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"I'll tell you how the sun rose - one ribbon at a time."

-- Emily Dickinson

Slogan: "I Care for Animals"

Fee: $31
Amount to Spay-Neuter:$25

Fund:
Animal Care Fund

Fund Administrator:
Mississippi Board of Animal Health
P.O. BOX 3889
Jackson , Mississippi 39207
Telephone: (601) 359-1160
Fax: (601) 359-1177

Fund Disbursement: Animal Care Fund Regulation

Part of the proceeds from these plates will go into a Pet Overpopulation Fund to help indigent and low-income pet owners sterilize their pets. None of the monies collected may be used for euthanasia.

Mississippi Board of Animal Health: Grant Application Form

Grant Advisory Panel : The panel is comprised of Jackson Friends and other volunteers from various animal shelters located throughout the State who assist Dr. Jim Watson, State Veterinarian and the Board of Animal Health in selecting qualified applicants.

Interested cities, counties and non-profit animal groups may call Mary Jo Brooks at 601-936-3237 for more information.

SEC. 27-19-56.18. Special license tags or plates; "I Care for Animals"

(1) Any owner of a motor vehicle who is a resident of this state, upon payment of the road and bridge privilege taxes, ad valorem taxes and registration fees as prescribed by law for private carriers of passengers, pickup trucks and other noncommercial motor vehicles, and upon payment of an additional fee in the amount provided in subsection (4) of this section, shall be issued a distinctive license tag for each motor vehicle registered in his name, which license tag may depict the silhouettes of a dog and a cat within a heart, and shall be produced in such color and design as the State Tax Commission may prescribe. The words "I Care for Animals" shall be centered at the bottom of the license tag, with a silhouette on each side. The State Tax Commission shall prescribe such letters or numbers, or both, as may be necessary to distinguish each license tag.

(2) Application for the distinctive license tags authorized by this section shall be made to the county tax collector on forms prescribed by the State Tax Commission. The application and the additional fee imposed under subsection (4) of this section, less Two Dollars ($2.00) to be retained by the tax collector, shall be remitted to the State Tax Commission on a monthly basis as prescribed by the commission. The portion of the additional fee retained by the tax collector shall be deposited into the county general fund.

(3) Beginning with any registration year commencing on or after July 1, 2000, any person applying for a distinctive license tag under this section shall pay an additional fee in the amount of Thirty Dollars ($30.00) for each distinctive license tag applied for under this section, which shall be in addition to all other taxes and fees. The additional fee paid shall be for a period of time to run concurrent with the vehicle's established license tag year. The additional fee is due and payable at the time the original application is made for a distinctive license tag under this section and thereafter annually at the time of renewal registration as long as the owner retains the distinctive license tag. If the owner does not wish to retain the distinctive license tag, he must surrender it to the local county tax collector.

(4) The State Tax Commission shall deposit all fees into the State Treasury on the day collected. At the end of each month, the State Tax Commission shall certify the total fees collected under this section to the State Treasurer who shall distribute such collections as follows:

(a) Twenty-five Dollars ($25.00) of each additional fee collected on distinctive license tags issued pursuant to this section shall be deposited into the special fund created in Section 69-15-19.

(b) One Dollar ($1.00) of each additional fee collected on distinctive license tags issued pursuant to this section shall be deposited into the Mississippi Fire Fighter's Memorial Burn Center Fund created pursuant to Section 7-9-70.

(c) Two Dollars ($2.00) of each additional fee collected on distinctive license tags issued pursuant to this section shall be deposited to the credit of the State Highway Fund to be expended solely for the repair, maintenance, construction or reconstruction of highways.

(5) A regular license tag must be properly displayed as required by law until replaced by a distinctive license tag under this section. The regular license tag must be surrendered to the tax collector upon issuance of the distinctive license tag under this section. The tax collector shall issue up to two (2) month and year license decals for each distinctive license tag issued under this section, which will expire the same month and year as the regular license tag.

(6) In the case of loss or theft of a distinctive license tag issued under this section, the owner may make application and affidavit for a replacement distinctive license tag as provided by Section 27-19-37. The fee for a replacement distinctive license tag shall be Ten Dollars ($10.00). The tax collector receiving such application and affidavit shall be entitled to retain and deposit into the county general fund five percent (5%) of the fee for such replacement license tag and the remainder shall be distributed in the same manner as funds from the sale of regular distinctive license tags issued under this section.

SOURCES: Laws, 2000, ch. 536, § 5; Laws, 2001, ch. 596, § 23, SB 2699, eff from and after July 1, 2001.

======================
ANIMAL CARE FUND REGULATION

 Pursuant Miss. Code Ann. 69-15-19 the Mississippi Board of Animal Health is charged with administering those funds collected from the “I Care For Animals” car tag program.  Accordingly, these rules have been developed to implement the Animal Care Fund program. 

1.                  a.  Any person or other entity (hereinafter “Applicant”) desiring to acquire monies from the Animal Care Fund (hereinafter “the Fund”) shall complete and submit an application to the Board of Supervisors of the county, or the governing authority of the municipality, in which the project is to be constructed or conducted (here-inafter referred to as (“local authority”), with a copy to the Mississippi Board of Animal Health (hereinafter “the (“MBAH”).     

b. The application shall require the Applicant to specify the name of the project/activity or event (hereinafter “Project”), on which the funds are to be used and the details of the Project, such as expenses, costs, completion dates, locations of planned activities and other necessary require-ments.  Applications must be submitted at least thirty (30) days prior to a board meeting of the MBAH in order to be placed on the agenda. The MBAH. shall then decide whether or not to recommend that an applicant shall receive a grant from the Fund.   

c. Those Projects requesting monies from the Fund for spay/neutering activities  shall receive priority by the Board over other applications, in its consideration of the distribution of monies from the Fund. 

d.      Applications shall contain a signature of the person authorized by the applicant to execute binding documents.  Also attached to the application for a private applicant shall be a copy of the organization’s articles of incorporation, the IRS tax-exempt determination letter (or documentation of its pending status), a list of officers and directors (with addresses and telephone numbers), and a copy of any reports, newsletters or other information of the organization’s activities. 

e.  The MBAH. shall then advise the local authority of its recommendation.    The MBAH shall then deliver funds to an organization in accordance with the wishes of the local authority.  Under no condition are monies distributed from the Fund to be used for euthanasia activities.  

2.                  a.  There shall be no appeal process for those Projects or organizations which were determined by a local authority to not warrant funding. 

b.       Both the MBAH and the local authority shall provide written notification of their decisions on a project to the applicant. 

3.                  The transfer of Funds through which a Board of Supervisors or Municipality shall donate Fund monies to a private organization shall be limited to only those organizations or groups recognized as legal entities under Mississippi law and approved as a tax exempt organization by the Internal Revenue Service status.   

4.                  The MBAH shall create an Animal Care Fund Advisory Group (hereinafter “the Advisory Group”) comprised of individuals who represent various animal care and volunteer organizations from areas located throughout the state.  The MBAH shall have complete discretion in selecting these individuals and shall make every effort to select said individuals from organizations located at each geographic region of the state of Mississippi.  The purpose of this group is to meet with the State Veterinarian (or designated person) to review the applications and to provide a recommendation to MBAH as to acceptable allocations from the Fund.  Such recommendations shall be advisory only.   

5.                  At no time shall a local authority allocate the entirety of the monies held in the Fund. 

6.                  Within 60 days of completion of a Project, a brief report providing information on the Project’s successes, difficulties and recommendations for improvements, shall be submitted to the MBAH by the grant recipient for inclusion in the Project file. 

7.                  Any approved organization receiving funds through a Board of Supervisors or Municipality, shall retain all records and documentation associated with the awarded Project, for a period of no less than three years.  MBAH shall have the right to audit these records, upon reasonable notice, to verify and certify that all funds were expended as designated by the Project.

As of May 2005 grants in the amount of approximately $50,000 have been awarded.

2005:
Panola County Humane Society, Batesville: $1,000
To be confirmed

2004: To be confirmed

2003: To be confirmed

The program was created by Jackson Friends of the City Animal Shelter to assist animal shelters primarily with spay/neuter programs but also with general projects which benefit homeless animals.

It is being administered by the MS Board of Animal Health with guidance and help from volunteers with Jackson Friends.

An advisory panel comprised of Jackson Friends and other volunteers from various animal shelters located throughout the State assists Dr. Jim Watson, State Veterinarian and the Board of Animal Health in selecting qualified applicants.

Interested cities, counties and non-profit animal groups may call Mary Jo Brooks at 601-936-3237 for more information.