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

SPONSOR Martinez

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

2/6/08

HB

SHORT TITLE Arts Trails Program Support & Employee

SB 470

ANALYST Dearing

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY08

FY09

$70.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Relates to the General Appropriations Act

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Bill 470 appropriates $70 thousand from the general fund to Cultural Affairs department

to hire a full-time manager and provide support for the arts trails program.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $70 thousand contained in Senate Bill 470 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.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

The arts-based trails program is an expansion of a program funded in 2006 with a $250 thousand

special appropriation from the Legislature, and a recurring appropriation of $250 thousand

beginning in FY08. New Mexico Arts has been gathering information on location, product and

facilities accommodation and sales capacity for applying regional artists working in the fiber

media (weaving, beadwork, collage, etc.). The accepted artists’ sales venue locations will be

incorporated on a “route-map" including addresses and other information for directing tourists

and locals towards locally-made arts products. The program provides an opportunity to expand

economic conditions in rural areas of New Mexico, at the lowest, grass-roots level. When

Senate Bill 470 – Page

2

completed, the arts-trails program is intended to incorporate economic development for rural

communities and program development is now targeted at rural New Mexico communities.

Presently, 71 sites and more than 300 artists in rural New Mexico are represented on the

statewide pilot New Mexico Fiber Arts Trails. With a full-time staff manager, New Mexico Arts

could facilitate national marketing initiatives for the Arts Trails and thereby increase tourism

even further, especially in rural New Mexico, to help boost local communities’ economic

growth. With a manager devoted to this program, New Mexico Arts also could create

educational materials about the Arts Trails for students and families, including CDs and DVDs

featuring stories and interviews about the artists along trails, which would deepen awareness and

appreciation of the artistic and cultural heritages of New Mexico.

Long-term administration of the Arts Trails Program could benefit the program outcome with a

full-time, permanent FTE devoted to management of this important arts-based economic

development and cultural tourism initiative. An Arts Trails manager would both free up existing

staff.

PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS

New Mexico Arts program currently has performance measures tracking outreach and

educational attendance. As foot-traffic to arts-based sites will be on privately owned retail

operations, it is not known how the division will measure the program’s effectiveness. A point-

of-sale revenue tracking measure for participating artists and art-dealers is a recommended item

for consideration when the program becomes operational.

CONFLICT, DUPLICATION, COMPANIONSHIP, RELATIONSHIP

Senate Bill 470 relates to appropriations in the General Appropriations Act. The department

recommendation includes $250 thousand recurring in the Arts program base for the Arts Trails

program.

PD/bb