AGO 000003264.

• Court: Mississippi

Mississippi Attorney General Opinions 1981. AGO 000003264. September 31, 1981DOCN 000003264 DOCK 1981-739 AUTH S. E. Birdsong, Jr. DATE 19810931 RQNM Honorable John H. McWilliams SUBJ Municipal Contracts & Purchases SBCD 140 TEXT Honorable John H. McWilliams Townsend, McWilliams & Holladay Attorneys for the City of Drew Post Office Box 288 Drew, Mississippi 38737Re: Municipal Contracts and PurchasesDear Mr. McWilliams: Attorney General Bill Allain has received your letter and has assigned it to me for research and reply. Your letter states in part: "... The members of the Board of Aldermen of the City of Drew have directed me to request your opinion on two (2) matters which they now have under consideration. The City of Drew is a Code Charter Municipality. "The first problem stems from the fact that the City of Drew is considering purchasing a machine to be used to clean sewers. Some of our aldermen feel that the most wise expenditure of our funds would be through a lease of the machine with an option to purchase at the end of the lease term. I am uncertain as to whether or not our board is authorized to enter such a lease purchase contract, and I note that under Section 31-7-13 of our code, in subparagraph f, this power is given to the board of trustees of the hospital, but I do not see any authority for the same power to be exercised by the municipal authorities of the code charter. You ask two questions which are set out below, together with your responses. Question: "Would it be legal for the City of Drew to enter a lease purchase contract for such a machine, under the terms of which we would pay a certain amount each month as a rental payment, with a preset figure to be paid at the end of the lease term in order to actually purchase the machine. If you feel that this is legal, do you think that we have to advertise for bids on such a lease purchase contract?" Response: In addition to the authority for municipal purchases found in Chapter 7 of Title 31 of the Code, there is authority in Chapter 17 of Title 21, a section of which provides in part: " 21-17-1. General grant of powers. Every municipality of this state shall be a municipal corporation and shall have power to sue and be sued; to purchase and hold real estate, either within or without the corporate limits, for all proper municipal purposes...