HOUSE BILL 157

54th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2019

INTRODUCED BY

Rebecca Dow

AN ACT

RELATING TO TAXATION; RENAMING THE COUNTY AREA AND COUNTYWIDE EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS AND EMERGENCY MEDICAL AND BEHAVIORAL HEALTH SERVICES TAXES TO THE COUNTY AREA AND COUNTYWIDE EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS AND HEALTH SERVICES TAXES; PROVIDING THAT THE REVENUE FROM THOSE TAXES MAY BE USED FOR THE CONSTRUCTION, IMPROVEMENT, REMODEL OR PURCHASE OF BUILDINGS TO USE AS AN EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS CENTER.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

     SECTION 1. Section 4-62-1 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1992, Chapter 95, Section 1, as amended) is amended to read:

     "4-62-1. REVENUE BONDS--AUTHORITY TO ISSUE--PLEDGE OF REVENUES--LIMITATION ON TIME OF ISSUANCE.--

          A. In addition to any other law authorizing a county to issue revenue bonds, a county may issue revenue bonds pursuant to Chapter 4, Article 62 NMSA 1978 for the purposes specified in this section. The term "pledged revenues", as used in Chapter 4, Article 62 NMSA 1978, means the revenues, net income or net revenues authorized to be pledged to the payment of particular revenue bonds as specifically provided in Subsections B through N of this section.

          B. Gross receipts tax revenue bonds may be issued for one or more of the following purposes:

                (1) constructing, purchasing, furnishing, equipping, rehabilitating, making additions to or making improvements to one or more public buildings or purchasing or improving the ground of the building or buildings;

                (2) acquiring or improving county or public parking lots, structures or facilities;

                (3) purchasing, acquiring or rehabilitating firefighting equipment;

                (4) acquiring, extending, enlarging, bettering, repairing or otherwise improving or maintaining storm sewers and other drainage improvements, sanitary sewers, sewage treatment plants, water utilities or other water, wastewater or related facilities, which may include the acquisition of rights of way and water and water rights;

                (5) reconstructing, resurfacing, maintaining, repairing or otherwise improving existing alleys, streets, roads or bridges or laying off, opening, constructing or otherwise acquiring new alleys, streets, roads or bridges, which may include the acquisition of rights of way;

                (6) purchasing, acquiring, constructing, making additions to, enlarging, bettering, extending or equipping airport facilities, which may include the acquisition of land, easements or rights of way;

                (7) purchasing, otherwise acquiring or clearing land or purchasing, otherwise acquiring or beautifying land for open space;

                (8) acquiring, constructing, purchasing, equipping, furnishing, making additions to, renovating, rehabilitating, beautifying or otherwise improving public parks, public recreational buildings or other public recreational facilities;

                (9) acquiring, constructing, extending, enlarging, bettering, repairing, otherwise improving or maintaining solid waste disposal equipment, equipment for operation and maintenance of sanitary landfills, sanitary landfills or solid waste facilities; and

                (10) acquiring, constructing, extending, bettering, repairing or otherwise improving public transit systems or regional transit systems or facilities.

     A county may pledge irrevocably any or all of the revenue from the first one-eighth increment, the third one-eighth increment and the one-sixteenth increment of the county gross receipts tax and any increment of the county infrastructure gross receipts tax and county capital outlay gross receipts tax for payment of principal and interest due in connection with, and other expenses related to, gross receipts tax revenue bonds for any of the purposes authorized in this section or specific purposes or for any area of county government services. If the revenue from the first one-eighth increment, the third one-eighth increment or the one-sixteenth increment of the county gross receipts tax or any increment of the county infrastructure gross receipts tax or county capital outlay gross receipts tax is pledged for payment of principal and interest as authorized by this subsection, the pledge shall require the revenues received from that increment of the county gross receipts tax or any increment of the county infrastructure gross receipts tax or county capital outlay gross receipts tax to be deposited into a special bond fund for payment of the principal, interest and expenses. At the end of each fiscal year, money remaining in the special bond fund after the annual obligations for the bonds are fully met may be transferred to any other fund of the county.

     Revenues in excess of the annual principal and interest due on gross receipts tax revenue bonds secured by a pledge of gross receipts tax revenue may be accumulated in a debt service reserve account. The governing body of the county may appoint a commercial bank trust department to act as trustee of the proceeds of the tax and to administer the payment of principal of and interest on the bonds.

          C. Fire protection revenue bonds may be issued

for acquiring, extending, enlarging, bettering, repairing, improving, constructing, purchasing, furnishing, equipping or rehabilitating an independent fire district project or facility, including, as applicable, purchasing, otherwise acquiring or improving the ground for the project. A county may pledge irrevocably any or all of the county fire protection excise tax revenue for payment of principal and interest due in connection with, and other expenses related to, fire protection revenue bonds. These bonds may be referred to in Chapter 4, Article 62 NMSA 1978 as "fire protection revenue bonds".

          D. Environmental revenue bonds may be issued for the acquisition and construction of solid waste facilities, water facilities, wastewater facilities, sewer systems and related facilities. A county may pledge irrevocably any or all of the county environmental services gross receipts tax revenue for payment of principal and interest due in connection with, and other expenses related to, environmental revenue bonds. These bonds may be referred to in Chapter 4, Article 62 NMSA 1978 as "environmental revenue bonds".

          E. Gasoline tax revenue bonds may be issued for the acquisition of rights of way for and the construction, reconstruction, resurfacing, maintenance, repair or other improvement of county roads and bridges. A county may pledge irrevocably any or all of the county gasoline tax revenue for payment of principal and interest due in connection with, and other expenses related to, county gasoline tax revenue bonds. These bonds may be referred to in Chapter 4, Article 62 NMSA 1978 as "gasoline tax revenue bonds".

          F. Utility revenue bonds or joint utility revenue bonds may be issued for acquiring, extending, enlarging, bettering, repairing or otherwise improving water facilities, sewer facilities, gas facilities or electric facilities. A county may pledge irrevocably any or all of the net revenues from the operation of the utility or joint utility for which the particular utility or joint utility bonds are issued to the payment of principal and interest due in connection with, and other expenses related to, utility or joint utility revenue bonds. These bonds may be referred to in Chapter 4, Article 62 NMSA 1978 as "utility revenue bonds" or "joint utility revenue bonds".

          G. Project revenue bonds may be issued for acquiring, extending, enlarging, bettering, repairing, improving, constructing, purchasing, furnishing, equipping or rehabilitating any revenue-producing project, including, as applicable, purchasing, otherwise acquiring or improving the ground for the project and acquiring and improving parking lots. The county may pledge irrevocably any or all of the net revenues from the operation of the revenue-producing project for which the particular project revenue bonds are issued to the payment of the interest on and principal of the project revenue bonds. The net revenues of any revenue-producing project shall not be pledged to the project revenue bonds issued for any other revenue-producing project that is clearly unrelated in nature; but nothing in this subsection prevents the pledge to any of the project revenue bonds of the revenues received from existing, future or disconnected facilities and equipment that are related to and that may constitute a part of the particular revenue-producing project. A general determination by the governing body that facilities or equipment is reasonably related to and constitutes a part of a specified revenue-producing project shall be conclusive if set forth in the proceedings authorizing the project revenue bonds. As used in Chapter 4, Article 62 NMSA 1978:

                (1) "project revenue bonds" means the bonds authorized in this subsection; and

                (2) "project revenues" means the net revenues of revenue-producing projects that may be pledged to project revenue bonds pursuant to this subsection.

          H. Fire district revenue bonds may be issued for acquiring, extending, enlarging, bettering, repairing, improving, constructing, purchasing, furnishing, equipping and rehabilitating a fire district project, including, as applicable, purchasing, otherwise acquiring or improving the ground for the project. The county may pledge irrevocably any or all of the revenues received by the fire district from the fire protection fund as provided in the Fire Protection Fund Law and any or all of the revenues provided for the operation of the fire district project for which the particular bonds are issued to the payment of the interest on and principal of the bonds. The revenues of a fire district project shall not be pledged to the bonds issued for a fire district project that clearly is unrelated in its purpose; but nothing in this section prevents the pledge to such bonds of revenues received from existing, future or disconnected facilities and equipment that are related to and that may constitute a part of the particular fire district project. A general determination by the governing body of the county that facilities or equipment is reasonably related to and constitutes a part of a specified fire district project shall be conclusive if set forth in the proceedings authorizing the fire district revenue bonds.

          I. Law enforcement protection revenue bonds may be issued for the repair and purchase of law enforcement apparatus and equipment that meet nationally recognized standards. The county may pledge irrevocably any or all of the revenues received by the county from the law enforcement protection fund distributions pursuant to the Law Enforcement Protection Fund Act to the payment of the interest on and principal of the law enforcement protection revenue bonds.

          J. Hospital emergency gross receipts tax revenue bonds may be issued for acquiring, equipping, remodeling or improving a county hospital or county health facility. A county may pledge irrevocably to the payment of the interest on and principal of the hospital emergency gross receipts tax revenue bonds any or all of the revenues received by the county from a county hospital emergency gross receipts tax imposed pursuant to Section 7-20E-12.1 NMSA 1978 and dedicated to payment of bonds or a loan for acquiring, equipping, remodeling or improving a county hospital or county health facility.

          K. Economic development gross receipts tax revenue bonds may be issued for the purpose of furthering economic development projects as defined in the Local Economic Development Act. A county may pledge irrevocably any or all of the county infrastructure gross receipts tax to the payment of the interest on and principal of the economic development gross receipts tax revenue bonds for the purpose authorized in this subsection.

          L. County education gross receipts tax revenue bonds may be issued for public school or off-campus instruction program capital projects as authorized in Section 7-20E-20 NMSA 1978. A county may pledge irrevocably any or all of the county education gross receipts tax revenue to the payment of interest on and principal of the county education gross receipts tax revenue bonds for the purpose authorized in this section.

          M. County area emergency communications and [emergency medical and behavioral] health services tax revenue bonds and countywide emergency communications and [emergency medical and behavioral] health services tax revenue bonds may be issued for the purpose of constructing, improving, remodeling or purchasing one or more buildings to use as an emergency communications center that has been determined by the local government division of the department of finance and administration to be a consolidated public safety answering point or purchasing emergency communications equipment for an emergency communications center that has been determined by the local government division of the department of finance and administration to be a consolidated public safety answering point if the useful life of the equipment exceeds the term in which the bonds mature. A county may pledge irrevocably any or all of the county area emergency communications and [emergency medical and behavioral] health services tax revenue and the countywide emergency communications and [emergency medical and behavioral] health services tax revenue to the payment of interest on and principal of county area emergency communications and [emergency medical and behavioral] health services tax revenue bonds and countywide emergency communications and [emergency medical and behavioral] health services tax revenue bonds for the purpose authorized in this section.

          N. PILT revenue bonds may be issued by a county to repay all or part of the principal and interest of an outstanding loan owed by the county to the New Mexico finance authority. A county may pledge irrevocably all or part of PILT revenue to the payment of principal of and interest on new loans or preexisting loans provided by the New Mexico finance authority to finance a public project as "public project" is defined in Subsection E of Section 6-21-3 NMSA 1978.

          O. Except for the purpose of refunding previous revenue bond issues, no county may sell revenue bonds payable from pledged revenue after the expiration of two years from the date of the ordinance authorizing the issuance of the bonds or, for bonds to be issued and sold to the New Mexico finance authority as authorized in Subsection C of Section 4-62-4 NMSA 1978, after the expiration of two years from the date of the resolution authorizing the issuance of the bonds. However, any period of time during which a particular revenue bond issue is in litigation shall not be counted in determining the expiration date of that issue.

          P. No bonds may be issued by a county, other than an H class county, a class B county as defined in Section 4-36-8 NMSA 1978 or a class A county as described in Section 4-36-10 NMSA 1978, to acquire, equip, extend, enlarge, better, repair or construct a utility unless the utility is regulated by the public regulation commission pursuant to the Public Utility Act and the issuance of the bonds is approved by the commission. For purposes of Chapter 4, Article 62 NMSA 1978, a "utility" includes a water, wastewater, sewer, gas or electric utility or joint utility serving the public. H class counties shall obtain public regulation commission approvals required by Section 3-23-3 NMSA 1978.

          Q. Any law that imposes or authorizes the imposition of a county gross receipts tax, a county environmental services gross receipts tax, a county fire protection excise tax, a county infrastructure gross receipts tax, the county education gross receipts tax, a county capital outlay gross receipts tax, the gasoline tax, the county hospital emergency gross receipts tax, the countywide emergency communications and [emergency medical and behavioral] health services tax or the county area emergency communications and [emergency medical and behavioral] health services tax, or that affects any of those taxes, shall not be repealed or amended in such a manner as to impair outstanding revenue bonds that are issued pursuant to Chapter 4, Article 62 NMSA 1978 and that may be secured by a pledge of those taxes unless the outstanding revenue bonds have been discharged in full or for which provision has been fully made.

          R. As used in this section:

                (1) "county area emergency communications and [emergency medical and behavioral] health services tax revenue" means the revenue from the county area emergency communications and [emergency medical and behavioral] health services tax transferred pursuant to Section 7-1-6.13 NMSA 1978;

                (2) "county capital outlay gross receipts tax revenue" means the revenue from the county capital outlay gross receipts tax transferred to the county pursuant to Section 7-1-6.13 NMSA 1978;

                (3) "county education gross receipts tax revenue" means the revenue from the county education gross receipts tax transferred to the county pursuant to Section 7-1-6.13 NMSA 1978;

                (4) "county environmental services gross receipts tax revenue" means the revenue from the county environmental services gross receipts tax transferred to the county pursuant to Section 7-1-6.13 NMSA 1978;

                (5) "county fire protection excise tax revenue" means the revenue from the county fire protection excise tax transferred to the county pursuant to Section 7-1-6.13 NMSA 1978;

                (6) "county gross receipts tax revenue" means the revenue attributable to the first one-eighth increment, the third one-eighth increment and the one-sixteenth increment of the county gross receipts tax transferred to the county pursuant to Section 7-1-6.13 NMSA 1978 and any distribution related to the first one-eighth increment made pursuant to Section 7-1-6.16 NMSA 1978;

                (7) "county infrastructure gross receipts tax revenue" means the revenue from the county infrastructure gross receipts tax transferred to the county pursuant to Section 7-1-6.13 NMSA 1978;

                (8) "countywide emergency communications and [emergency medical and behavioral] health services tax revenue" means the revenue from the countywide emergency communications and [emergency medical and behavioral] health services tax transferred to the county pursuant to Section 7-1-6.13 NMSA 1978;

                (9) "gasoline tax revenue" means the revenue from that portion of the gasoline tax distributed to the county pursuant to Sections 7-1-6.9 and 7-1-6.26 NMSA 1978;

                (10) "PILT revenue" means revenue received by the county from the federal government as payments in lieu of taxes; and

                (11) "public building" includes fire stations, police buildings, county or regional jails, county or regional juvenile detention facilities, libraries, museums, auditoriums, convention halls, hospitals, buildings for administrative offices, courthouses and garages for housing, repairing and maintaining county vehicles and equipment.

          S. As used in Chapter 4, Article 62 NMSA 1978,

"bond" means any obligation of a county issued under Chapter 4, Article 62 NMSA 1978, whether designated as a bond, note, loan, warrant, debenture, lease-purchase agreement or other instrument, evidencing an obligation of a county to make payments."

     SECTION 2. Section 7-20E-22 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2002, Chapter 14, Section 1, as amended) is amended to read:

     "7-20E-22. COUNTY EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS AND [EMERGENCY MEDICAL AND BEHAVIORAL] HEALTH SERVICES TAX--AUTHORITY TO IMPOSE COUNTYWIDE OR ONLY IN THE COUNTY AREA--ORDINANCE REQUIREMENTS--USE OF REVENUE--ELECTION.--

          A. The majority of the members of the governing body of an eligible county that does not have in effect a tax imposed pursuant to Subsection B of this section may enact an ordinance imposing an excise tax at a rate not to exceed one-fourth percent of the gross receipts of a person engaging in business in the county for the privilege of engaging in business. The tax imposed by this subsection may be referred to as the "countywide emergency communications and [emergency medical and behavioral] health services tax".

          B. The majority of the members of the governing body of an eligible county that does not have in effect a tax imposed pursuant to Subsection A of this section may enact an ordinance imposing an excise tax at a rate not to exceed one-fourth percent of the gross receipts of a person engaging in business in the county area for the privilege of engaging in business. The tax imposed by this subsection may be referred to as the "county area emergency communications and [emergency medical and behavioral] health services tax".

          C. The taxes authorized in Subsections A and B of this section may be imposed in one or more increments of one-sixteenth percent not to exceed an aggregate rate of one-fourth percent.

          D. The governing body, at the time of enacting an ordinance imposing a rate of tax authorized in Subsection A or B of this section, shall dedicate the revenue to one or more of the following purposes:

                (1) operation of an emergency communications center that has been determined by the local government division of the department of finance and administration to be a consolidated public safety answering point. That operation may include the construction, improvement, remodel or purchase of one or more buildings to use as an emergency communications center or the purchase of emergency communications equipment for the center;

                (2) operation of emergency medical services provided by the county; or

                (3) provision of behavioral health services, including alcohol abuse and substance abuse treatment.

          E. An ordinance imposing any increment of the countywide emergency communications and [emergency medical and behavioral] health services tax or the county area emergency communications and [emergency medical and behavioral] health services tax shall not go into effect until after an election is held and a majority of the voters voting in the election votes in favor of imposing the tax. In the case of an ordinance imposing an increment of the countywide emergency communications and [emergency medical and behavioral] health services tax, the election shall be conducted countywide. In the case of an ordinance imposing the county area emergency communications and [emergency medical and behavioral] health services tax, the election shall be conducted only in the county area. The governing body shall adopt a resolution calling for an election within seventy-five days of the date the ordinance is adopted on the question of imposing the tax. The question may be submitted to the voters as a separate question at a general election or at a special election called for that purpose by the governing body. A special election shall be called, conducted and canvassed in substantially the same manner as provided by law for general elections. In any election held, the ballot shall clearly state the purpose to which the revenue will be dedicated pursuant to Subsection D of this section. If a majority of the voters voting on the question approves the imposition of the countywide emergency communications and [emergency medical and behavioral] health services tax or the county area emergency communications and [emergency medical and behavioral] health services tax, the ordinance shall become effective in accordance with the provisions of the County Local Option Gross Receipts Taxes Act. If the question of imposing the tax fails, the governing body shall not again propose the imposition of any increment of either tax for a period of one year from the date of the election.

          F. For the purposes of this section, "eligible county" means:

                (1) a county that operates or, pursuant to a joint powers agreement, is served by an emergency communications center that has been determined by the local government division of the department of finance and administration to be a consolidated public safety answering point; or

                (2) in the case of a county imposing the tax for the purposes provided in Paragraph (3) of Subsection D of this section, a county that operates or contracts for the operation of a behavioral health services facility providing alcohol abuse, substance abuse and inpatient and outpatient behavioral health treatment."

     SECTION 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.--The effective date of the provisions of this act is July 1, 2019.

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