Mississippi HB 618: Broadband equipment speed; increase to FCC requirement regarding ad valorem tax exemption.

Bill Text

H. B. No. 618 *HR43/R231* ~ OFFICIAL ~ G1/2
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To: Public Utilities
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2024

By: Representatives Tullos, Smith

HOUSE BILL NO. 618

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 57-87-7, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO 1
INCREASE THE SPEED OF EQUIPMENT USED IN THE DEPLOYMENT OF 2
BROADBAND TECHNOLOGIES FROM 384 KILOBITS PER SECOND TO A DOWNLOAD 3
SPEED OF TWENTY-FIVE MEGABITS PER SECOND AND AN UPLOAD SPEED OF 4
THREE MEGABITS PER SECOND REGARDING AD VALOREM TAX EXEMPTION; TO 5
BRING FORWARD SECTION 57-73-21, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, FOR 6
PURPOSES OF POSSIBLE AMENDMENT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 7
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 8
SECTION 1. Section 57-87-7, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 9
amended as follows: 10
57-87-7. Equipment used in the deployment of broadband 11
technologies by a telecommunications enterprise (as defined in 12
Section 57-73-21(14)), that is placed in service after June 30, 13
2003, and before July 1, 2025, shall be exempt from ad valorem 14
taxation for a period of ten (10) years after the date such 15
equipment is placed in service. For purposes of this section, 16
"equipment used in the deployment of broadband technologies" 17
means * * * that which provides service defined by the Federal 18
Communications Commission (FCC) as high speed broadband. The 19
current standard is twenty-five (25) megabits per second downlink 20

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and three (3) megabits per second uplink. The revision of such 21
FCC standard will require only equipment meeting the standard to 22
be listed on the business personal property return for the tax 23
year following the change. 24
Such ad valorem tax exemption is for the purpose of expanding 25
fixed home and business broadband service into rural areas, and is 26
available for Tier 2 and Tier 3 counties, as defined by the 27
Mississippi Department of Revenue. 28
Qualifying companies shall provide one or more of the 29
following services to qualifying counties: fiber, cable, DSL or 30
fixed wireless access (FWA). Where companies provide both 31
cellular telephone and FWA, only the equipment used specifically 32
for FWA qualifies. The company shall list on the business 33
personal property return, the location of each site providing FWA 34
by E911 address in the county and the exempted equipment. The 35
exemption shall be filed for qualifying sites operational by 36
December 31 on the business personal property form as required. 37
The maximum allowable FWA exemption shall be capped at thirty 38
percent (30%) of the total asset cost (cellular and FWA) for each 39
FWA site. 40
Broadband providers shall make subscriber lists available to 41
the county tax assessor, upon request, for audit purposes to 42
confirm the coverage and minimum speeds to assure qualification. 43
Such information provided to the county tax assessor shall be 44
considered confidential. 45

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SECTION 2. Section 57-73-21, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 46
brought forward as follows: 47
[In cases involving business enterprises that received or 48
applied for the job tax credit authorized by this section prior to 49
January 1, 2005, this section shall read as follows:] 50
57-73-21. (1) Annually by December 31, using the most 51
current data available from the University Research Center, 52
Mississippi Department of Employment Security and the United 53
States Department of Commerce, the State Tax Commission shall rank 54
and designate the state's counties as provided in this section. 55
The twenty-eight (28) counties in this state having a combination 56
of the highest unemployment rate and lowest per capita income for 57
the most recent thirty-six-month period, with equal weight being 58
given to each category, are designated Tier Three areas. The 59
twenty-seven (27) counties in the state with a combination of the 60
next highest unemployment rate and next lowest per capita income 61
for the most recent thirty-six-month period, with equal weight 62
being given to each category, are designated Tier Two areas. The 63
twenty-seven (27) counties in the state with a combination of the 64
lowest unemployment rate and the highest per capita income for the 65
most recent thirty-six-month period, with equal weight being given 66
to each category, are designated Tier One areas. Counties 67
designated by the Tax Commission qualify for the appropriate tax 68
credit for jobs as provided in subsections (2), (3) and (4) of 69
this section. The designation by the Tax Commission is effective 70

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for the tax years of permanent business enterprises which begin 71
after the date of designation. For companies which plan an 72
expansion in their labor forces, the Tax Commission shall 73
prescribe certification procedures to ensure that the companies 74