HB 1779 Summary

• Authorizes the Hinds County Board of Supervisors to create the Hinds County Utility Authority to acquire, construct, operate, and maintain water and wastewater systems within a designated 18-mile corridor and one-mile radius around it.

• Establishes a board of directors composed of representatives appointed by member political subdivisions based on their wastewater flowage, with directors required to have specific engineering or wastewater management qualifications.

• Grants the authority power to issue revenue bonds and special assessment bonds to finance water and wastewater infrastructure, with bonds payable solely from system revenues and not backed by the state's full faith and credit.

• Allows political subdivisions and private providers to contract with the authority for wastewater collection, treatment, and water distribution services, but prohibits direct service to individual residential customers.

• Exempts the authority from Mississippi Public Service Commission regulation and property taxation while allowing it to use eminent domain for property acquisition with approval of the county Board of Supervisors.