Mississippi § 77-5-803 - Authorization of safety incentive program; form of incentive; eligibility for incentives; sources of funding for payment of incentives.

§ 77-5-803. Authorization of safety incentive program; form of incentive; eligibility for incentives; sources of funding for payment of incentives.

A municipal utility as defined in this article may adopt a safety incentive program and may pay safety incentives from the revenues of the municipal utility, but not from tax revenues, subject to the following conditions and limitations: The safety incentive shall be in the form of contingent compensation which shall be established prospectively before the commencement of the time period for which certain safety goals are to be in effect and in such levels and amounts as prescribed under eligibility standards established by the municipal utility. The safety incentives may be in the form of cash, property, merchandise certificates or other forms of award. No tax revenues of the municipality may be used for payment of the safety incentive, and all safety incentives shall be payable only from revenues received from the sale of utility services and matching funds obtained pursuant to paragraph (e) of this section. All employees of the municipal utility shall be eligible to receive safety incentives upon the municipal utility achieving its prescribed goals. The aggregate amount payable from the revenues of the municipal utility in the form of safety incentives shall not exceed the sum of One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) annually per employee; however, this limitation shall be increased in an amount equal to the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index, as established by the United States Department of Labor, with the January, 1995, index to be used as the base month and year for calculating increases. Any safety incentive program adopted by a municipal utility shall be conditioned upon an amount not less than fifty percent (50%) of the aggregate value of safety incentive awards being derived from nonpublic sources such as, without limiting the scope of qualifying, nonpublic sources, private foundations, corporations, nonprofit organizations, insurance companies, associations, cooperatives, and other private sources; however, any matching funds received by grants or awards from any federal agency, as defined in Section 77-5-403(h), may be used for matching purposes. This paragraph (e) shall not apply to a municipal utility located in a city which has a state-supported institution of higher learning within its corporate limits and which is located on the Tennessee-Tombigbee River.