44TH LEGISLATURE - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - FIRST SESSION, 1999

RELATING TO SPECIAL DISTRICTS; PROVIDING NOTICE TO THE NEW MEXICO FINANCE AUTHORITY OF AN EXTENSION OF A DISTRICT ASSESSMENT.

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

Section 1. Section 73-20-46 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1965, Chapter 137, Section 20, as amended by Laws 1989, Chapter 21, Section 1 and also by Laws 1989, Chapter 273, Section 1) is amended to read:

"73-20-46. DISTRICT ASSESSMENTS.--

A. In the event a district is unable to meet or bear the expense of the duties imposed upon it by the Soil and Water Conservation District Act, the supervisors may adopt a resolution which, to be effective, [must] shall be approved by referendum in the district and which shall provide for an annual levy for a stated period of up to ten years in a stated amount not exceeding one dollar ($1.00), or any lower maximum amount required by operation of the rate limitation provisions of Section 7-37-7.1 NMSA 1978 upon the assessment authorized by this section, on each one thousand dollars ($1,000) of net taxable value, as that term is defined in the Property Tax Code, of real property within the district, except that real property within incorporated cities and towns in the district may be excluded. The referendum held to approve or reject the resolution of the supervisors shall be conducted with appropriate ballot and in substantially the same manner as a referendum adopting and approving the creation of a proposed district. After the initial authorization is approved by referendum, the supervisors shall adopt a resolution in each following year authorizing the levy. To extend an assessment beyond the period of time originally authorized and approved by referendum, the supervisors shall adopt a new resolution and the district voters [must] shall approve it in a referendum. The extension shall be for the same period of time as originally approved, but the rate of the tax may be different as long as it does not exceed one dollar ($1.00) on each one thousand dollars ($1,000) of net taxable value of real property within the district, except that real property within incorporated municipalities in the district may be excluded. If the district is indebted to the United States or the state or any of their respective agencies or instrumentalities, including the New Mexico finance authority, at the time of the expiration of the original authorization, the supervisors may renew the assessment by resolution for a period not to exceed the maturity date of the indebtedness, and no referendum for that renewal is necessary.

B. No resolution authorized under Subsection A of this section shall be effective, and neither a referendum nor a levy is authorized, unless the resolution is submitted to and approved in writing by the [soil and water conservation] commission [created under Section 73-20-28 NMSA l978].

C. In the event a resolution of the supervisors is adopted and approved in accordance with the provisions of Subsection A of this section, the supervisors of the district shall certify by the fifteenth of July of each year to the county assessor of each county in which there is situate land subject to the district assessment:

(1) a copy of the resolution of the district supervisors;

(2) the results of any referendum held in the year the certification is made; and

(3) a list of landowners of the district and a description of the land owned by each which is subject to assessment.

D. A county assessor shall indicate the information on the tax schedules, shall compute the assessment and shall present the district assessment by regular tax bill.

E. The district assessment shall be collected by the county treasurer of each county in which taxable district land is situate in the same manner and at the same time that county ad valorem taxes are levied. The conditions, penalties and rates of interest applicable to county ad valorem taxation apply to the levy and collection of district assessments. A county treasurer shall be entitled to a collection fee equal to the actual costs of collection or four percent of the money collected from the levy of the district assessment, whichever is the lesser.

F. District assessment funds shall be transferred to and held by the district supervisors and shall be expended for district obligations and functions. All district funds shall be expended in accordance with budgets approved by the commission and by the local government division of the department of finance and administration.

G. In the event the supervisors of a district determine that there are or will be sufficient funds available for the operation of the district for any year for which an assessment is to be levied, they shall, by resolution, direct the assessor of each county in which taxable district land is situate, by July 15 of each year, to decrease the district assessment or to delete the district assessment reflected on the tax schedules.

H. Any levy authorized by the Soil and Water Conservation District Act and any loan or other indebtedness authorized by that act which will require a levy shall be based exclusively on or levied exclusively on the real property in the district, except that real property within incorporated cities and towns may be [included] excluded. Owners of nonagricultural land may petition the district board of supervisors to delete their real property from the tax schedules, insofar as the district assessment is concerned; provided that these lands will not benefit from the operation of the district or the project for which the loan or levy is to be made."