(a) “Tax loss” means the exemption from ad valorem taxes allowed homeowners in this article. “Reimbursement of tax loss” means the amount of tax losses to be reimbursed to each taxing unit as determined by Sections 27-33-77 and 27-33-79.

(b) “Taxing unit” means (i) any county, (ii) any special municipal separate school district with or without added territory, (iii) any municipal separate school district with or without added territory, and (iv) any municipality.

(c) “Added territory” means territory or land lying outside of a municipality, added or annexed to and being a part of a municipal separate school district and subject to the tax permitted to be imposed by the district for school purposes as provided by Chapter 57, Title 37, Mississippi Code of 1972.

(d) “Municipality” means a city, town or village which is legally incorporated and which has not been automatically abolished according to the provisions of Sections 21-1-49 and 21-1-51 or by other lawful process, and in which taxes are assessed, levied and collected.

(e) “Depository” means the bank or institution and place officially designated as the depository for funds of a county.

(f) “Apartment” means rooms in an eligible dwelling with space and facilities for sleeping and with space and facilities, or equipment, for preparing and serving meals, which equipment is supplied by the owner or tenant, or both: (1) in a building constructed as a dwelling for two (2) or more families, or (2) in an ordinary dwelling, consisting of three (3) or more rooms, exclusive of a bathroom; in either case rented or leased or available for rent or lease, or occupied by a family group other than the owner. One (1) or two (2) rooms rented and used for housekeeping shall be counted as rented rooms.

(g) “Commission, ” “Tax Commission” or “department” means the Department of Revenue of the State of Mississippi.

(h) “Auditor” means the Auditor of Public Accounts of the State of Mississippi.

(i) “Treasurer” means the Treasurer of the State of Mississippi.

(j) “Officer or officers” includes the county tax assessor, the members of the county board of supervisors, the clerk of the board of supervisors, the chancery clerk, the county tax collector, and the legally authorized deputies of each.

(k) “Eligible” when used in this article, (1) with reference to persons means those persons who are eligible under the terms of this article for homestead exemption, or (2) with reference to property means the real property eligible for exemption as a homestead under the terms of this article as to title, quantity, occupancy, use to which put, and other conditions required by this article, or (3) with reference to title or ownership means title to or ownership of real property as defined in Section 27-33-17.

(l) “He” and other pronouns in the masculine gender embrace a female as well as a male, unless a contrary intention is disclosed by the context.

(m) “Adjoining land, or land actually joined” means two (2) separately described tracts of land having at one or more points a common boundary, or where the corners of the two (2) tracts actually touch, but two (2) tracts connected by an easement or by a narrow strip of land as a right-of-way for ingress and egress shall not be treated as adjoining, or actually joined.

(n) “Supplemental roll” means a list containing the amount of the assessment of all lands and buildings which are all, or a part, of exempt homesteads, and a list of the homeowners to whom a homestead exemption has been allowed by the board for the current year, and showing in strict alphabetical order the names of all applicants to whom the exemption was granted, and in vertical columns the amount of the assessment, the assessed value of the exempted land and buildings, the assessed value of the land and buildings not exempted, the page and line number of the regular land roll where entered, the number of acres exempted, the dollar amount of exemption allowed and such other information as the Department of Revenue may require. The department shall prescribe the form of the supplemental roll and may require such rolls to be prepared and maintained on electronic media. The supplemental roll, as herein defined, is hereby made a legal supplement to and a part of the complete land assessment roll of the county or municipality and shall be subject to all laws relating to assessment rolls and particularly Sections 27-35-117, 27-35-123 and 27-35-125 as far as applicable and not inconsistent with the provisions of this article.

The supplemental roll, when certified by the clerk of the board of supervisors and delivered to the tax collector, shall be his warrant to allow the amount of the tax exemption to each person as a credit on or deduction from the gross amount of the taxes charged to that person on the assessment roll.

(o) “Ad valorem tax” means any tax where the amount levied is based upon or determined by the value of the property subject to the tax.