Fiscal impact reports (FIRs) are prepared by the Legislative Finance Committee (LFC) for standing finance

committees of the NM Legislature. The LFC does not assume responsibility for the accuracy of these reports

if they are used for other purposes.

Current FIRs (in HTML & Adobe PDF formats) are a vailable on the NM Legislative Website (legis.state.nm.us).

Adobe PDF versions include all attachments, whereas HTML versions may not. Previously issued FIRs and

attachments may be obtained from the LFC in Suite 101 of the State Capitol Building North.

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

SPONSOR Moore

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

2-24-07

HB HJM 59

SHORT TITLE Conchas Lake and Border Property Exchange

SB

ANALYST Woods

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY07

FY08

NFI

NFI

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Response Received From

Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department (EMNRD)

State Land Office (SLO)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Joint Memorial 59 requests that the State Land Commissioner enter into negotiations with

the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) for the exchange of property between the State Land

Office (SLO) and the Corps. Specifically, state land from the border area between the United

States and Mexico would be exchanged for prime real estate at Conchas Lake owned by the

Corps.

There is no appropriation attached to this legislation.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

EMNRD indicates that are no fiscal implications for the department. The State Parks Division

(SPD), however, is presently working with the Corps on a plan to incorporate additional Corps

acreage on the south side of Conchas Lake into the existing lease for Conchas Lake State Park.

If this land is exchanged and the Conchas Lake south side land is owned by the SLO, it is possi-

House Joint Memorial 59 – Page

2

ble that a lease payment by SPD to SLO would be required, which is presently the case in other

situations in which SLO lands are within state parks. Currently there is no lease payment re-

quirement between the SPD and the Corps. Therefore, if SPD is required to lease from SLO, in-

stead of simply having lands incorporated into its existing agreement with the Corps, it will in-

crease recurring costs to SPD but that increased cost is not known.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

SLO states, “The Commissioner is fully willing to enter into such negotiations; however, conver-

sations with the ACE suggest that they are unwilling to dispose of any Conchas Lake property

because they still have a mission there." SLO adds that if the SLO acquired property at Conchas

Lake, it would be held under the Enabling Act mandate to use such property productively for the

benefit of the trust. In order to do so, the SLO could either sell such property to a developer on

the condition that it be developed for public recreational purposes, or could lease it under similar

requirements to manage the lands for public recreational purposes. Further, although the SLO

cannot directly manage recreational property and make the necessary improvements, it can easily

rent or sell the lands to another entity for those purposes.

ENMRD notes that the SPD currently manages the north side of Conchas Lake State Park under

a long-term agreement with the Corps. At one point, additional lands on the south side of Con-

chas Lake were included in the SPD-Corps agreement and were managed by SPD, but the Corps

took these lands back some years ago at their request. Two years ago, however, the Corps ap-

proached SPD with a request that SPD re-assume management of the south side lands, which in-

clude a campground and boat ramp. SPD and the Corps have been in negotiations for the past

two years on a plan for SPD to re-assume management of the south side. This plan includes a

requirement that the Corps upgrade facilities on the south side to SPD’s standards prior to SPD

re-assuming management for these lands. The Corps has completed all preliminary work for fa-

cility construction and is actively seeking appropriations in Congress for constructing new facili-

ties. It is unknown what impact a land exchange with the SLO will have on this plan and any

land improvements that the Corps had planned to make. EMNRD adds that the Corps is required

by Congress to have recreation at Conchas Lake; in that regard the land at south side Conchas is

critical for the Corps to meet its mission and is not considered in excess of their needs.

PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS

EMNRD suggests that if the SLO was to acquire the property at Conchas south side, it is likely

that SPD would be asked to assume an operational role for the recreational component of this

land. This would require SPD and SLO to enter into an agreement for operations. This would

mean that SPD would be operating one park under two operational agreements, one with the

SLO on the south side and one with the Corps on the north side.

AMENDMENTS

EMNRD suggests the following: On page 2, line 9: “. . .prime real estate at Conchas lake, but

not to include areas on the south side of the lake with the campground, boat ramp, and associated

recreational facilities; and

"

BFW/nt