16th Section land revenues soar

Delbert Hosemann

JACKSON — In just one year, the Secretary of State’s Office reports that 16th Section land revenues have skyrocketed 42 percent and put $22.8 million additional into the hands of Mississippi’s school children.

“These numbers show our new system of posting the leases on the secretary of state’s website, arming our school boards with current financial information and personally reviewing each lease that comes through our office works and has substantially increased the rate of return on our 16th Section lands,” said Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann.

In the 12 months ending June 30, 2007, the total amount of funds generated from 16th Section lands was approximately $54.29 million. In the 12 months ending June 30, 2008, the revenue increased to approximately $77.11 million.

“The largest increase comes in oil and gas royalties,” said Hosemann. “An additional $2-million salt dome lease in Simpson County was not listed in these returns. Further, our preliminary numbers for June 30, 2009, show a large increase of approximately $300,000 per year (56 percent) in hunting and fishing leases.”