds, notes or other borrowings, an 120
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amount on deposit which, together with any earnings on investments 121
to accrue to the account, is equal to or greater than the amount 122
necessary to pay such indebtedness. 123
(b) After all costs of construction of the multipurpose 124
building have been paid and are completely satisfied as prescribed 125
in paragraph (a) of this section, the governing authorities may 126
utilize the tax to promote tourism, parks and recreation within 127
the city if the proposed utilization of the tax is approved in an 128
election that is held, as prescribed in paragraph (c) of this 129
section, on the question of whether such tax may be imposed for 130
the promotion of tourism, parks and recreation within the city. 131
(c) Before any tax authorized under this act may be 132
imposed for the promotion of tourism, parks and recreation within 133
the city, the governing authorities shall adopt a resolution 134
declaring their intention to levy the tax, setting forth the 135
amount of the tax to be imposed, the date upon which the tax shall 136
become effective and calling for an election to be held on the 137
question, and the date of the election shall be fixed in the 138
resolution. Notice of such intention and the election shall be 139
published once each week for at least three (3) consecutive weeks 140
in a newspaper published or having a general circulation in the 141
City of Richland, with the first publication of the notice to be 142
made not less than twenty-one (21) days before the date fixed in 143
the resolution for the election and the last publication to be 144
made not more than seven (7) days before the election. At the 145
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election, all qualified electors of the City of Richland may vote, 146
and the ballots used in the election shall have printed thereon a 147
brief statement of the amount and purposes of the proposed tax 148
levy and the words "FOR THE TAX" and, on a separate line, "AGAINST 149
THE TAX" and the voters shall vote by placing a cross (X) or check 150
(✓) opposite their choice on the proposition. When the results 151
of the election shall have been canvassed and certified, the city 152
may levy the tax if sixty percent (60%) of the qualified electors 153
who vote in the election vote in favor of the tax. At least 154
thirty (30) days before the effective date of the tax provided in 155
this section, the governing authorities shall furnish to the 156
Department of Revenue a certified copy of the resolution 157
evidencing the tax. 158
(d) Accounting for receipts and expenditures of the 159
funds described in this section must be made separately from the 160
accounting of receipts and expenditures of the general fund and 161
any other funds of the City of Richland. The records reflecting 162
the receipts and expenditures of the funds prescribed in this act 163
shall be audited annually by an independent certified public 164
accountant, and the accountant shall make a written report of his 165
audit to the governing authorities. The audit shall be made and 166
completed as soon as practicable after the close of the fiscal 167
year, and expenses of such audit shall be paid from the funds 168
derived pursuant to this act. 169
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ST: City of Richland; extend repealer on bar
and restaurant tourism tax.
Section 6. This act shall be repealed from and after July 170
1, * * * 2030. 171
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from 172
and after its passage. 173