SB0121

SENATE BILL 121

50th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2011

INTRODUCED BY

John M. Sapien

AN ACT

RELATING TO FLOOD CONTROL; AMENDING THE EASTERN SANDOVAL COUNTY ARROYO FLOOD CONTROL ACT TO PROVIDE FOR THE ELECTION OF DIRECTORS FROM SINGLE-MEMBER DISTRICTS.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

SECTION 1. Section 72-20-4 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2007, Chapter 99, Section 4) is amended to read:

"72-20-4. DEFINITIONS.--Except where the context otherwise requires, as used in the Eastern Sandoval County Arroyo Flood Control Act:

A. "acquisition" or "acquire" means the opening, laying out, establishment, purchase, construction, securing, installation, reconstruction, lease, gift, grant from the federal government, any public body or person, endowment, bequest, devise, condemnation, transfer, assignment, option to purchase, other contract or other acquirement, or any combination thereof, of facilities, other property, any project or an interest therein authorized by the Eastern Sandoval County Arroyo Flood Control Act;

B. "authority" means the eastern Sandoval county arroyo flood control authority;

C. "board" means the board of directors of the authority;

D. "chair" means the chair of the board and president of the authority;

E. "condemnation" or "condemn" means the acquisition by the exercise of the power of eminent domain of property for any facilities, other property, project or an interest therein authorized by the Eastern Sandoval County Arroyo Flood Control Act. The authority may exercise in the state the power of eminent domain, either within or without the authority and, in the manner provided by law for the condemnation of private property for public use, may take any property necessary to carry out any of the objects or purposes of the Eastern Sandoval County Arroyo Flood Control Act. In the event the construction of any facility or project authorized by the Eastern Sandoval County Arroyo Flood Control Act, or any part thereof, makes necessary the removal and relocation of any public utilities, whether on private or public right of way, the authority shall reimburse the owner of the public utility facility for the expense of removal and relocation, including the cost of any necessary land or rights in land;

F. "cost" or "cost of the project", or words of similar import, means all, or any part designated by the board, of the cost of any facilities, project or interest therein being acquired and of all or any property, rights, easements, privileges, agreements and franchises deemed by the authority to be necessary or useful and convenient therefor or in connection therewith, which cost, at the option of the board, may include all or any part of the incidental costs pertaining to the project, including without limiting the generality of the foregoing, preliminary expenses advanced by any municipality or other public body from funds available for use therefor in the making of surveys, preliminary plans, estimates of cost, other preliminaries, the costs of appraising, printing, employing engineers, architects, fiscal agents, attorneys at law, clerical help, other agents or employees, the costs of capitalizing interest or any discount on securities, of inspection, of any administrative, operating and other expenses of the authority prior to the levy and collection of taxes, and of reserves for working capital, operation, maintenance or replacement expenses or for payment or security of principal of or interest on any securities, the costs of making, publishing, posting, mailing and otherwise giving any notice in connection with the project, the taking of options, the issuance of securities, the filing or recordation of instruments, the levy and collection of taxes and installments thereof, the costs of reimbursements by the authority to any public body, the federal government or any person of any money theretofore expended for or in connection with any facility or project and all other expenses necessary or desirable and appertaining to any project, as estimated or otherwise ascertained by the board;

G. "director" means a member of the board;

H. "disposal" or "dispose" means the sale, destruction, razing, loan, lease, gift, grant, transfer, assignment, mortgage, option to sell, other contract or other disposition, or any combination thereof, of facilities, other property, any project or an interest therein authorized by the Eastern Sandoval County Arroyo Flood Control Act;

I. "engineer" means any engineer in the permanent employ of the authority or any independent competent engineer or firm of such engineers employed by the authority in connection with any facility, property, project or power authorized by the Eastern Sandoval County Arroyo Flood Control Act;

J. "equipment" or "equip" means the furnishing of all necessary or desirable, related or appurtenant, facilities, or any combination thereof, appertaining to any facilities, property, project or interest therein authorized by the Eastern Sandoval County Arroyo Flood Control Act;

K. "facility" means any of the water facilities, sewer facilities or other property appertaining to the flood control system of the authority;

L. "federal government" means the United States or any agency, instrumentality or corporation thereof;

M. "federal securities" means the bills, certificates of indebtedness, notes or bonds that are direct obligations of, or the principal and interest of which obligations are unconditionally guaranteed by, the United States;

N. "governing body" means the city council, city commission, board of commissioners, board of trustees, board of directors or other legislative body of the public body proceeding under the Eastern Sandoval County Arroyo Flood Control Act, in which body the legislative powers of the public body are vested;

O. "improvement" or "improve" means the extension, widening, lengthening, betterment, alteration, reconstruction, repair or other improvement, or any combination thereof of facilities, other property, project or any interest therein authorized by the Eastern Sandoval County Arroyo Flood Control Act;

P. "mailed notice" or notice by "mail" means the giving by the engineer, secretary or any deputy thereof, as determined by the board, of any designated written or printed notice addressed to the last known owner of each tract of real property in question or other designated person at the last known address, by deposit, at least ten days prior to the designated hearing or other time or event, in the United States mail, postage prepaid, as first-class mail. In the absence of fraud, the failure to mail any such notice shall not invalidate any proceedings under the Eastern Sandoval County Arroyo Flood Control Act. The names and addresses of those property owners shall be obtained from the records of the county assessor or from such other source as the secretary or the engineer deems reliable. Any list of such names and addresses may be revised from time to time, but such a list need not be revised more frequently than at twelve-month intervals. Any mailing of any notice required shall be verified by the affidavit or certificate of the engineer, secretary, deputy or other person mailing the notice, which verification shall be retained in the records of the authority at least until all taxes and securities appertaining thereto have been paid in full or any claim is barred by a statute of limitations;

Q. "municipality" means any incorporated city, town or village in the state, whether incorporated or governed under a general act, special legislative act or special charter of any type. "Municipal" pertains to municipality;

R. "person" means any human being, association, partnership, firm or corporation, excluding a public body and excluding the federal government;

S. "president" means the president of the authority and the chair of the board;

T. "project" means any structure, facility, undertaking or system that the authority is authorized to acquire, improve, equip, maintain or operate. A project may consist of all kinds of personal and real property. A project shall appertain to the flood control system that the authority is authorized and directed to provide within and without the authority's boundaries;

U. "property" means real property and personal property;

V. "publication" or "publish" means publication in at least the one newspaper designated as the authority's official newspaper and published in the authority in the English language at least once a week and of general circulation in the authority. Except as otherwise specifically provided or necessarily implied, "publication" or "publish" also means publication for at least once a week for three consecutive weeks by three weekly insertions, the first publication being at least fifteen days prior to the designated time or event, unless otherwise so stated. It is not necessary that publication be made on the same day of the week in each of the three calendar weeks, but not less than fourteen days shall intervene between the first publication and the last publication, and publication shall be complete on the day of the last publication. Any publication required shall be verified by the affidavit of the publisher and filed with the secretary;

W. "public body" means the state or any agency, instrumentality or corporation thereof or any municipality, school district, other type of district or any other political subdivision of the state, excluding the authority and excluding the federal government;

X. "qualified elector" means a person qualified to vote in general elections in the state, who is a resident of the authority at the time of any election held under the provisions of the Eastern Sandoval County Arroyo Flood Control Act or at any other time in reference to which the term "qualified elector" is used;

Y. "real property" means:

(1) land, including land under water;

(2) buildings, structures, fixtures and improvements on land;

(3) any property appurtenant to or used in connection with land; and

(4) every estate, interest, privilege, easement, franchise and right in land, legal or equitable, including without limiting the generality of the foregoing, rights of way, terms for years and liens, charges or encumbrances by way of judgment, mortgage or otherwise and the indebtedness secured by such liens;

Z. "secretary" means the secretary of the authority;

AA. "secretary of state" means the secretary of state of New Mexico;

BB. "securities" means any notes, warrants, bonds, temporary bonds or interim debentures or other obligations of the authority or any public body appertaining to any project or interest therein authorized by the Eastern Sandoval County Arroyo Flood Control Act;

CC. "sewer facilities" means any one or more of the various devices used in the collection, channeling, impounding or disposition of storm, flood or surface drainage waters, including all inlets, collection, drainage or disposal lines, canals, intercepting sewers, outfall sewers, all pumping, power and other equipment and appurtenances, all extensions, improvements, remodeling, additions and alterations thereof and any rights or interest in such sewer facilities;

DD. "sewer improvement" or "improve any sewer" means the acquisition, reacquisition, improvement, reimprovement or repair of any storm sewer or combination storm and sanitary sewer, including but not limited to collecting and intercepting sewer lines or mains, submains, trunks, laterals, outlets, ditches, ventilation stations, pumping facilities, ejector stations and all other appurtenances and machinery necessary, useful or convenient for the collection, transportation and disposal of storm water;

EE. "state" means the state of New Mexico or any agency, instrumentality or corporation thereof;

FF. "street" means any street, avenue, boulevard, alley, highway or other public right of way used for any vehicular traffic;

GG. "taxpaying elector" means a qualified elector of the authority who is an owner of real or personal property within the boundaries of the authority, which property is subject to general (ad valorem) taxation at the time of any election held under the provisions of the Eastern Sandoval County Arroyo Flood Control Act or at any other time in reference to which the term "taxpaying elector" is used. A person who is obligated to pay taxes under a contract to purchase real property in the authority shall be considered as such an owner. The ownership of any property subject to the payment of a specific ownership tax on a motor vehicle or trailer or of any other excise or property tax other than such taxes shall not constitute the ownership of property subject to general (ad valorem) taxation;

[GG.] HH. "taxes" means general (ad valorem) taxes pertaining to any project authorized by the Eastern Sandoval County Arroyo Flood Control Act; and

[HH.] II. "treasurer" means the treasurer of the authority."

SECTION 2. Section 72-20-6 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2007, Chapter 99, Section 6) is amended to read:

"72-20-6. BOUNDARIES OF AUTHORITY.--The boundaries of the authority are as follows: a portion of southern Sandoval county bounded on the east by a line following the eastern boundary of range 5 east of the New Mexico principal meridian, on the south by the Pueblo of Sandia and the Cibola national forest, on the west by the Rio Grande and on the north by a line following the northern boundary of township 13 north of the New Mexico principal meridian. The boundary of the [district] authority is more particularly described as follows: beginning at the southeast corner of projected section 1, township 12 north, range 5 east of the New Mexico principal meridian, that point also being the southeast corner of herein described boundary; thence proceeding in a westerly direction along a line coincident with the northern boundary of the Cibola national forest and of the Pueblo of Sandia to a point along the west bank of the Rio Grande within projected section 1, township 12 north, range 3 east of the New Mexico principal meridian; thence in a northeasterly direction along the west bank of the Rio Grande to a point in the northwest corner of section 1, township 13 north, range 4 east of the New Mexico principal meridian; thence east along a line following the northern boundary of township 13 north of the New Mexico principal meridian for approximately seven miles to a point in the northeast corner of section 1, township 13 north, range 5 east of the New Mexico principal meridian; thence in a southerly direction approximately seven miles to the southeast corner of projected section 1, township 12 north, range 5 east of the New Mexico principal meridian, which point is the southeast corner and point of beginning of the district. All lands held in trust or ownership by the federal government or an Indian pueblo located within the boundaries identified in this section shall be excluded from the authority of the authority."

SECTION 3. Section 72-20-10 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2007, Chapter 99, Section 10) is amended to read:

"72-20-10. ELECTION OF OFFICERS--DISTRICTS.--[At the time that a proposal to incur debt is first submitted to the qualified electors or at the first general election next following the effective date of the Eastern Sandoval County Arroyo Flood Control Act, whichever occurs first, the qualified electors of the authority shall elect five qualified directors, two to serve a term ending January 1, 2011, two to serve a term ending January 1, 2013 and one to serve a term ending January 1, 2015. At the first election, the five candidates receiving the highest number of votes shall be elected as directors. The terms of the directors shall be determined by lot at their organizational meeting. At each general election thereafter, the qualified electors of the authority shall elect similarly one or two qualified electors as directors to serve six-year terms as directors and as successors to the directors whose terms end on the first day of January next following each such election. Nothing in the Eastern Sandoval County Arroyo Flood Control Act shall be construed as preventing a qualified elector of the authority from being elected or reelected as a director to succeed himself. If there is only one vacancy on the board, the candidate receiving the highest number of votes shall be elected as director. If there are two vacancies on the board, the candidate receiving the highest number of votes shall be elected as director. If there are two vacancies on the board, the candidate receiving the highest number of votes and the candidate receiving the next highest number of votes shall be elected as directors.]

A. At each general election, directors shall be elected from single-member districts in which they reside. The board shall establish its initial single-member districts no later than December 31, 2011 and shall determine by lot the district from which directors shall be elected in the next three subsequent elections. The board shall ensure that the districts remain contiguous, compact and as equal in population as is practicable, assessing the existing districts following each federal decennial census to accomplish that objective. A redistricting shall be effective at the next following regular board election. Incumbent directors whose residences are redistricted out of their districts may serve out their term of office. If subsequent to the establishment of single-member districts a director no longer resides in the election district from which that director was elected, the director shall be deemed to have resigned and the vacancy created by the resignation shall be filled in the manner provided by Section 72-20-12 NMSA 1978.

B. The qualified electors of the authority shall elect similarly one or two qualified electors as directors to serve six-year terms as directors and as successors to the directors whose terms end on the first day of January next following each election. Nothing in this section may be construed as preventing a qualified elector of the authority from any single-member district from being elected or reelected as a director to succeed that qualified elector."

SECTION 4. Section 72-20-11 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2007, Chapter 99, Section 11) is amended to read:

"72-20-11. NOMINATION OF DIRECTORS.--Not later than forty-five days before a proposal to incur debt is first submitted to the [qualified] taxpaying electors or at the first general election next following [the effective date of the Eastern Sandoval County Arroyo Flood Control Act] March 30, 2007, whichever occurs first, written nominations of any candidate as director may be filed with the secretary of the board. Each nomination of any candidate shall be signed by not less than fifty [qualified] taxpaying electors [regardless of whether or not nominated therein], who reside within the district for which the candidate has been nominated, shall designate therein the name of the candidates thereby nominated and shall recite that the subscribers thereto are [qualified] taxpaying electors of the district for which the candidate is nominated and that the candidate or candidates designated therein are qualified electors of the authority [No written nomination may designate more qualified electors as candidates than there are vacancies] and reside within the district for which they are nominated. No [qualified] taxpaying elector may nominate more than one candidate for any vacancy. If a candidate does not withdraw the candidate's name before the [first publication of the notice of election] time established by the county for purposes of absentee ballots or as set forth in the Election Code, the candidate's name shall be placed on the ballot. For any election held after November 2008, nominations shall be made by qualified electors in accordance with the procedures and limitations of this section, except that such nominations shall be filed with the secretary of the board not later than the fourth Tuesday in June preceding the general election."

SECTION 5. Section 72-20-12 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2007, Chapter 99, Section 12) is amended to read:

"72-20-12. FILLING VACANCIES ON THE BOARD.--Upon a vacancy occurring in the board by reason of death, change of residence or resignation or for any other reason, the governor shall appoint a qualified elector of the authority who resides within the district where the vacancy exists as successor to serve the unexpired term."

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