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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T
SPONSOR Taylor
ORIGINAL DATE
LAST UPDATED
1/29/08
2/09/08 HB 502/aHBIC
SHORT TITLE Liquor Tax for Street Inebriates
SB
ANALYST Propst/Francis
REVENUE (dollars in thousands)
Estimated Revenue
Recurring
Fund
FY08
FY09
FY10
or Non-Rec
Affected
(498.0) Recurring General Fund
498.0 Recurring City Government
(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Revenue Decreases)
Duplicates SB164 as amended.
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
LFC Files
Responses Received From
NM Municipal League (NMML)
Department of Finance and Administration (DFA)
New Mexico Corrections Department (NMCD)
SUMMARY
Synopsis of HBIC Amendment
House Business & Industry amendment 502, page 1, line 25, strike “seventy-five thousand
dollars ($75,000)" and insert in lieu thereof “forty-one thousand five hundred dollars ($41,500)"
On page 2, line 2, after “to", strike the remainder of the line, strike all of lines 3 and 4 and strike
line 5 up to the period and insert in lieu thereof “a municipality that is located in a class A county
and that has a population of more than thirty thousand but less than sixty thousand according to
the most recent federal decennial census".
Synopsis of Original Bill
House Bill 502, Relating to Taxation; Providing for a Distribution of Liquor Excise Tax
Revenues to Certain Municipalities for the Treatment of Street Inebriates, would provide a
distribution of $75 thousand per month, or $900 thousand annually, from the net receipts of the
liquor excise tax to municipalities that spent more than $2 million of municipal funds for alcohol
treatment and rehabilitation services for street inebriates for the prior fiscal year.
pg_0002
House Bill 502/aHBIC – Page
2
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
The general fund will bear the cost of the monthly distribution of $41,500 that will now go to
Farmington. The table below shows the current and new distributions:
Current Distribution SB164/CS
FY10 Projection
45,547,692
45,547,692
DFA - Local DWI Grant Program
2,500,000
2,500,000
Alcohol Detoxification and Treatment
Bernalillo
1,700,000
1,700,000
San Juan
300,000
300,000
Santa Fe
300,000
300,000
Rio Arriba
200,000
200,000
Sandoval
150,000
150,000
Socorro
150,000
150,000
DFA - Interlock Devices
300,000
300,000
Counties by Formula
13,302,292
13,302,292
Farmington
498,000
General Fund
26,645,400
26,147,400
SIGNIFICANT ISSUES
Only Farmington in San Juan County fits the definition added by this bill. In 2000, the
municipality had 37,844 people and San Juan is one of four Class A Counties.
The NM Association of Counties reports that the DWI funding for local government was
increased significantly last year (House Bill 266 2007 Session). San Juan County should have
gotten an additional $146 thousand from the new distribution.
DFA (analysis from SB164, a duplicate bill):
The level of alcohol and drug abuse is high in San Juan County and current funds may
not be adequate to address these issues. According to TSB data San Juan ranks in the top
5 for fatal and injury DWI crashes in the state. San Juan County currently receives
funding to address alcohol and drug prevention. This includes over one million dollars
from LDWI fund, $485,000 in special appropriation for a Meth project plus other local,
state and federal funds.
Studies and research indicate (www.alcoholtaxincrease.org) that raising taxes on the sale
of alcohol decreases alcohol consumption especially among youth. This strategy is sup-
ported by research as one of the most effective means to reduce DWI and alcoholism.
New Mexico has not increased the alcohol excise tax rates since 1993. This proposed
change in law could reduce alcohol use in San Juan County.
pg_0003
House Bill 502/aHBIC – Page
3
The City of Farmington recently passed a resolution to support this legislation. The City
took this action in response to public requests for more services to address DWI and
alcohol and drug abuse in the area.
NF/WEP/mt