AN ACT

RELATING TO SPECIAL DISTRICTS; EXPANDING AREA OF ELIGIBILITY FOR CREATION OF WATER AND SANITATION DISTRICTS TO INCLUDE ALL COUNTIES.

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

Section 1. Section 73-21-4 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1943, Chapter 80, Section 3, as amended) is amended to read:

"73-21-4. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Water and Sanitation District Act:

A. "sewage disposal" includes all constructions for collection, transportation, pumping, treatment and final disposition of sewage;

B. "district" means a water and sanitation district that is established pursuant to that act and that is either entirely within or partly within and partly without one or more counties, provided those parts or parcels of the district lying in two or more counties are contiguous with one another, and further provided, a district created pursuant to a petition signed by the board of county commissioners of a county shall be entirely within that county;

C. "board" means the board of directors of a district;

D. "taxpaying elector of a district" means a person, qualified to vote at general elections in the state, who either has paid or incurred a general tax liability on real property within the district in the twelve months immediately preceding a designated time or event or who is purchasing real property within the district under a real estate contract where a property tax has been paid or incurred on the real property in the twelve months immediately preceding a designated time or event; and

E. "publication" means once a week for three consecutive weeks in at least one newspaper of general circulation in the county in which all or the major portion of the district is located. It is not necessary that publication be made on the same day of the week in each of the three weeks, but not less than fourteen days, excluding the day of first publication, shall intervene between the first publication and the last publication, and publication shall be complete on the date of the last publication."

HB 235

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