(1) The authority, in addition to any other powers granted under this chapter and any other provision of law, is authorized:(a) To acquire, construct, improve, enlarge, extend, repair, operate and maintain any of its systems used for the collection, transportation, treatment and disposal of water and wastewater;(b) To make contracts with any person in furtherance thereof and to make contracts with any person for the purpose of collection, transportation, treatment or disposal of water and wastewater on behalf of such person;(c) To make contracts with any person to design and construct any water and wastewater systems or facilities, and thereafter to purchase, lease or sell any such system or systems by installments over such terms as may be deemed desirable, reasonable and necessary, or otherwise;(d) To enter into operating agreements with any person, for such terms and upon such conditions as may be deemed desirable for the operation of any water and wastewater systems, and to lease to or from any person, for such term and upon such conditions as may be deemed desirable, any water and wastewater collection, transportation, treatment or other facilities or systems. Any such contract may contain provisions requiring any public agency or other person to regulate the quality and strength of materials to be handled by the respective system or systems and also may provide that the authority shall have the right to use any streets, alleys and public ways and places within the jurisdiction of a public agency or other person during the term of the contract;(e) To enter into contracts with any person or public agency, including, but not limited to, contracts authorized by this chapter, in furtherance of any of the purposes authorized under this chapter upon such consideration as the board and such person may agree. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, such contract may extend over any period of time, may be upon such terms and for such consideration, nominal or otherwise, as the parties thereto shall agree, and may provide that it shall continue in effect until bonds specified therein, refunding bonds issued in lieu of such bonds, and all other obligations specified therein are paid or terminated. Any such contract shall be binding upon the parties thereto according to its terms;(f) To sue and be sued, in its own name, and to enjoy all of the protections, immunities and benefits provided by the Mississippi Tort Claims Act, Section 11-46-1 et seq., as it may be amended or supplemented from time to time;(g) To maintain office space at such place or places within the authority’s boundaries as it may determine;(h) To invest money of the authority, including proceeds from the sale of any bonds subject to any agreements with bondholders, on such terms and in such manner as the authority deems proper;(i) To pay or refinance any outstanding city bonds relating to the water and wastewater systems under their existing terms;(j) To require the necessary relocation or rerouting of roads and highways, railroad, telephone and telegraph lines, and properties, electric power lines, gas pipelines and related facilities, or to require the anchoring or other protection of any of these, provided fair compensation is first paid to the owners or an agreement is made with such owners regarding the payment of the cost of such relocation, and to acquire easements or rights-of-way for such relocation or rerouting and to convey the same to the owners of the property being relocated or rerouted in connection with the purposes of this chapter. This provision shall be in accordance with Mississippi Constitution Article 17A and Section 11-27-30;(k) To acquire, construct, improve or modify, or to operate or cause to be operated and maintained, either as owner of all or of any part in common with others, any water or wastewater system within the authority’s service area. The authority may pay all or part of the cost of any system from any contribution by persons, firms, public agencies or corporations;(l) To receive, accept and use all funds, public or private, and pay all costs of the development, implementation and maintenance as determined necessary for any project;(m) To acquire, in its own name, by purchase on any terms and conditions and in any manner as it may deem proper, property for public use, or by gift, grant, lease, or otherwise, real property or easements therein, franchises and personal property necessary or convenient for its corporate purposes. This provision shall be in accordance with Mississippi Constitution Article 17A and Section 11-27-30;(n) To acquire insurance as available for the systems, facilities, buildings, treatment plants and all property, real or personal, to insure against all risks;(o) To use any property and rent or lease any property to or from others, including public agencies, or make contracts for the use of the property. The authority may sell, lease, exchange, transfer, assign, pledge, mortgage or grant a security interest for any property. The powers to acquire, use and dispose of property as set forth in this paragraph shall include the power to acquire, use and dispose of any interest in that property, whether divided or undivided. Title to any property of the authority shall be held by the authority exclusively for the benefit of the public;(p) To apply, contract for, accept, receive and administer gifts, grants, appropriations and donations of money, materials and property of any kind, including loans and grants from the United States, the state, a unit of local government, or any agency, department, district or instrumentality of any of the foregoing, upon any terms and conditions as the United States, the state, a unit of local government, or any agency, department, district or instrumentality shall impose. The authority may administer trusts. The authority may sell, lease, transfer, convey, appropriate and pledge any and all of its property and assets;(q) To make and enforce, and from time to time, amend and repeal, bylaws, rules, ordinances and regulations for the management of its business and affairs and for the construction, use, maintenance and operation of any of the systems under its management and control;(r) To employ and terminate staff and other personnel, including attorneys, auditors, engineers and consultants for rendering professional or technical services and advice, as may be necessary to the functioning of the authority;(s) To establish, fix, charge and enforce the payment of all rates, fees, assessments and any other charges for services furnished by the water system, wastewater system, or both, and other facilities within the control of the authority, as the case may be, and from time to time, to adjust such rates, fees, assessments and any other charges for the purpose of ensuring that the revenues therefrom will be sufficient at all times:(i) To pay the expenses of operating and maintaining the systems and other facilities, including all obligations under any contract or bond resolution with respect thereto;(ii) For the establishment and maintenance of a bond retirement and interest payment fund sufficient to provide for the payment of the principal of and interest on any bonds or other obligations payable therefrom as the same become due and payable, including reasonable reserves for the payment of such principal and interest;(iii) For the establishment and maintenance of a reasonable reserve for future additions, extensions, and improvements to such systems or any combination thereof, as the case may be; and(iv) To comply with all covenants of the authority under the terms of any resolution, trust indenture or other security instrument with respect to its bonds.Except as otherwise permitted by law, such rates, fees, assessments and other charges shall be equal to those levied on similarly situated customers throughout the authority’s service area. For purposes of Section 77-3-33, the rates charged by the authority shall be just and reasonable if they are adequate to provide safe and reliable water and wastewater service to its customers, including providing an adequate amount of capital for the authority to perform such repairs, upgrades and improvements as it deems necessary on an ongoing basis;(t) To adopt rules and regulations necessary to accomplish the purposes of the authority and to assure the payment of each participating person or public agency of its proportionate share of the costs for use of any of the systems and facilities of the authority and for the authority’s proportionate share of the costs of the board;(u) To enter on public or private lands, waters or premises for the purpose of making surveys, borings or soundings, or conducting tests, examinations or inspections for the purposes of the authority, subject to responsibility for any damage done to property entered;(v) To accept industrial wastewater from within the boundaries of the authority for treatment and to require the pretreatment of the same when, in the opinion of the authority, such pretreatment is necessary;(w) To control and operate local retail water and wastewater services, and to provide or be responsible for direct servicing of those services to residences, businesses and individuals; however, the authority shall not provide the same services in an area provided by a public utility or person holding a certificate of public convenience and necessity issued by the Mississippi Public Service Commission for the provision of such services in the certificated area;(x) To assume control and administer, within the authority’s jurisdiction, any water or wastewater system or systems by agreement or contract with any person if the person providing such services requests to be relieved of that responsibility;(y) To acquire property designated by plan to sufficiently accommodate the location of water or wastewater systems and such requirements related directly thereto pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 27, Title 11, Mississippi Code of 1972. The authority may acquire property necessary for any system and the exercise of the powers, rights and duties conferred upon the authority by this chapter. No person owning the drilling rights or the right to share in production shall be prevented from exploring, developing or producing oil or gas with necessary rights-of-way for ingress and egress, pipelines and other means of transporting such interests on any lands or interest of the authority held or used for the purposes of this chapter, but any such activities shall be subject to reasonable regulations by the board that adequately protect the systems or projects of the authority. This provision shall be in accordance with Mississippi Constitution Article 17A and Section 11-27-30;(z) To use any legally available funds to acquire, rebuild, operate and maintain any existing water or wastewater systems owned or operated by any person;(aa) To refuse to receive water or wastewater from any public agency or person, except with regard to municipalities or other areas within the service territory of the systems as of January 1, 2026;(bb) So long as any indebtedness on the systems of the authority remains outstanding, to require a member public agency, or other person, dispose of all water and wastewater, as the case may be, within the boundaries of the authority through the appropriate treatment system to the extent available, but no public agency shall be precluded from constructing, operating and maintaining its own such system unless provision has been made for full payment, by escrow or otherwise, of the public agency’s proportionate share of the authority’s bonds and other indebtedness outstanding as of the expected date of operation of the public agency’s system, pursuant to the terms of the authority’s bonds or resolution, trust indenture or other security instrument securing such bonds or indebtedness;(cc) To adopt a seal and a symbol, to hold patents, copyrights, trademarks and service marks, and to enforce its rights with respect thereto;(dd) To write off revenues deemed uncollectible that were billed to customers prior to November 29, 2022, and, as a regular accounting practice of the authority, to further write off revenues deemed uncollectible after the third year of collection efforts. Nothing herein permits the provision of services without charging applicable rates in effect at the time services are provided and requiring payment of such services; and(ee) To do all things necessary, convenient or desirable to carry out its purposes and for the exercise of the powers granted in this chapter.
(a) To acquire, construct, improve, enlarge, extend, repair, operate and maintain any of its systems used for the collection, transportation, treatment and disposal of water and wastewater;
(b) To make contracts with any person in furtherance thereof and to make contracts with any person for the purpose of collection, transportation, treatment or disposal of water and wastewater on behalf of such person;
(c) To make contracts with any person to design and construct any water and wastewater systems or facilities, and thereafter to purchase, lease or sell any such system or systems by installments over such terms as may be deemed desirable, reasonable and necessary, or otherwise;
(d) To enter into operating agreements with any person, for such terms and upon such conditions as may be deemed desirable for the operation of any water and wastewater systems, and to lease to or from any person, for such term and upon such conditions as may be deemed desirable, any water and wastewater collection, transportation, treatment or other facilities or systems. Any such contract may contain provisions requiring any public agency or other person to regulate the quality and strength of materials to be handled by the respective system or systems and also may provide that the authority shall have the right to use any streets, alleys and public ways and places within the jurisdiction of a public agency or other person during the term of the contract;
(e) To enter into contracts with any person or public agency, including, but not limited to, contracts authorized by this chapter, in furtherance of any of the purposes authorized under this chapter upon such consideration as the board and such person may agree. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, such contract may extend over any period of time, may be upon such terms and for such consideration, nominal or otherwise, as the parties thereto shall agree, and may provide that it shall continue in effect until bonds specified therein, refunding bonds issued in lieu of such bonds, and all other obligations specified therein are paid or terminated. Any such contract shall be binding upon the parties thereto according to its terms;
(f) To sue and be sued, in its own name, and to enjoy all of the protections, immunities and benefits provided by the Mississippi Tort Claims Act, Section 11-46-1 et seq., as it may be amended or supplemented from time to time;
(g) To maintain office space at such place or places within the authority’s boundaries as it may determine;
(h) To invest money of the authority, including proceeds from the sale of any bonds subject to any agreements with bondholders, on such terms and in such manner as the authority deems proper;
(i) To pay or refinance any outstanding city bonds relating to the water and wastewater systems under their existing terms;
(j) To require the necessary relocation or rerouting of roads and highways, railroad, telephone and telegraph lines, and properties, electric power lines, gas pipelines and related facilities, or to require the anchoring or other protection of any of these, provided fair compensation is first paid to the owners or an agreement is made with such owners regarding the payment of the cost of such relocation, and to acquire easements or rights-of-way for such relocation or rerouting and to convey the same to the owners of the property being relocated or rerouted in connection with the purposes of this chapter. This provision shall be in accordance with Mississippi Constitution Article 17A and Section 11-27-30;
(k) To acquire, construct, improve or modify, or to operate or cause to be operated and maintained, either as owner of all or of any part in common with others, any water or wastewater system within the authority’s service area. The authority may pay all or part of the cost of any system from any contribution by persons, firms, public agencies or corporations;
(l) To receive, accept and use all funds, public or private, and pay all costs of the development, implementation and maintenance as determined necessary for any project;
(m) To acquire, in its own name, by purchase on any terms and conditions and in any manner as it may deem proper, property for public use, or by gift, grant, lease, or otherwise, real property or easements therein, franchises and personal property necessary or convenient for its corporate purposes. This provision shall be in accordance with Mississippi Constitution Article 17A and Section 11-27-30;
(n) To acquire insurance as available for the systems, facilities, buildings, treatment plants and all property, real or personal, to insure against all risks;
(o) To use any property and rent or lease any property to or from others, including public agencies, or make contracts for the use of the property. The authority may sell, lease, exchange, transfer, assign, pledge, mortgage or grant a security interest for any property. The powers to acquire, use and dispose of property as set forth in this paragraph shall include the power to acquire, use and dispose of any interest in that property, whether divided or undivided. Title to any property of the authority shall be held by the authority exclusively for the benefit of the public;
(p) To apply, contract for, accept, receive and administer gifts, grants, appropriations and donations of money, materials and property of any kind, including loans and grants from the United States, the state, a unit of local government, or any agency, department, district or instrumentality of any of the foregoing, upon any terms and conditions as the United States, the state, a unit of local government, or any agency, department, district or instrumentality shall impose. The authority may administer trusts. The authority may sell, lease, transfer, convey, appropriate and pledge any and all of its property and assets;
(q) To make and enforce, and from time to time, amend and repeal, bylaws, rules, ordinances and regulations for the management of its business and affairs and for the construction, use, maintenance and operation of any of the systems under its management and control;
(r) To employ and terminate staff and other personnel, including attorneys, auditors, engineers and consultants for rendering professional or technical services and advice, as may be necessary to the functioning of the authority;
(s) To establish, fix, charge and enforce the payment of all rates, fees, assessments and any other charges for services furnished by the water system, wastewater system, or both, and other facilities within the control of the authority, as the case may be, and from time to time, to adjust such rates, fees, assessments and any other charges for the purpose of ensuring that the revenues therefrom will be sufficient at all times:(i) To pay the expenses of operating and maintaining the systems and other facilities, including all obligations under any contract or bond resolution with respect thereto;(ii) For the establishment and maintenance of a bond retirement and interest payment fund sufficient to provide for the payment of the principal of and interest on any bonds or other obligations payable therefrom as the same become due and payable, including reasonable reserves for the payment of such principal and interest;(iii) For the establishment and maintenance of a reasonable reserve for future additions, extensions, and improvements to such systems or any combination thereof, as the case may be; and(iv) To comply with all covenants of the authority under the terms of any resolution, trust indenture or other security instrument with respect to its bonds.
(i) To pay the expenses of operating and maintaining the systems and other facilities, including all obligations under any contract or bond resolution with respect thereto;
(ii) For the establishment and maintenance of a bond retirement and interest payment fund sufficient to provide for the payment of the principal of and interest on any bonds or other obligations payable therefrom as the same become due and payable, including reasonable reserves for the payment of such principal and interest;
(iii) For the establishment and maintenance of a reasonable reserve for future additions, extensions, and improvements to such systems or any combination thereof, as the case may be; and
(iv) To comply with all covenants of the authority under the terms of any resolution, trust indenture or other security instrument with respect to its bonds.
Except as otherwise permitted by law, such rates, fees, assessments and other charges shall be equal to those levied on similarly situated customers throughout the authority’s service area. For purposes of Section 77-3-33, the rates charged by the authority shall be just and reasonable if they are adequate to provide safe and reliable water and wastewater service to its customers, including providing an adequate amount of capital for the authority to perform such repairs, upgrades and improvements as it deems necessary on an ongoing basis;
(t) To adopt rules and regulations necessary to accomplish the purposes of the authority and to assure the payment of each participating person or public agency of its proportionate share of the costs for use of any of the systems and facilities of the authority and for the authority’s proportionate share of the costs of the board;
(u) To enter on public or private lands, waters or premises for the purpose of making surveys, borings or soundings, or conducting tests, examinations or inspections for the purposes of the authority, subject to responsibility for any damage done to property entered;
(v) To accept industrial wastewater from within the boundaries of the authority for treatment and to require the pretreatment of the same when, in the opinion of the authority, such pretreatment is necessary;
(w) To control and operate local retail water and wastewater services, and to provide or be responsible for direct servicing of those services to residences, businesses and individuals; however, the authority shall not provide the same services in an area provided by a public utility or person holding a certificate of public convenience and necessity issued by the Mississippi Public Service Commission for the provision of such services in the certificated area;
(x) To assume control and administer, within the authority’s jurisdiction, any water or wastewater system or systems by agreement or contract with any person if the person providing such services requests to be relieved of that responsibility;
(y) To acquire property designated by plan to sufficiently accommodate the location of water or wastewater systems and such requirements related directly thereto pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 27, Title 11, Mississippi Code of 1972. The authority may acquire property necessary for any system and the exercise of the powers, rights and duties conferred upon the authority by this chapter. No person owning the drilling rights or the right to share in production shall be prevented from exploring, developing or producing oil or gas with necessary rights-of-way for ingress and egress, pipelines and other means of transporting such interests on any lands or interest of the authority held or used for the purposes of this chapter, but any such activities shall be subject to reasonable regulations by the board that adequately protect the systems or projects of the authority. This provision shall be in accordance with Mississippi Constitution Article 17A and Section 11-27-30;
(z) To use any legally available funds to acquire, rebuild, operate and maintain any existing water or wastewater systems owned or operated by any person;
(aa) To refuse to receive water or wastewater from any public agency or person, except with regard to municipalities or other areas within the service territory of the systems as of January 1, 2026;
(bb) So long as any indebtedness on the systems of the authority remains outstanding, to require a member public agency, or other person, dispose of all water and wastewater, as the case may be, within the boundaries of the authority through the appropriate treatment system to the extent available, but no public agency shall be precluded from constructing, operating and maintaining its own such system unless provision has been made for full payment, by escrow or otherwise, of the public agency’s proportionate share of the authority’s bonds and other indebtedness outstanding as of the expected date of operation of the public agency’s system, pursuant to the terms of the authority’s bonds or resolution, trust indenture or other security instrument securing such bonds or indebtedness;
(cc) To adopt a seal and a symbol, to hold patents, copyrights, trademarks and service marks, and to enforce its rights with respect thereto;
(dd) To write off revenues deemed uncollectible that were billed to customers prior to November 29, 2022, and, as a regular accounting practice of the authority, to further write off revenues deemed uncollectible after the third year of collection efforts. Nothing herein permits the provision of services without charging applicable rates in effect at the time services are provided and requiring payment of such services; and
(ee) To do all things necessary, convenient or desirable to carry out its purposes and for the exercise of the powers granted in this chapter.
(3) The authority shall:(a) Submit annual reports to the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Speaker of the House of Representatives, State Auditor, Joint Legislative Committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review, the mayor and the governing authorities of any municipality whose citizens are within the authority’s boundaries regarding the water quality and financial conditions of such system or systems. Such report shall contain a schedule of currently planned repairs, upgrades or improvements planned by the authority;(b) Immediately submit to the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Speaker of the House of Representatives, the mayor and the governing authorities of any municipality whose citizens are within the authority’s boundaries any information received from the Mississippi State Department of Health or Department of Environmental Quality or other state or federal regulatory agencies regarding the condition of a transferred eligible municipal system. The authority, in addition to abiding by any other federal or state reporting requirements, must also report such information to the public on its website and to individuals residing within the service area as required by federal or state law;(c) Publish audited annual financial statements, which shall be made available to the public. The annual financial statements shall include disposition of all funds expended by the authority for any purpose. Quarterly financial statements shall be made available to the public by posting on the authority’s website;(d) Adopt by administrative rules and regulations a system of continuous internal audits;(e) Adopt by administrative rules and regulations a code of ethics for officers and employees of the authority to carry out the standards of conduct established by this chapter;(f) Adopt by administrative rules and regulations guidelines for the transfer of property to the city or disposal of property, as the case may be, if the authority is dissolved;(g) The authority shall conduct an independent rate study every two (2) years and develop a report with its findings. If such rate study indicates that a rate increase is necessary in two (2) consecutive reports, the authority shall adopt a rate increase if it has not increased the rate in the prior two (2) years; and(h) The authority shall develop and implement a process for customers to be able to dispute water and wastewater utility bills.
(a) Submit annual reports to the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Speaker of the House of Representatives, State Auditor, Joint Legislative Committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review, the mayor and the governing authorities of any municipality whose citizens are within the authority’s boundaries regarding the water quality and financial conditions of such system or systems. Such report shall contain a schedule of currently planned repairs, upgrades or improvements planned by the authority;
(b) Immediately submit to the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Speaker of the House of Representatives, the mayor and the governing authorities of any municipality whose citizens are within the authority’s boundaries any information received from the Mississippi State Department of Health or Department of Environmental Quality or other state or federal regulatory agencies regarding the condition of a transferred eligible municipal system. The authority, in addition to abiding by any other federal or state reporting requirements, must also report such information to the public on its website and to individuals residing within the service area as required by federal or state law;
(c) Publish audited annual financial statements, which shall be made available to the public. The annual financial statements shall include disposition of all funds expended by the authority for any purpose. Quarterly financial statements shall be made available to the public by posting on the authority’s website;
(d) Adopt by administrative rules and regulations a system of continuous internal audits;
(e) Adopt by administrative rules and regulations a code of ethics for officers and employees of the authority to carry out the standards of conduct established by this chapter;
(f) Adopt by administrative rules and regulations guidelines for the transfer of property to the city or disposal of property, as the case may be, if the authority is dissolved;
(g) The authority shall conduct an independent rate study every two (2) years and develop a report with its findings. If such rate study indicates that a rate increase is necessary in two (2) consecutive reports, the authority shall adopt a rate increase if it has not increased the rate in the prior two (2) years; and
(h) The authority shall develop and implement a process for customers to be able to dispute water and wastewater utility bills.