HTPWC/HB1266

Page 1

AN ACT

RELATING TO HISTORIC PRESERVATION AS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT;

ENACTING THE MAIN STREET REVOLVING LOAN ACT; CREATING A

REVOLVING LOAN PROGRAM FOR THE RESTORATION, REHABILITATION OR

REPAIR OF ELIGIBLE PROPERTIES; MAKING AN APPROPRIATION.

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

Section 1. SHORT TITLE.--This act may be cited as the

"Main Street Revolving Loan Act".

Section 2. PURPOSE.--The purpose of the Main Street

Revolving Loan Act is to provide owners of eligible properties

with low-cost financial assistance, through the creation of a

self-sustaining revolving loan program, in the restoration,

rehabilitation and repair of those properties if they meet

certain eligibility criteria and would contribute

substantially to the state's economic well-being and to a

sound and proper balance between preservation and development.

Section 3. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Main Street

Revolving Loan Act:

A. "committee" means the main street revolving

loan committee;

B. "division" means the historic preservation

division of the cultural affairs department;

C. "eligible property" means a site, structure,

building or object that is subject to the Main Street Act or

HTPWC/HB1266

Page 2

otherwise found pursuant to rule of the committee to merit

preservation pursuant to the Main Street Revolving Loan Act;

D. "fund" means the main street revolving loan

fund; and

E. "property owner" means the sole owner, joint

owner, owner in partnership or an owner of a leasehold

interest with a term of five years or longer of an eligible

property.

Section 4. MAIN STREET REVOLVING LOAN COMMITTEE--

COMMITTEE AND DIVISION DUTIES.--

A. The "main street revolving loan committee" is

created, consisting of six members as follows:

(1) the director of the division or the

director's designee;

(2) the coordinator of the main street

program under the Main Street Act or the coordinator's

designee;

(3) the chair of the cultural properties

review committee or the chair's designee;

(4) the director of the local government

division of the department of finance and administration or

the director's designee;

(5) a member appointed by the governor with

expertise in small loans; and

(6) the chair of the board of directors of

HTPWC/HB1266

Page 3

friends of New Mexico mainstreet, inc., or the chair's

designee.

B. Public members of the committee shall not be

paid but shall be reimbursed for per diem and mileage pursuant

to the Per Diem and Mileage Act.

C. The committee shall:

(1) elect a chair and such other officers as

it deems necessary;

(2) meet at the call of the chair but no

less than four times per year;

(3) by rule, establish eligibility criteria

for properties and owners, establish procedures to govern the

application outreach and marketing of the loan program and

promulgate such other rules as are necessary to carry out the

provisions of the Main Street Revolving Loan Act; and

(4) after considering the recommendations of

the division, make awards of loans or loan subsidies.

D. The division shall:

(1) review applications for loans and loan

subsidies and make recommendations to the committee;

(2) administer all loans and loan subsidies;

(3) serve as staff to the committee; and

(4) report annually to the governor, the

legislative finance committee and the legislature on loans

made, loan payments received and all other activities

HTPWC/HB1266

Page 4

conducted pursuant to the Main Street Revolving Loan Act.

Section 5. MAIN STREET REVOLVING LOAN FUND.--The "main

street revolving loan fund" is created in the state treasury.

The fund shall consist of appropriations, loan payments,

federal funds received for the purpose of making loans, gifts,

grants, donations and bequests made to the fund. Income from

the fund shall be credited to the fund, and money in the fund

shall not revert or be transferred to any other fund at the

end of a fiscal year. Money in the fund is appropriated to

the committee for the purposes of making revolving loans

pursuant to the provisions of the Main Street Revolving Loan

Act. Expenditures from the fund shall be made on warrant of

the secretary of finance and administration pursuant to

vouchers signed by the director of the division.

Section 6. LOAN PROGRAM--APPLICATIONS--AWARDS.--

A. The division shall administer a program to make

direct loans or loan subsidies and shall contract with one or

more lending institutions for deposits to be used for the

purpose of making or subsidizing loans to property owners for

the restoration, rehabilitation or repair of eligible

properties.

B. The committee shall adopt a procedure for the

priority ranking of applications and projects, both eligible

and ineligible for federal funding assistance, for which loan

or loan subsidy applications have been received by the

HTPWC/HB1266

Page 5

division. The procedure shall be based on factors including

geographic distribution of recipient projects, severity of

deterioration of the eligible property, degree of

architectural and construction detail in the loan application

demonstrating the feasibility of the proposed restoration,

rehabilitation or repair of the eligible property and

availability of other funding for the project. All loans or

loan subsidies from the fund shall be granted pursuant to the

procedure, and the procedure shall be reviewed annually by the

division and the committee.

C. Loans or loan subsidies shall be made by the

committee pursuant to the following criteria:

(1) loans or loan subsidies from the fund

shall be made only to property owners who:

(a) agree to repay the loan and to

maintain the eligible property as restored, rehabilitated or

repaired for the period specified in the loan but not less

than five years;

(b) agree to maintain complete and

proper financial records regarding the eligible property and

to make these available to the division and the committee on

request;

(c) agree to complete the proposed

restoration, rehabilitation or repair work on the eligible

property within twenty-four months from the date of loan

HTPWC/HB1266

Page 6

approval by the committee;

(d) provide sufficient collateral

security interest in the eligible property to the state in

accordance with rules established by the committee;

(e) meet the income eligibility

criteria of the rules established by the committee;

(f) demonstrate to the satisfaction of

the division in accordance with rules established by the

committee that the property owner has been denied a loan by at

least two financial lenders for the same amount, for the same

purpose and subject to the same general conditions as the loan

that the property owner seeks to borrow from the fund;

(g) submit conceptual design and

business plans with respect to the use of the loan proceeds,

prepared with the assistance of the local main street project

organization, the state main street program or other

professionals with experience in architecture, design or

business and financial planning;

(h) agree to all financial and other

commitments, terms and conditions for the loan established by

the division or the committee; and

(i) agree to any restrictions on

assignments of loans from the fund required by the committee

or the division;

(2) a loan shall be made for a period not to

exceed five years with interest on the unpaid balance at a

rate not greater than the yield at the time of loan approval

on United States treasury bills with a maturity of three

hundred sixty-five days plus one-half of one percent. A loan

shall be repaid by the property owner in equal installments

not less often than annually with the first installment due

within one year of the date the loan is issued. If a property

owner transfers ownership of the eligible property with

respect to which a loan is made, all amounts outstanding under

the loan shall become immediately due and payable and the

property owner shall make a final interest payment on the

principal amount due at a rate equal to the interest rate on

the loan plus an additional one percent;

(3) loans shall be made only for eligible

costs. Eligible costs include architectural, design, graphic

design, construction and engineering documents and planning

costs, inspection of work in progress, contracted restoration,

rehabilitation and repair costs and costs necessary to meet

code requirements. Eligible costs do not include costs of

land acquisition, legal costs or fiscal agents' fees; and

(4) loans are not assignable.

D. The division shall deposit in the fund all

receipts from the repayment of loans made pursuant to the Main

Street Revolving Loan Act.

HTPWC/HB 1266

Page 7