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).

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

SPONSOR Rawson

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

1-27-2008

2/5/08 HB

SHORT TITLE Veterans Museum Act

SB 349/aSPAC

ANALYST Dearing

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY08

FY09

NFI

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

ESTIMATED ADDITIONAL OPERATING BUDGET IMPACT (dollars in thousands)

FY08

FY09

FY10 *3 Year

Total Cost

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

Total

$.01

$.01 Recurring General

Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Relates to HB313, SB247

Duplicates HB243

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Cultural Affairs Department (DCA)

Veterans’ Services Department (VSD)

Higher Education Department (HED)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of SPAC Amendments

Senate Public Affairs Committee amends Senate Bill 349 such that the appropriation is stricken

from the bill.

Senate Bill 349/aSPAC – Page

2

Synopsis of Original Bill

Senate Bill 349 appropriates $250 thousand from the general fund to Cultural Affairs department

for the purpose of establishing a Veterans’ Museum division and board of directors within the

agency.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $250 thousand contained in Senate Bill 349 is a recurring expense to the

general fund. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FY09 shall

revert to the general fund.

Senate Bill 349 creates a Veterans Museum Division within the Department of Cultural Affairs.

It creates the New Mexico Veterans Museum, located in Las Cruces. It creates a Veterans

Museum Board of Directors, consisting of thirteen members, ten of whom would be appointed

by the Governor, and three of whom would be ex-officio. The bill assigns duties and powers to

the Board. The bill creates a museum director position with certain qualifications, and assigns

duties to the director. The bill appropriates $250.0 from the General Fund to the DCA during

FY09 for purposes of carrying out the act.

According to the department, the recurring appropriation would be utilized as follows:

Museum Director salary and benefits: $125.0

Administrative Assistant salary and benefits: $ 40.0

Basic Operating Costs: $ 10.0

IT equipment: $ 10.0

Board Meeting Costs (13 members @ 4 mtgs): $ 15.0

Master plan Development: $ 50.0

$250.0

The establishment of an additional museum within the Cultural Affairs department system will

increase annual operating costs independent of any capital costs associated with construction.

This fiscal impact report does not estimate construction and other capital (land) costs.

1

The

department response roughly estimates design/build costs of $10-12 million. The additional

operating costs could be estimated using the average costs of other museums in this system as

proxy for recurring operating costs for a new museum.

*Additional annual operating costs for the proposed veterans’ museum in Senate Bill 349 are

unknown. Other museums within the Cultural Affairs department system have a range of annual

operating costs from a low of $1.7 million to a high of $2.8 million with an average of $2.2

million.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

While recognizing the economic value of museums at the local level, LFC staff remains

concerned over the department’s ability to address deferred maintenance and the funds needed to

1

$1.2 million in capital outlay funds were appropriated to the City of Las Cruces for this new museum during the 2007 Legislative Session.

Senate Bill 349/aSPAC – Page

3

restore or enhance extremely valuable existing collections and exhibits. National data shows

significant returns to the state’s appropriations with increased attendance when facilities and

exhibits are properly maintained and rotated.

The LFC remains concerned with the department’s ability to cover additional operating

expenses, both when new state-owned facilities are brought on line as well as operating

commitments to private and local government facilities. In many instances, acceptances of

additional facilities incur additional operating costs to the department, placing strain on the

facilities maintenance budget the department receives to address the buildings’ conditions.

Because the DCA properties are not under the jurisdiction of the Property Control Division of

the General Services Department, the DCA is responsible for maintenance and renovation of its

own facilities and exhibits, including restoration of art collections.

PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS

If enacted, the LFC recommends that the Cultural Affairs department submit a plan for program

evaluation with specific program goals and criteria for assessing the effectiveness and provide

suggested outputs, outcomes and performance measures to evaluate the performance of state

government programs as prescribed in the Accountability in Government Act. Existing

performance measures for attendance and outreach events would be positively affected by the

creation of a new museum.

TECHNICAL ISSUES

Senate Bill 349 has been drafted to set up the same structures and utilizing the same provisions

as other museum divisions currently in statute.

RELATIONSHIP/DUPLICATION

Senate Bill 349 duplicates House Bill 243. Senate Bill 349 relates to House Bill 313, and Senate

Bill 247. All four bills include recurring appropriations for a veterans’ museum in Las Cruces;

whereas Senate Bill 349 and House Bill 243 create a Veterans’ Museum Division within the

Department of Cultural Affairs and a Veterans’ Museum Board of Directors

PD/mt