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

SPONSOR Nava

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

2-10-06

HB

SHORT TITLE Santa Teresa Land Sale

SJR 9/aSRC

ANALYST Hadwiger

ESTIMATED ADDITIONAL OPERATING BUDGET IMPACT (dollars in thousands)

FY06

FY07

FY08 3 Year

Total Cost

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

Total

NFI

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Department of Finance and Administration (DFA)

New Mexico Border Authority/General Services Department/Department of Transportation

Tourism Department

SUMMARY

Synopsis of SRC Amendment

The Senate Rules Committee amendment to Senate Joint Resolution 9 corrects a spelling error

and provides that the owner of the property with the lower appraised value (whether the state or

private owner) will pay the difference to the owner of the property with the higher appraised

value.

Synopsis of Original Bill

The original version of Senate Joint Resolution 9 would authorize the trade of 12.527 acres of

state-owned land currently used as a state port of entry in Dona Ana County for about 18.85

acres of private land adjacent to the federal port of entry facility. The trade would be contingent

upon Dona Ana County transferring title to the Property Control Division of the General Ser-

vices Department (GSD) of the portion (about 1.19 acres) of Cattlemen’s Drive that intersects

the proposed port of entry site. Both parcels would be appraised by one appraiser approved by

GSD, the private property owner, and the Taxation and Revenue Department (TRD) and the ap-

praisal validated by TRD. If the appraised value of the state property is higher, the private owner

would compensate the state for the difference.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

By locating the new permanent state port-of-entry directly adjacent to the federal port-of-entry, it

Senate Joint Resolution 9/aSRC – Page 2

is likely that permit and fee collections will increase as some commercial vehicles have been

avoiding the state port-of-entry due to its separation from the federal port-of-entry. Additional

fee revenues, however, would likely be offset by additional costs to conduct more inspections

and costs to operate a larger permanent port-of-entry building.

Senate Joint Resolution 9 requires both the currently owned state land and the privately owned

parcel to be appraised, and if the value of the state land exceeds the value of the privately owned

land, the private land owner will be required to pay to the state the difference in the appraised

value of the land.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

Joint comments provided by GSD, DOT and the Border Authority provided the following back-

ground:

A temporary commercial vehicle inspection facility was placed on this state-owned parcel in

2000, operated by the Department of Public Safety. Funds are now available to build a perma-

nent commercial inspection facility. The proposal to relocate the facility reflects several consid-

erations, including the need for more operational space and proximity to the federal border cross-

ing, which will help assure that all commercial vehicles are properly inspected before entering

New Mexico and will enhance border security as well. The existing state site cannot provide this

security and control because Booth Road, which connects the federal facility and the current

state site, intersects with Cattlemen’s Drive allowing trucks to bypass the state inspection facil-

ity. A second intersection is planned in 2006 which would exacerbate the problem. Because the

new site is contiguous with the federal border crossing, it will provide controlled access and

eliminate the possibility for trucks to avoid state vehicle inspection. Inspection of commercial

vehicles entering the United States from Mexico is a North American Free Trade Agreement

(NAFTA) requirement. As port and area activities increase, continued use of the existing site

would become more insecure and inefficient.

PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS

GSD et.al. indicated relocation of the state border facility will expedite the inspection process

and, thereby, make the Santa Teresa port more competitive with regional Texas ports.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

The commenting agencies did not anticipate significant administrative burdens from passage of

this resolution; however, a more active facility would likely need additional operating support.

TECHNICAL ISSUES

With regard to the original version of this bill, the Tourism Department was concerned that the

bill did not provide for the possibility that the property to be acquired is appraised at a higher

amount than the state parcel and the state be asked to pay the difference. The SRC amendment

addresses concern.

DH/mt