Fiscal impact
reports (FIRs) are prepared by the Legislative
Finance Committee (LFC) for standing finance committees of the NM Legislature. The
LFC does not assume responsibility for the accuracy of these reports if they
are used for other purposes.
Current FIRs (in HTML & Adobe PDF formats) are available on the
NM Legislative Website (legis.state.nm.us). Adobe PDF versions include all attachments,
whereas HTML versions may not.
Previously issued FIRs and attachments may
also be obtained from the LFC in
|
SPONSOR |
|
DATE TYPED |
|
HB |
568/aHTC |
||
|
SHORT
TITLE |
|
SB |
|
||||
|
|
ANALYST |
|
|||||
APPROPRIATION
|
Appropriation
Contained |
Estimated
Additional Impact |
Recurring or
Non-Rec |
Fund Affected |
||
|
FY04 |
FY05 |
FY04 |
FY05 |
||
|
|
$1,000.0 |
|
|
Non-Recurring |
OSF/State
Land Maintenance Fund |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(Parenthesis
( ) Indicate Revenue Decreases)
LFC Files
Response
Received From
State Land Office (SLO)
No
Response From
Department of Transportation (DOT)
SUMMARY
Synopsis
of HTC Amendment
The House Transportation Committee amendment
extends the time for expenditure from Fiscal Year 2005 to Fiscal Years 2005
through 2007. The unencumbered balance remaining at the end of Fiscal Year 2007
shall revert to the State Land Maintenance Fund and not the General Fund.
Synopsis of Original Bill
House Bill 568 appropriates $1 million from the
uncommitted balances of the advanced coal lease payments in the suspense
account of the State Land Maintenance Fund to the Commissioner of Public Lands
to plan, design and construct an extension of
Significant Issues
SLO has a rule
providing for advance payments by coal companies to prevent the expiration of a
lease. The rule states: "In lieu of the actual production
requirement, expiration of a lease may be prevented by the timely payment of an
advance...equal to the estimated royalty obligation which would be due if one
percent (1%) of the recoverable reserved of the leased land were produced. Payment on or before a lease anniversary date
will act to extend the lease until the next ensuing anniversary date; provided,
however, that the lease shall not be extended for more than 10 years by such
payment.
Several companies have
utilized this advance payment process, including those involved with the Salt
River Project. Now that the Salt River
Project is defunct, those advance lease payments are being moved to the SLO suspense
account and are uncommitted balances that can be used for this specific
appropriation. Balances for the other
projects must be held in suspense pending decisions by the pertinent companies
or the 10 year deadline.
SLO notes this is really
a capital project bill. The length of
time for the appropriation should probably be extended for the same number of
years as other capital projects are extended.
This project was
previously called
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
The appropriation of $1 million contained in
this bill is a non-recurring expense to the uncommitted balances of the
advanced coal lease payments in the suspense account of the State Land
Maintenance Fund. Any unexpended or
unencumbered balance remaining at the end of Fiscal Year 2005 shall revert to
the General Fund.
The Legislature
appropriated $1.6 million in State Land Maintenance Fund last year for this project. The project has already received the
following funding:
University Boulevard
Extension to
SLO $1,600.0
DOT $ 417.0 Severance
Tax Bonds
DOT $1,700.0 General Fund
GRIP $6,000.0 Highway
Bonds
TOTAL $9,717.0
The Commissioner was
informed by the developer, Forest City Covington, that an additional $3-4
million would be needed to complete the project. The Commissioner agreed to allow a request
for an appropriation from these uncommitted balances up to the $1 million to be
used so that the Mesa del Sol project could continue.
TECHNICAL ISSUES
SLO states this money
cannot revert to the General Fund; it must revert to the State Land Maintenance
Fund.
DW/yr:lg