Mississippi § 69-37-21 - Subsequent referenda; annual report; limitation on assessment of fees.

§ 69-37-21. Subsequent referenda; annual report; limitation on assessment of fees.

If any referendum conducted under this chapter fails to receive the required number of affirmative votes, the bureau, at the request of the corporation, shall be authorized to call other referenda. After the passage of any referendum, the eligible voters may be allowed, by subsequent referenda to be held upon recommendation of the corporation, to vote on whether to continue with the program and/or to modify the assessment fee. However, before any referendum is held proposing any modifications of the assessment, the corporation must submit its recommendation to the commissioner for approval. Upon petition by twenty percent (20%) of all eligible voting cotton growers within the state, the corporation shall be required to conduct a subsequent referendum on the question called in the petition, provided that the corporation is required to hold no more than one (1) petitioned referendum during any given calendar year. All the requirements for an initial referendum must be met in any subsequent referenda. The results of the referendum, along with annual audits of all monies expended on programs affected by the referendum, shall be reported each year to the Lieutenant Governor, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Chairmen of the Senate Agriculture Committee and the House of Representatives Agriculture Committee. It is the intent of the Legislature that the cost of the containment/maintenance phase of the boll weevil eradication program be borne by the producers, and that any subsequent debt incurred by the program be funded by subsidies, loans and grants from the federal government and other sources. No assessment under any subsequent referendum for a containment/maintenance program may exceed Twelve Dollars ($12.00) an acre, and it shall be incumbent upon the Mississippi Boll Weevil Management Corporation to levy only that amount necessary to ensure the financial stability of the eradication program.