HOUSE BILL 979

47th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2005

INTRODUCED BY

Daniel P. Silva

AN ACT

RELATING TO TRANSPORTATION; CREATING THE LOCAL TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE FUND WITHIN THE NEW MEXICO FINANCE AUTHORITY; PROVIDING FOR MATCHING GRANTS AND OTHER FUNDING SUPPORT TO QUALIFIED ENTITIES FOR LOCAL TRANSPORTATION PROJECTS; MAKING AN APPROPRIATION.

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

     Section 1. A new Section 6-21-6.8 NMSA 1978 is enacted to read:

     "6-21-6.8. [NEW MATERIAL] LOCAL TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE FUND--CREATION--PURPOSE--ADMINISTRATION.--

          A. The "local transportation infrastructure fund" is created within the authority. For the purposes of this section, "fund" means the local transportation infrastructure fund. The fund shall be administered by the authority as a separate account, but may consist of subaccounts if the authority deems them necessary to carry out the purposes of the fund. The authority shall adopt rules in accordance with the New Mexico Finance Authority Act necessary to administer the fund.

          B. The following shall be deposited directly into the fund:

                (1) no more than one-half of the fee received by the authority in issuing state transportation bonds pursuant to Sections 67-3-59.3 and 67-3-59.4 NMSA 1978;

                (2) money from the payment of principal and interest on loans and payments of principal and interest on securities held by the authority for local transportation projects;

                (3) money appropriated by the legislature to implement the provisions of this section; and

                (4) other public or private money appropriated, dedicated or allocated to the fund for the purpose of financing local transportation projects.

          C. For the purposes of this section, "local transportation projects" means local transportation projects of qualified entities submitted to the authority by the secretary of transportation as provided in Subsection F of this section. The authority may provide grants or other funding support to qualified entities' local transportation projects pursuant to this section without the specific authorization by law for each project otherwise required by the New Mexico Finance Authority Act.

          D. Except as otherwise provided in the New Mexico Finance Authority Act, money in the fund is appropriated to the authority to pay the reasonable and necessary costs of originating and servicing loans, grants or securities funded by the fund and to make loans or grants and to purchase or sell securities to assist qualified entities in financing local transportation projects in accordance with the New Mexico Finance Authority Act.

          E. The authority may make grants from the fund to qualified entities for local transportation projects when:

                (1) a grant is not more than twenty-five percent of the total project cost; and

                (2) a qualified entity demonstrates pursuant to a rule promulgated by the authority that it has available or a binding commitment from another person to make available for a project the portion of the total project cost not provided by the grant. The qualified entity may enter into a loan agreement or an agreement to purchase the qualified entity's securities with the authority, or the qualified entity may use another source of money available for the project, to provide the costs not covered by the grant.

          F. Each March, the secretary of transportation, using the department of transportation's metropolitan planning organization and regional planning organization planning process, shall submit a prioritized list of local transportation projects to the authority that the metropolitan planning organizations and regional planning organizations have determined are appropriate for grants or other funding support pursuant to this section. The authority shall act on local transportation projects in the priority presented by the secretary of transportation; provided that the authority, based on the availability of money in the fund, may determine that a qualified entity shall receive a grant or other funding support for a project out of the order of priority it would otherwise have had or that no grant or other funding support be provided for the project. The authority may promulgate a rule setting a maximum amount of grant or other funding support for a local transportation project."

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