Does a Mississippi county have to reimburse the tax collector for unpaid travel expenses from prior years?
Plain-English summary
The Tate County Tax Collector showed up at the Board of Supervisors on December 30, 2019 with travel vouchers for educational conferences he attended in 2017, 2018, and 2019, including some the Board had previously approved and a couple it had not (July 17, 2017 and April 17, 2019). The county's attorney asked the AG: is the Board required to pay, and how does that interact with prior-year fiscal accounting?
The AG's answer has two parts. First, on the merits: a tax collector who attends mandatory educational conferences (the annual conference of the Mississippi Department of Revenue, regional conferences) is entitled to reimbursement under §§ 25-3-41 and 27-3-59. Once the Board has approved the travel budget for the tax collector's office, no further prior approval is needed; the tax collector just has to submit a properly itemized and documented claim. So the merits favor reimbursement.
Second, on the timing: § 19-11-25 says all appropriations lapse at the end of the fiscal year (Mississippi counties close their books on September 30). Claims incurred in prior fiscal years and paid in the current year are charged against the current year's budget. The Board can pay these late claims only if the current fiscal year's budget contains an allocation for them, or if the Board amends the budget to provide for them. If the budget has no room and cannot accommodate the amendment, the claims cannot be paid.
The AG also noted that a failure to pay obligations during the fiscal year in which they were incurred "could be an irregularity," meaning the Board's late processing might draw scrutiny from the State Auditor. But it does not extinguish the entitlement; it just constrains the funding source.
Currency note
This opinion was issued in 2020. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.
Background and statutory framework
Two statutes set the underlying entitlement. Section 25-3-41(2) authorizes 20 cents per mile (with discretion to raise to the state employee rate) for any county officer or employee required to travel in the performance of official duties, after first being authorized. Subsection (4) covers actual expenses for meals, lodging, and other necessary expenses subject to limits set by the Department of Finance and Administration. Section 27-3-59 specifically addresses tax assessors and collectors: the Department of Revenue calls an annual conference, and tax assessors and collectors (or their deputies) are required to attend and participate. The statute sets reimbursement at the § 25-3-41 rate, paid from the county general fund or reappraisal-program proceeds.
The "previously approved" cycle works like this: once the Board approves the office's travel budget, no further prior approval is needed for individual trips. The tax collector submits an itemized, documented claim, and the Board approves and pays. Past AG opinions (Younger 2005, Bailey 1984, Dobbs 1984) line up consistently on this point.
The fiscal-year mechanics live in § 19-11-25:
All appropriations of funds made under the provisions of a budget for a fiscal year shall lapse at the end of such year, and all books shall close September 30. All disbursements and appropriations made on and after October 1 . . . shall be charged against the current budget, and all funds actually received on and after October 1 shall be credited to the current budget.
The Barrett opinion (Oct. 24, 1979) is the leading authority on what that means for late claims: "any lawful claim incurred prior to the commencement of the current fiscal year and paid subsequent to the commencement of the current fiscal year, is to be provided for in the current fiscal year budget." So the entitlement can persist beyond the fiscal year, but the funding has to come from current allocations. If the budget did not anticipate them, an amendment is the path.
The Hatten opinion (Aug. 20, 1980) reinforces the rule: late claims may be paid from current funds if the current budget contains an allocation or could be amended to provide for one.
Common questions
Q: Does the Board have any discretion to refuse mandatory-training travel reimbursement?
A: For mandatory training under § 27-3-59, no. The reimbursement is tied to a statutory duty to attend. The Board's review is limited to verifying the claim is properly itemized and documented, and the conference qualifies.
Q: What about the conferences the Board did not previously approve?
A: The opinion notes the Board had approved attendance for all conferences except July 17, 2017 and April 17, 2019. The same fiscal-year analysis applies to those, but if they are not annual or regional conferences specifically required by § 27-3-59, the Board may have discretion to deny reimbursement.
Q: Can the Board just refuse to amend the budget to avoid paying?
A: That is a fact-specific question the opinion does not directly answer. As a matter of statutory entitlement, the underlying claim does not disappear, but a board acting in good faith on budget priorities may have room. Watch for a State Auditor finding if the refusal looks like a workaround for a clear obligation.
Q: Is there a statute of limitations on these claims?
A: The opinion does not address one. The case-law principles around stale claims against public bodies and laches may apply. Practically, the older the claim, the harder both legally and politically.
Q: What if the budget has no allocation and cannot reasonably be amended?
A: The opinion implies the claim is unpaid until the budget can support it. The tax collector's recourse may be a different path (lawsuit, mandamus, future fiscal year). The opinion does not foreclose those.
What this means for you
For boards of supervisors: Process travel reimbursement claims in the fiscal year they are incurred. If a late claim shows up, walk through three steps: confirm the underlying entitlement, confirm the current budget either contains or can be amended to contain the allocation, then pay. Document each step on the minutes.
For tax assessors and collectors: Submit travel claims promptly and in the fiscal year they are incurred. A claim filed at the very end of the fiscal year (or after) creates the budgetary problem this opinion describes. Itemize and document.
For county business managers: Build in a mid-year and end-year reminder cycle for travel reimbursement deadlines. Section 19-11-25's lapse rule is the key constraint on late claims.
For State Auditor staff: A pattern of late travel claims that bypass the budget cycle is the kind of irregularity § 19-11-25 contemplates. This opinion provides the framework for evaluating whether the Board's handling was lawful.
Citations and references
Statutes:
- Miss. Code Ann. § 25-3-41 (mileage and necessary-expenses reimbursement)
- Miss. Code Ann. § 27-3-59 (annual and regional conferences for tax assessors and collectors)
- Miss. Code Ann. § 19-11-25 (county fiscal year, lapsing of appropriations)
Source
- Landing page: https://attorneygenerallynnfitch.com/divisions/opinions-and-policy/recent-opinions/
- Original PDF: https://attorneygenerallynnfitch.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/J.Lamar_May-13-2020-Travel-Expenses-of-Tax-Collector.pdf
Original opinion text
May 13, 2020
John T. Lamar, Esq.
Attorney for the Tate County Board of Supervisors
214 South Ward Street
Senatobia, Mississippi 38668
Re: Travel Expenses of Tax Collector
Dear Mr. Lamar:
The Office of the Attorney General is in receipt of your request for the issuance of an official opinion.
Question Presented
Is it mandatory or discretionary for the Tate County Board of Supervisors to reimburse the Tate County Tax Collector for expenses incurred by his attendance at educational conferences held in 2017, 2018, and 2019?
Background Facts
On December 30, 2019, the Tate County Tax Collector presented travel vouchers for expenses incurred by his attendance at mandatory educational conferences held in 2017, 2018, and 2019 to the Tate County Board of Supervisors. The Board had previously approved his attendance for all conferences, excluding, however, that held on July 17, 2017 and April 17, 2019.
Brief Response
While the Tax Collector is entitled to reimbursement of his expenses incurred by his attendance at mandatory educational conferences pursuant to Miss. Code Ann. Sections 25-3-41 and 27-3-59, the Board may only approve reimbursement of the late-submitted travel vouchers if the amounts are provided in this fiscal year's budget.
Applicable Law and Discussion
Sections 25-3-41 and 27-3-59 require payment by the Board of Supervisors of expenses resulting from the Tax Collector's attendance of mandatory training or conferences upon the proper presentment for approval and/or reimbursement. MS AG Op., Younger (June 24, 2005); see also, MS AG Op., Bailey (August 14, 1984).
Section 25-3-41 of the Mississippi Code Annotated provides, in pertinent part:
(2) When any officer or employee of any county or municipality, or of any agency, board or commission thereof, after first being duly authorized, is required to travel in the performance of his official duties, the officer or employee shall receive as expenses Twenty Cents (20¢) for each mile actually and necessarily traveled, when the travel is done by a privately owned motor vehicle; provided, however, that the governing authorities of a county or municipality may, in their discretion, authorize an increase in the mileage reimbursement of officers and employees of the county or municipality, or of any agency, board or commission thereof, in an amount not to exceed the mileage reimbursement rate authorized for officers and employees of the State of Mississippi in subsection (1) of this section.
(4) In addition to the foregoing, a public officer or employee shall be reimbursed for other actual expenses such as meals, lodging and other necessary expenses incurred in the course of the travel, subject to limitations placed on meals for intrastate and interstate official travel by the Department of Finance and Administration, provided, that the Legislative Budget Office shall place any limitations for expenditures made on matters under the jurisdiction of the Legislature. . . .
(Emphasis added.)
More specifically, Section 27-3-59 provides, in part, as follows:
It shall be the duty of the Department of Revenue to call an annual conference of the county tax assessors and collectors. . . . It shall be the duty of every county tax assessor and collector to attend and participate in the meeting and if by reason of illness or other unavoidable cause, any tax assessor or collector is unable to attend, he shall require one (1) of his deputies to attend and participate in his place. . . . The Department of Revenue may call regional conferences during the year for the aforesaid purposes and it shall be the duty of the tax assessors and collectors, or deputies, to attend and participate in these regional conferences and each tax assessor and collector, or his deputy, who attends and participates in these regional conferences shall be reimbursed for his expenses in the same manner as those attending the annual conference.
Each tax assessor and collector attending and participating in the annual or regional conferences in person, or by deputy, shall be entitled to receive as expenses for attending the conferences, travel, meals, lodging and other necessary expenses at the rate provided for in Section 25-3-41, which expenses shall be paid from the county general fund or proceeds from the levy imposed for the maintenance of the reappraisal program in such county.
(Emphasis added.)
We have previously opined that, once the board of supervisors has approved the travel budget for the tax assessor's office, no more prior authorization by the board for travel by the tax collector or tax assessor is necessary. However, before receiving reimbursement for any necessary travel, the tax collector must submit to the board of supervisors for approval an itemized and documented claim for travel and expenses actually and necessarily incurred. MS AG Op., Younger; MS AG Op., Dobbs (November 5, 1984). Thus, with regard to the attendance of the tax collector at educational conferences previously approved by the board and/or required by statute, such as the annual meeting of the Mississippi Assessors and Collectors Association, reimbursement is required when proper requests are submitted by the tax collector to the board of supervisors.
However, the Tate County Tax Assessor's claims were presented for reimbursement to the Tate County Board of Supervisors on December 30, 2019. Miss. Code Ann. Section 19-11-25 provides, in part:
All appropriations of funds made under the provisions of a budget for a fiscal year shall lapse at the end of such year, and all books shall close September 30. All disbursements and appropriations made on and after October 1 . . . shall be charged against the current budget, and all funds actually received on and after October 1 shall be credited to the current budget.
This office previously opined that, in accordance with Miss. Code Ann. Section 19-11-25, "any lawful claim incurred prior to the commencement of the current fiscal year and paid subsequent to the commencement of the current fiscal year, is to be provided for in the current fiscal year budget." MS AG Op., Barrett (October 24, 1979).
However, if the 1979-80 budget did contain estimated expenditure items for these obligations, then their payment would not necessarily be unlawful, although the failure to pay for these obligations in full during the fiscal year in which they were incurred could be an irregularity. If such obligations are otherwise lawful and for some reason their payment was not made during the previous fiscal year, such payment could be made from the current year's budget and funds, provided the budget contains an allocation for such obligations or could be amended to provide for such.
Here, the tax collector's claims were incurred in years before the current fiscal year. If these obligations are lawful, payment may be made to the Tate County Tax Collector by the Tate County Board of Supervisors from the current fiscal year's budget and funds, provided the current fiscal year budget contains an allocation for such obligations or could be amended to provide for such. See, MS AG Op., Hatten (August 20, 1980).
If this office may be of any further assistance to you, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Sincerely,
LYNN FITCH, ATTORNEY GENERAL
By: /s/ Avery Mounger Lee
Avery Mounger Lee
Special Assistant Attorney General