SENATE BILL 78

46th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2004

INTRODUCED BY

Sue Wilson Beffort

FOR THE WATER AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMITTEE

AN ACT

RELATING TO TAXATION; ENACTING A NEW SECTION OF THE GROSS RECEIPTS AND COMPENSATING TAX ACT; PROVIDING A TAX CREDIT FOR IMPAIRED WATER TREATMENT ASSISTANCE BY NATIONAL LABORATORIES.

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

     Section 1. A new section of the Gross Receipts and Compensating Tax Act is enacted to read:

     "[NEW MATERIAL] TAX CREDIT AGAINST GROSS RECEIPTS TAXES--RATE--AGGREGATE LIMIT.--

          A. After July 1, 2004, a tax credit in an amount equal to the qualified expenditures made to provide impaired water treatment assistance by a national laboratory may be claimed against the amounts owed and paid pursuant to the Gross Receipts and Compensating Tax Act in the prior calendar year. The expenditures for impaired water treatment assistance shall be provided on each month's gross receipts and compensating tax return filed by the national laboratory. The tax credit is to encourage a national laboratory to partner with New Mexico entities and to leverage federal funding and national laboratory expertise to assist water providers, managers and users in New Mexico in developing and implementing new technologies to create new water resources through the treatment of impaired waters. Qualified expenditures: 

                (1) shall be rendered to a partner responsible for water located in New Mexico that certifies to the national laboratory that the impaired water treatment assistance provided is not otherwise available at a reasonable cost through private industry;

                (2) shall be made prior to the application for the tax credit;

                (3) shall be limited to twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) per partner per calendar year for technical assistance that may include information sharing, analysis, laboratory testing and educational outreach;

                (4) shall be limited to seventy-five thousand dollars ($75,000) per partner per calendar year for technology development and demonstration that may include field testing, modeling, engineering analysis and design to facilitate maturation and demonstration of emerging technologies with high potential for treatment and use of impaired water;

                (5) shall not exceed two million dollars ($2,000,000) in the total aggregate per calendar year; and

                (6) may include employee salaries and wages, fringe benefits and employer payroll taxes; administrative costs that shall not total more than seventy-five percent of the total qualified expenditures; in-state travel expenses and per diem and mileage at the internal revenue service standard rates; and supplies and services of contractors to the provision of impaired water treatment assistance.

          B. A national laboratory that receives a tax credit pursuant to this section shall, within thirty days of each calendar quarter, submit to the department a report that contains:

                (1) the name and address, including the county, of each partner assisted during the calendar quarter;

                (2) certification from the partner that the same service was not available for a reasonable cost from private industry and documentation by the national laboratory that it exerted due diligence to determine that such assistance was not otherwise available;

                (3) the qualified expenditures attributed to each partner;

                (4) a description of the impaired water treatment assistance provided or received; and

                (5) the name of the provider of the impaired water treatment assistance to the partner.

          C. A national laboratory that receives a tax credit pursuant to this section shall produce by June 30 of each year and present to the department an annual report that:

                (1) the summarizes the results from the quarterly reports;

                (2) identifies the number of projects initiated, continuing and completed for the year;

                (3) provides an assessment of the benefits derived by the state or local governments or communities due to the assistance provided; and

                (4) summarizes the total expenditures and the amount of tax credit claimed for the calendar year covered in the report.

          D. As used in this section:

                (1) "contractor" means an individual or legal entity, or a unit, subdivision or agency of the state or of the federal or a tribal government that enters into a contract with a national laboratory to support the laboratory in providing assistance in resolving water issues;

                (2) "impaired water" means water containing constituents or contaminants that make it unsuitable for common use, including heavy metals, toxic or hazardous chemicals or potentially toxic or hazardous chemicals, elevated levels of salts or sediments or other waters requiring treatment for common agricultural, industrial, commercial, residential, recreational or potable use;

                (3) "impaired water treatment assistance" means all activities entered into to provide impaired water treatment assistance to develop and test new technologies for the treatment of impaired water to partners by a national laboratory or its contractors;

                (4) "national laboratory" means a prime contractor designated as a national laboratory by act of congress that is operating a taxable entity in New Mexico; and

                (5) "partner" means an individual or a legal entity, or a unit, subdivision or agency of the state or of a tribal government that is located in New Mexico and that uses, provides, administers or impacts water resources in the state."

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