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SPONSOR: |
Silva |
DATE TYPED: |
|
HB |
102/aHJC/aHAFC |
||
SHORT TITLE: |
Regional Transit District Act |
SB |
|
||||
|
ANALYST: |
Gilbert |
|||||
APPROPRIATION
Appropriation
Contained |
Estimated
Additional Impact |
Recurring or
Non-Rec |
Fund Affected |
||
FY03 |
FY04 |
FY03 |
FY04 |
|
|
|
|
|
$0.1
See Narrative |
Non-Rec |
General
Fund |
|
|
|
$0.1
See Narrative |
Recurring |
Local
government Funds |
(Parenthesis
( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
Duplicates SB34
LFC Files
Response
Received
State
Highway and Transportation Department (SHTD)
SUMMARY
Synopsis of HAFC Amendment
The House Appropriations and Finance Committee
amendment to House Bill 102 makes the following changes:
q The
$1.9 million appropriation is deleted by striking Section 20 in its entirety.
q Reference to compensation of directors was removed from Section 4 pertaining to creation of districts.
q
A correction is made to page 5, line 23
clarifying those conditions required when adding or deleting parties to the
contract are pursuant to Section 17 vs. Section 18 of the
Regional Transit District Act.
q
Section 5 (board powers) was amended to
remove board authority to institute eminent domain actions.
q
Section 16, which granted districts the
power of eminent domain, was stricken.
q
In Section 5 (board powers) issuance of
bonds was added, thus prohibiting board delegation of this function.
q
In Section 5, language was added stating
that only elected officials shall vote on resolutions regarding ratification of
acquisition of land by negotiated sale and issuance of bonds.
Synopsis of HJC Amendment
The House Judiciary
Committee amendment to House Bill 102 makes a technical correction to Section
8, pertaining to the issuance of bonds. On page 13, line 14 the amendment
strikes “lands” and inserts “bonds”.
On page 17, lines 5
and 6, language is removed that requires regional transit district boards to
obtain specific appropriations from the Legislature prior to paying investment
management fees.
Synopsis of the Original Bill
House Bill 102
appropriates $1.9 million to the
Significant Issues
This bill allows local
governments to establish regional transit districts that are authorized to sell
bonds and identify and generate local matching funds in support of public
transportation. This also provides an
opportunity to leverage federal dollars to provide public transportation services.
Districts may exercise
the power of eminent domain in the manner provided by law for the condemnation
of private property for purposes necessary to carry out the Regional Transit
District Act.
Districts may collect
fees, tolls, rates or charges. State and local law enforcement authorities may
enter into traffic and toll enforcement agreements with districts.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
The appropriation of
$1,900.0 contained in this bill is a non-recurring expense to the general fund.
Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FY 2005 shall
revert to the general fund.
No more than $200.0
may be expended in creating one regional transit district. SHTD may use up to
$75.0 of this appropriation to cover costs associated with implementing this
Act.
The local government
members of a combination district shall match at least one dollar for every
four dollars provided by the state. Before districts can receive state matching
funds, the commission, pursuant to Section 4 of the Regional Transit District
Act, must first certify them.
Districts may issue
bonds for the purpose of financing the purchase, construction, renovation,
equipping or furnishing of a regional transit system project. Districts shall
issue bonds pursuant to resolution of their boards, and the bonds shall be
payable solely out of all or a specified portion of the revenues as designated
by their boards. Proceeds of the bonds may be used to pay expenses incurred in
the preparation, issuance and sale of the lands.
Boards may invest or
deposit funds in accordance with the prudent investor rule and may employ
investment management services to invest such funds. The Act requires Boards to
keep accurate and complete investment records and accounts.
The STHD is charged
with administration of the appropriation included in this Act.
According to the State
Highway and Transportation Department (SHTD), while Section 8(C) allows a
regional transit district to pay expenses of issuing bonds, it does not specify
that those expenses can be paid from bond proceeds (as with STC bonds – see
NMSA 1978, Section 67-3-59.1)
RLG/prr:njw