SENATE BILL 240
49th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2010
INTRODUCED BY
George K. Munoz
AN ACT
RELATING TO TAXATION; INCREASING THE MOTOR VEHICLE EXCISE TAX; ADJUSTING DISTRIBUTIONS OF MOTOR VEHICLE EXCISE TAX PROCEEDS; CREATING THE HIGHWAY PRIORITY PROJECT FUND; AUTHORIZING THE ISSUANCE OF STATE HIGHWAY BONDS FOR SPECIFIED HIGHWAY PROJECTS; MAKING AN APPROPRIATION.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
Section 1. Section 7-14-4 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1988, Chapter 73, Section 14) is amended to read:
"7-14-4. DETERMINATION OF AMOUNT OF MOTOR VEHICLE EXCISE TAX.--The rate of the motor vehicle excise tax is [three] four percent and is applied to the price paid for the vehicle. If the price paid does not represent the value of the vehicle in the condition that existed at the time it was acquired, the tax rate shall be applied to the reasonable value of the vehicle in such condition at such time. However, allowances granted for vehicle trade-ins may be deducted from the price paid or the reasonable value of the vehicle purchased."
Section 2. Section 7-14-10 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1988, Chapter 73, Section 20, as amended) is amended to read:
"7-14-10. DISTRIBUTION OF PROCEEDS.--The receipts from the tax and any associated interest and penalties shall be deposited in the "motor vehicle suspense fund", hereby created in the state treasury. As of the end of each month:
A. seventy-five percent of the net receipts attributable to the tax and associated penalties and interest shall be distributed to the general fund; and
B. twenty-five percent of the net receipts attributable to the tax and associated penalties and interest shall be distributed to the highway priority project fund."
Section 3. A new section 67-3-59.5 NMSA 1978 is enacted to read:
"67-3-59.5. [NEW MATERIAL] HIGHWAY PRIORITY PROJECT FUND CREATED--USE.--
A. The "highway priority project fund" is created in the state treasury and shall be administered by the department. The fund shall consist of money from taxes distributed to the fund. Earnings on investment of the fund shall be credited to the fund. Balances in the fund at the end of any fiscal year shall not revert and shall remain in the fund for the purposes authorized in this section.
B. Money in the fund shall be used solely for acquisition of rights of way or planning, design, engineering, construction or improvement of the highway priority projects authorized in Subsection D of this section or for payment of principal and interest on bonds issued for those projects and is appropriated to the department for expenditure only for those purposes.
C. The taxes required by law to be distributed to the highway priority project fund may be pledged for the payment of highway priority project bonds issued pursuant to Section 67-3-59.6 NMSA 1978 for the highway priority projects authorized in Subsection D of this section.
D. The New Mexico finance authority may issue and sell highway priority project bonds in compliance with the provisions of Section 67-3-59.6 NMSA 1978 in an amount not to exceed the total of the amounts authorized for purposes specified in this section when the state transportation commission determines the need for the issuance of the bonds. The New Mexico finance authority shall schedule the issuance and sale of the bonds in the most expeditious and economic manner possible upon a finding by the commission that the project has been developed sufficiently to justify the issuance and that the project can proceed to contract within a reasonable time. The proceeds from the sale of the bonds are appropriated to the department in the following amounts for the following projects in order of priority determined by the department:
(1) ten million dollars ($10,000,000) for rehabilitation and reconstruction of United States highway 70 in Hidalgo county;
(2) five million dollars ($5,000,000) for reconstruction of the San Antonio and interstate 25 interchange in Sierra county;
(3) ten million dollars ($10,000,000) for the Jackrabbit interchange reconstruction project in Dona Ana county;
(4) twenty million dollars ($20,000,000) for road widening and reconstruction of United States highway 180 in Grant and Luna counties;
(5) ten million dollars ($10,000,000) for roadway rehabilitation of United States highway 70 from Kenna to Elida and from the Roosevelt-Curry county line north to Clovis in Roosevelt and Curry counties;
(6) ten million dollars ($10,000,000) for reconstruction of eleven miles of United States highway 54 between Tularosa and Carrizozo in Otero and Lincoln counties;
(7) fifteen million dollars ($15,000,000) for reconstruction of sixteen miles of United States highway 54 between Carrizozo and Corona in Lincoln county;
(8) fifteen million dollars ($15,000,000) for reconstruction of seventeen miles of United States highway 54 between Carrizozo and Corona in Lincoln county;
(9) five million dollars ($5,000,000) for rehabilitation of nineteen miles of New Mexico highway 206 between Lovington and Tatum in Lea county;
(10) one hundred million dollars ($100,000,000) to complete the reconstruction of the paseo del Norte interchange on interstate 25 in Albuquerque in Bernalillo county, including improvements along paseo del Norte between San Pedro and Jefferson roads;
(11) sixty-eight million dollars ($68,000,000) for bridge replacement, interchange reconstruction, lane widening and ramp improvements, including reconstruction of the Montgomery interchange, on interstate 25 between Comanche and Gibson boulevards in Albuquerque in Bernalillo county;
(12) twenty million dollars ($20,000,000) for reconstruction and realignment of the "S" curve portion of interstate 25 between Gibson and Martin Luther King, Jr., boulevards in Albuquerque in Bernalillo county;
(13) fifteen million dollars ($15,000,000) for roadway improvements on state highway 47 in Peralta in Valencia county;
(14) fifteen million dollars ($15,000,000) for planning, designing and constructing an additional lane in each direction, including drainage improvements, on state highway 528 from Southern boulevard to United States highway 550 in Rio Rancho in Sandoval county;
(15) fifteen million dollars ($15,000,000) to replace bridge number 5285 over the Canadian river on United States highway 54 in the village of Logan in Quay county;
(16) twenty million dollars ($20,000,000) for roadway rehabilitation, including reconstruction of portions of the highway, along twenty-four miles of interstate 40 in Guadalupe county;
(17) twenty million dollars ($20,000,000) for roadway rehabilitation, including reconstruction of portions of the highway, on United States highway 64/87 in Colfax and Union counties;
(18) fifteen million dollars ($15,000,000) for roadway rehabilitation, reconstruction and shoulder widening of United States highway 56 from the junction of state highway 39 to the Colfax-Union county line in Colfax and Union counties;
(19) fifteen million dollars ($15,000,000) for roadway reconstruction, traffic signals and highway lighting on state highway 30 in Santa Fe county from state highway 502 to Espanola;
(20) seven million dollars ($7,000,000) to plan, design and construct an interchange on state highway 599 at county road 62 in Santa Fe county;
(21) twenty-five million dollars ($25,000,000) for roadway reconstruction on state highway 68 in Rio Arriba county from Okay Owingeh to Velarde;
(22) fifteen million dollars ($15,000,000) for bridge replacements and interchange reconstruction on interstate 25 at Cerrillos road and St. Francis drive in Santa Fe county;
(23) ten million dollars ($10,000,000) for road surface improvements to eight miles of interstate 40 in McKinley county;
(24) ten million dollars ($10,000,000) for roadway rehabilitation and reconstruction along approximately eighteen miles of state highway 6 in Cibola and Valencia counties;
(25) ten million dollars ($10,000,000) for road surface improvements to eight miles of state highway 264 in McKinley county; and
(26) twenty million dollars ($20,000,000) for road surface improvements and shoulder repair to eighteen miles of state highway 371 in McKinley county."
Section 4. A new Section 67-3-59.6 NMSA 1978 is enacted to read:
"67-3-59.6. [NEW MATERIAL] ADDITIONAL STATE HIGHWAY BONDS--ISSUANCE--LIMITS--APPROVAL.--
A. In order to provide funds to finance highway priority projects identified in Section 67-3-59.5 NMSA 1978, the New Mexico finance authority, when directed by the state transportation commission, is authorized, subject to the limitations of this section and Section 67-3-59.5 NMSA 1978 to issue highway priority project bonds from time to time, payable from the highway priority project fund, from federal funds not otherwise obligated that are paid into the highway priority project fund and from taxes and fees required by law to be paid into the highway priority project fund.
B. The New Mexico finance authority, when directed by the state transportation commission, may issue bonds to refund other bonds issued by or at the direction of the state transportation commission pursuant to this section or by exchange or current or advance refunding.
C. The total aggregate outstanding principal amount of bonds issued from time to time pursuant to this section shall not, without additional authorization of the state legislature, exceed five hundred million dollars ($500,000,000).
D. In consultation with the state transportation commission, the New Mexico finance authority shall determine all terms, covenants and conditions of the bonds; provided that the project design life of a project meets or exceeds the life of the bond issued for that project, and each series of bonds shall be sold, executed and delivered in accordance with the provisions of the New Mexico Finance Authority Act. The New Mexico finance authority may enter into interest rate exchange agreements, interest rate swap contracts, insurance agreements, remarketing agreements and any other agreements deemed necessary in connection with the issuance of the bonds.
E. Proceeds of the bonds and amounts on deposit in the highway priority project fund may be used to pay expenses incurred in the preparation, administration, issuance and sale of the bonds and, together with the earnings on the proceeds of the bonds, may be used to pay rebate, penalty, interest and other obligations relating to the bonds and the proceeds of the bonds under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.
F. This section is full authority for the issuance and sale of the bonds, and the bonds shall not be invalid for any irregularity or defect in the proceedings for their issuance and sale and shall be incontestable in the hands of bona fide purchasers or holders of the bond for value.
G. The bonds shall be legal investments for a person or board charged with the investment of public funds and may be accepted as security for a deposit of public money and, with the interest thereon, are exempt from taxation by the state or a political subdivision or agency of the state.
H. Any law authorizing the imposition or distribution of taxes or fees paid into the highway priority project fund or that affects those taxes and fees shall not be amended or repealed or otherwise directly or indirectly modified so as to impair outstanding bonds secured by a pledge of revenues from those taxes and fees paid into the highway priority project fund, unless the bonds have been discharged in full or provisions have been made for a full discharge. In addition, while any bonds issued by the New Mexico finance authority pursuant to the provisions of this section remain outstanding, the powers or duties of the state transportation commission or the authority shall not be diminished or impaired in any manner that will affect adversely the interests and rights of the holder of such bonds.
I. In contracting for highway priority projects to be paid in whole or in part with proceeds of bonds authorized by this section, the department shall require that any sand, gravel, caliche or similar material needed for the project shall, if practicable, be mined from state lands. Each contract shall provide that the contractor notify the commissioner of public lands of the need for the material and that, through lease or purchase, the material shall be mined from state lands if:
(1) the material needed is available from state lands in the vicinity of the project;
(2) the commissioner determines that the lease or purchase is in the best interest of the state land trust beneficiaries; and
(3) the cost to the contractor for the material, including the costs of transportation, is competitive with other available material from non-state lands.
J. The department of transportation shall adopt and enforce rules with the goal that no less than seventy percent of the work force of an exclusively state-funded project authorized in this act shall be residents of New Mexico.
K. Bonds issued pursuant to this section shall be paid solely from federal funds not otherwise obligated and taxes and fees deposited into the highway priority project fund and shall not constitute a general obligation of the state.
L. For purposes of this section, "highway priority project bonds" includes only those bonds issued pursuant to this section and excludes transportation bonds as defined in Section 67-3-72 NMSA 1978."
Section 5. APPLICABILITY.--The distribution pursuant to Section 2 of this act applies to receipts from the motor vehicle excise tax that are attributable to transactions subject to the tax on or after July 1, 2010.
Section 6. EFFECTIVE DATE.--The effective date of the provisions of this act is July 1, 2010.
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