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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Miera

DATE TYPED 1/31/05

HB 131

SHORT TITLE County Assessor and Appraiser Compensation

SB

ANALYST Hadwiger

APPROPRIATION

(in $000s)

Appropriation Contained Estimated Additional Impact Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY05

FY06

FY05

FY06

Indeterminate Recurring County General

Funds

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Taxation and Revenue Department (TRD)

Department of Finance and Administration (DFA)

No comments were received from the Association of Counties at the time this FIR was prepared.

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 131 would require additional compensation for county assessors and county apprais-

ers who achieve specified appraiser certifications. Statute currently allows boards of county

commissioners to provide incentive pay to assessors and appraisers who receive additional com-

pensation: $500 per year for holding an Appraiser 1 certificate, and an additional $1,000 for re-

ceiving Appraiser 2, 3, and 4 certificates. Employees are therefore eligible for a total of $3,500

in increased compensation if they earn all four certificates.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The Department of Finance and Administration (DFA) indicated that HB131 would be adminis-

tered by each individual county. By mandating this additional compensation, county boards of

commissioners will be forced to accommodate the additional compensation in their respective

budgets. Because of budgetary constraints in counties with financial difficulties, the boards of

House Bill 131 -- Page 2

commissioners may have difficulties in providing this additional compensation. County finan-

cial staff must be aware of future potential of compensation to be paid to assessor and staff ob-

taining the appraiser certificates.

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

According to the Taxation and Revenue Department, the Property Tax Division favors the pro-

posed legislation because it would encourage appraisers to attain higher levels of training than

they currently possess. Enhanced appraisal training tends to generate success by counties in

maintaining current and correct property tax values as required by NMSA 1978, Section 7-36-16.

DFA indicated that the New Mexico Association of Counties, Assessors Affiliate is supporting

HB131.

POSSIBLE QUESTIONS

1.

How many and which counties currently pay the additional incentives for county asses-

sors and appraisers.

DH/lg