55-23-33 - Surcharge on stadium ticket prices for payment of bonds; use of portion of amusement sales tax for payment of bonds; university share of stadium revenues.
§ 55-23-33. Surcharge on stadium ticket prices for payment of bonds; use of portion of amusement sales tax for payment of bonds; university share of stadium revenues.
(1) An additional charge of Fifty Cents (50) per ticket is hereby imposed upon every ticket which is sold (a) to an event conducted in the Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium in which there participates any team of a university which is a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association with the exception of a university located in Hinds County, in which case an additional charge of Twenty-five Cents (25) per ticket shall be imposed, and (b) to any event in which there participates a professional team or in which the entertainers, performers or other participants are professionals. The funds derived from this additional charge shall be paid by the Stadium Commission to the State Treasurer to be deposited in the Mississippi Memorial Stadium Fund and are specifically reserved and dedicated for the payment of the principal of and the interest on bonds issued under the provisions of Sections 55-23-21 through 55-23-43 to enlarge and renovate the Mississippi Memorial Stadium. Upon a determination by the State Treasurer, the additional charge provided by this subsection may cease to be imposed when the other revenue pledged out of the Mississippi Memorial Stadium Fund to retire the bonds is at least one and one tenth (1.1) times the annual debt service plus the obligation to Hinds County or when the fund contains an amount sufficient to retire the amount of bonds then outstanding plus the obligation to Hinds County. If the charge ceases to be imposed as hereinbefore provided and revenues pledged out of the Mississippi Memorial Stadium Fund to retire the bonds fall below one (1.0) times the annual debt service plus the obligation to Hinds County, then at that time the State Treasurer shall notify the Stadium Commission and the charge shall be restored.
(2) Forty-two percent (42%) of the tax levied pursuant to Section 27-65-22, Mississippi Code of 1972, on gross revenue derived from the sale of admission to events conducted in the Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium, which is deposited in the Mississippi Memorial Stadium Fund, is hereby specifically reserved and dedicated for the payment of the principal of and the interest on bonds issued under the provisions of Sections 55-23-21 through 55-23-43 and repayment of the contribution of Hinds County to enlarge and renovate the Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium.
(3) It is the intent of the Legislature that a university's share in revenue derived from events conducted at Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium not be reduced as a result of the enactment of this section; and, to that end, any proceeds derived from an event at the Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium to which a university is entitled shall not be less than that share to which it would otherwise have been entitled prior to the effective date of Sections 55-23-21 through 55-23-43.
(4) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (1) and (2) of this section, on and after April 19, 1989, the imposition and deposit of the additional per ticket charge described in subsection (1) of this section and the diversion of the portion of the tax described in subsection (2) of this section shall each be suspended so long as not less than thirty (30) days prior to the first day of each fiscal year of the State of Mississippi either (a) the Legislature has theretofore appropriated for deposit to the Mississippi Veterans Memorial Bond Sinking Fund an amount of moneys from any source sufficient to fully pay in a timely manner all of the principal and interest scheduled to become due in such fiscal year on all bonds theretofore issued and then outstanding under the provisions of Sections 55-23-21 through 55-23-43, plus an amount sufficient to pay all then overdue and unpaid installments of principal and interest on such bonds, if any, or (b) the amount on deposit in the Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium Bond Sinking Fund shall be sufficient to fully pay in a timely manner all of the principal and interest scheduled to become due prior to such fiscal year on all bonds theretofore issued and then outstanding under the provisions of Sections 55-23-21 through 55-23-43, plus all of the principal and interest scheduled to become due in such fiscal year on all such bonds, plus an amount sufficient to pay all then overdue and unpaid installments of principal and interest on such bonds, if any. Whenever the State Treasurer shall determine that the conditions of the aforesaid suspensions have not or will not be satisfied as provided in the immediately preceding sentence, the State Treasurer shall notify all appropriate state officials of the same and the imposition and deposit of said additional per ticket charge under subsection (1) of this section and the diversion of said portion of the tax under subsection (2) of this section, each to the Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium Bond Sinking Fund, shall be automatically and immediately restored.
Sources: Laws, 1979, ch. 360, § 7; Laws, 1985, ch. 456; Laws, 1989, ch. 548, § 5, eff from and after passage (approved April 19, 1989).