Boards of Supervisors; authorize to designate persons to serve as hearing officers for delinquent solid waste fees.
Summary
SB 2002 amends Mississippi law governing county solid waste fees and delinquency procedures. The bill keeps in place the existing framework that makes garbage or rubbish collection fees jointly and severally owed by the generator and the property owner, allows delinquent fees to accrue additional charges, and authorizes counties to place liens on real property or use special assessments to collect unpaid amounts. It also preserves the rule that delinquent solid waste fees can block renewal of a motor vehicle road and bridge privilege license until the fees are paid.
The main change made by the bill is procedural: it expands who a board of supervisors may appoint to hear disputes over delinquent solid waste fees. Under the amended law, the board may designate one of its own members, a county staff member, or another qualified, impartial, and disinterested person to serve as hearing officer, so long as the person is not the board attorney, a tax collector staff member, has no interest in the outcome, and is not related to a board member or the delinquent fee payer. The bill also continues the notice, hearing, appeal, and lien-recording requirements already in the statute.
Impact
SB 2002 primarily affects county boards of supervisors, county billing and collection staff, tax collectors, chancery clerks, and property owners or residents who owe delinquent solid waste fees. It does not create a new fee or collection mechanism, but it clarifies and broadens the pool of eligible hearing officers for due process hearings before delinquent fees are sent to the tax collector. The bill leaves intact the lien, special assessment, and license-tag withholding provisions in Section 19-5-22, while reinforcing procedural safeguards around notice and impartiality in fee disputes.
Sentiment
The bill appears to have been noncontroversial and broadly supported. It passed the Senate 51-0 and the House 118-0, indicating unanimous approval in both chambers. The available record shows no committee transcript debate, suggesting the measure was viewed as a technical or administrative clarification rather than a major policy change.
Contention
There is little evidence of substantive opposition in the available materials. The only potentially sensitive issue is the hearing-officer provision, because the bill allows a board member or county staff member to serve in that role, which could raise questions about neutrality in delinquent fee disputes. To address that concern, the bill expressly bars the board attorney, tax collector staff, anyone with an interest in the outcome, and anyone related to a board member or the fee debtor from serving as hearing officer.