Section 65-26-9 - Creation of Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway Bridge Bond Retirement Fund; allocation of amounts on deposit(1) There is hereby created in the State Treasury a special fund to be known as the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway Bridge Bond Retirement Fund. All revenues pledged for the payment of the principal of and interest on the bonds authorized to be issued by this chapter shall be deposited into the bond retirement fund. Expenditures from the bond retirement fund shall be made only in accordance with this section.(2) Subject to the provisions of subsection (3) of this section, amounts on deposit in the bond retirement fund and not immediately required for the making of any payments therefrom shall be invested in interest-bearing certificates of deposit in accordance with the provisions of Section 27-105-33, except interest so earned shall be credited to the bond retirement fund.(3)(a) There is hereby established within the bond retirement fund two (2) separate accounts as follows: (i) the "Tennessee-Tombigbee General Account"; and (ii) the "Tennessee-Tombigbee Principal and Interest Account."(b)(i) All amounts held in the bond retirement fund on April 23, 1986, and all amounts thereafter deposited in the bond retirement fund, shall be credited to the Tennessee-Tombigbee General Account.(ii) Until such time as the transfer of funds from the Tennessee-Tombigbee General Account to the Tennessee-Tombigbee Principal and Interest Account occurs as provided in paragraph (b)(iii) of this subsection, amounts in the general account shall be applied to the following purposes and in the following order of priority: first, to the extent required, to the payment, the principal of, redemption premium, if any, and interest on general obligation bonds; second, to the extent required, to the General Fund of the state to reimburse the state for expenditures in excess of twenty-five percent (25%) of the total costs of the principal and interest on bonds issued under authority of subsection (1) of Section 65-26-15 and for all expenditures for costs of the principal of and interest on bonds issued under authority of subsection (2) of Section 65-26-15; and third, to the extent required, if any, to the bridge construction fund created in Section 65-26-25 to make current payments to meet contractual obligations for bridge construction.(iii) Upon certification of the State Treasurer, filed with and approved by the State Bond Commission, that the amount on deposit in the Tennessee-Tombigbee General Account, together with earnings on investments to accrue to it, is equal to or greater than the aggregate of the entire principal, redemption premium, if any, and interest due and to become due, until the final maturity date or earlier scheduled redemption date thereof, on all general obligation bonds outstanding as of the date of such certification, then the State Treasurer shall transfer from the Tennessee-Tombigbee General Account to the Tennessee-Tombigbee Principal and Interest Account an amount equal to the entire principal, redemption premium, if any, and interest due and to become due, until the final maturity date or scheduled redemption date thereof, on all general obligation bonds outstanding as of the date of such transfer. The State of Mississippi hereby covenants with the holders from time to time of general obligation bonds that amounts deposited in the Tennessee-Tombigbee Principal and Interest Account will be applied solely to the payment of the principal of, redemption premium, if any, and interest on general obligation bonds.(iv) After the date of the transfer from the general account to the principal and interest account contemplated by paragraph (b)(iii) of this subsection, amounts from time to time on deposit in the Tennessee-Tombigbee General Account shall be applied monthly to the following purposes and in the following order of priority: first, to the extent required, to the payment of the principal of, redemption premium, if any, and interest on general obligation bonds issued under this chapter; second, to the extent required, to the General Fund of the state to reimburse the state for expenditures in excess of twenty-five percent (25%) of the total costs of the principal and interest on bonds issued under authority of subsection (1) of Section 65-26-15 and for all expenditures for costs of the principal of and interest on bonds issued under authority of subsection (2) of Section 65-26-15; and third, to the extent required, if any, to the bridge construction fund created in Section 65-26-25 to make current payments to meet contractual obligations for bridge construction.(4) It is the intent of the Legislature that all outstanding general obligation bonds issued under this chapter shall be retired by the State Bond Commission on the earliest scheduled redemption date thereof, provided that there are sufficient funds in the bond retirement fund together with earnings on investments to accrue to it. When the principal of, redemption premium, if any, and interest on all such outstanding general obligation bonds are paid in full, then any amounts remaining in the bond retirement fund, or separate accounts therein, together with earnings on investments to accrue to it, shall be apportioned and paid as follows: (a) Three Million Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($3,500,000.00) of such funds shall be paid into the appropriate fund for use by the Yellow Creek State Inland Port Authority for equipment or facilities necessary to the operation of the port.(b) Three Million Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($3,500,000.00) shall be paid into the State General Fund.(c) Seven Million Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($7,500,000.00) shall be paid to Tishomingo County. Of the Seven Million Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($7,500,000.00), (i) Two Million Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($2,500,000.00) shall be placed by the county in a special trust fund, the principal of which shall remain inviolate and the interest on which shall be expended solely for improvement of elementary and secondary education in Tishomingo County and distributed among the school districts therein based on the net enrollment in each, and (ii) Five Million Dollars ($5,000,000.00) shall be placed in the county general fund and may be expended for general county purposes.(d) The balance of such funds shall be paid to the counties of Alcorn, Chickasaw, Clay, Itawamba, Lee, Lowndes, Monroe, Noxubee, Kemper, Pontotoc, Prentiss and Tishomingo. Such funds shall be paid to such counties in the proportion that each county's contribution to the bridge bond fund bears to the total contribution from all twelve (12) counties; however, no county shall be paid more than Five Million Dollars ($5,000,000.00) under this paragraph (d). Such funds shall be deposited by the county into a special account to be expended solely for economic development purposes. No expenditure of funds from the special account shall be made unless the amount to be expended from the special account is matched by other county funds in an amount equal to fifteen percent (15%) of the special account funds to be expended and until the Mississippi Development Authority, upon application by the board of supervisors, has certified that the proposed expenditure is for economic development purposes and has approved the expenditure for such purposes; provided, however, the fifteen percent (15%) match hereinabove imposed shall not be required when the proposed expenditure for economic development purposes is on land owned or leased by the federal, state, county or municipal government.Laws, 1976, ch. 492, § 5; Laws, 1980, ch. 442, § 2; Laws, 1986, ch. 506, § 4, eff. 4/23/1986.Amended by Laws, 2024, ch. 484, HB 4130,§ 113, eff. 7/1/2024.