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

SPONSOR M.P. Garcia

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

1/21/08

HB 11

SHORT TITLE South Valley Incorporation Census

SB

ANALYST Haug

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY08

FY09

$50.0 Non-Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Higher Education Department (HED)

Department of Information Technology (DoIT)

No Response

University of New Mexico (UNM)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 11 appropriates

$50.0

from the general fund to the Board of Regents of the University

of New Mexico for the Bureau of Business and Economic Research of the Institute for Applied

Research Services to conduct an incorporation census of the south valley incorporation area in

the unincorporated areas of Bernalillo county using a set of methodologies specified in the bill.

These methodologies include gap analysis, historical census data, orthophotography, global

positioning software for street address canvassing, field research as well as other relevant

methodologies.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of

$50.0

contained in this bill is a non-recurring expense to the general fund.

Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of fiscal year 2010 shall revert

to the general fund.

House Bill 11 – Page

2

The HED states that this funding request was not submitted by UNM to the New Mexico Higher

Education Department for review and is not included in the Department's funding

recommendation for FY09.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

According to the HED, the Bureau of Business and Economic Research (BBER) indicates that

monies from HB11 would be used to augment techniques for conducting censuses. Currently

BBER works primarily with administrative databases and walk-through or door-to-door data

gathering. Additional funds would allow BBER to use orthophotography more extensively then

the current budget permits. (Orthophotography is digital imagery in which distortion from the

camera angle and topography have been removed, thus equalizing the distances represented on

the image.) Further, the additional funding would enable BBER to determine population

numbers for the unincorporated areas within Bernalillo county, whereas current budget and time

constraints have only allowed BBER to determine the nature of the geography of the area.

The DoIT states that the census described in this bill will continue necessary study meant to

determine if an incorporated municipality in the South Valley is sustainable and better provide

public needs, including infrastructure, economic development, and health and human services.

Currently, BBER is performing a financial feasibility analysis (gross receipts tax base and

property tax estimates etc.). (2007 SB611 appropriation included estimation on revenue sources.)

The FY09 appropriation would provide for a “census" in the South valley area. BBER would

update and supplement administrative information with data from aerial photography and drive

through estimates to identify areas with new housing areas, and include data from Vital Statistics

and MVD data. A census is a requirement prior to incorporation. BBER conducted a similar

census update for Peralta recently.

GH/bb