Secretary of State staff say cleanup reimbursements active; tax-credit rules and tax-sale study committee coming

Assistant Secretary of State staff told the Select Committee that implementation of recent bills is underway. House Bill 733, which created reimbursement to municipalities for cleanup or handling dangerous trees, went into effect July 1 and the legislature allocated $1.75 million into that fund, the staff said. The office reported processing at least one reimbursement application and working on several pre-July 1 applications for potential retroactive consideration.

House Bill 1201 (tax-credit incentives) is scheduled to take effect January 1; staff have developed application forms and are coordinating with the Department of Revenue and other parties to address potential administrative issues. Officials said they may recommend modest statutory tweaks if forms or rules prove insufficient for implementation by the effective date.

On tax-sale and tax-patent problems, staff said a select study committee will hold its first meeting in October to examine title issues, notice requirements including U.S. Supreme Court precedent, and the length of redemption/reach-back periods that complicate commercial redevelopment. Staff cited a current inventory of state tax-forfeited parcels in the city (approximately 6,000 in earlier statements) and provided a county/city breakdown in committee questioning (about 1,700 parcels in the City of Jackson and 1,800 in Hinds County in their more granular accounting). Committee members asked staff to return after the October study-panel work to brief refinements or recommended statutory fixes.

Lawmakers said they welcomed coordination across state agencies and city officials to expedite cleanup reimbursements and to consider how tax-credit rules and tax-sale reform could better incentivize returning properties to the tax rolls.