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

SPONSOR Silva

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

1/26/07

2/6/07 HB 251

SHORT TITLE

Albuquerque Metropolitan Arroyo Flood Control

Authority Outstanding Indebtedness Limit

SB

ANALYST Propst

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY07

FY08

NFI

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Taxation and Revenue Department (TRD)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Present law, Section 72-16-4 of the Arroyo Flood Control Act imposes a $40,000.0 limit on the

amount of bonds that may be issued by the Albuquerque Metropolitan Arroyo Flood Control

Authority (“AMAFCA") without approval of the New Mexico Legislature. HB 251 would

increase this limit to $80,000.0. Section 72-16-44 currently requires voter approval of debt

levies by the Authority and limits the amount of time that any series of bonds may be issued to

forty years.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

According to the Taxation and Revenue Department, provisions of the proposed measure will not

affect property tax recipients (e.g., counties, municipalities, school districts or the State of New

Mexico) other than the AMAFCA. AMAFCA reports that they currently have $28,000.0 in

bonds outstanding, and that they typically retire approximately $6,000.0 in bonds annually, but

issue approximately $10,000.0 annually to fund additional capital projects. Their financial

advisor tells them that, at the current rate of retirement and new construction, they will exceed

their $40,000.0 in bonding capacity by FY 10 or 11.

House Bill 251 – Page

2

The AMAFCA debt service levy is currently .675 mills, or $.675 per $1,000 in net taxable value.

Taxable value of the district is currently approximately $11.248 billion. A .675 mill rate thus

produces revenues totaling approximately $7,537.0. The owner of a house assessed at $200.0

currently pays the Authority approximately $43.65 annually for debt service.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

According to the AMAFCA web site (http://www.amafca.org/):

The Albuquerque Metropolitan Arroyo Flood Control Authority (AMAFCA) was

created in 1963 by the New Mexico Legislature with specific responsibility for flooding

problems in greater Albuquerque. AMAFCA’s purpose is to prevent injury or loss of

life, and to eliminate or minimize property damage. AMAFCA does this by building

and maintaining flood control structures which help alleviate the problem.

An article on the Albuquerque Tribune web site

1

states that AMAFCA operates with a staff of 19

and an operating budget of $2,700.0, “with a tax rate that has regularly fallen for residential

taxpayers in recent years - especially impressive, considering the increasing volumes of water it

handles. Its current residential mill levy of 0.178 is well under the maximum rate of 0.5 mills that

AMAFCA is allowed to charge."

WHAT WILL BE THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT ENACTING THIS BILL

The $40,000.0 bonding limit for AMAFCA would remain.

WEP/mt

1

http://www.abqtrib.com/news/2006/nov/02/vote-2006-tribune-recommends-bonds-amendments-taxe/