HOUSE EDUCATION COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
HOUSE BILL 605
51st legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2013
AN ACT
RELATING TO HIGHER EDUCATION; PROVIDING ELECTION PROCEDURES FOR SCHOOL DISTRICTS TO BE ADDED TO BRANCH COMMUNITY COLLEGES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
SECTION 1. Section 21-14-2 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1963, Chapter 162, Section 2, as amended) is amended to read:
"21-14-2. BOARD DUTIES--RELATIONSHIP WITH PARENT INSTITUTION--ELECTIONS.--
A. As used in Chapter 21, Article 14 NMSA 1978, "board" means either the local school board or the combined local school boards acting as a single board of the school district or the board of the branch community college elected pursuant to Section 21-14-2.1 NMSA 1978.
B. The duties of the board are to:
(1) enter into written agreements with the board of regents of the parent institution, subject thereafter to biennial review by all parties concerned and to the review and commentary of the [commission on] higher education department;
(2) act in an advisory capacity to the board of regents of the parent institution in all matters relating to the conduct of the branch community college;
(3) approve an annual budget for the branch community college for recommendation to the board of regents of the parent institution;
(4) certify to the board of county commissioners the tax levy; and
(5) conduct the election for tax levies for the branch community college.
C. The board and the board of regents of the parent institution of the branch community college shall jointly conduct a search for qualified candidates for director. The board of regents of the parent institution, after consultation with the board, shall then select a director for the branch community college.
D. The board and the board of regents of the parent institution shall enter into a written agreement, which shall include provisions for:
(1) the higher education institution to have full authority and responsibility in relation to all academic matters;
(2) the higher education institution to honor all credits earned by students as though they were earned on the parent campus;
(3) the course of study and program offered;
(4) the cooperative use of physical facilities and teaching staff;
(5) consideration of applications of local qualified people before employing teachers of the local school system; and
(6) the detailed agreement of financing and financial control of the branch community college.
E. The agreement shall be binding upon both the board and the board of regents of the parent institution; however, it may be terminated by mutual consent or it may be terminated by either board upon six months' notice. However, if the branch community college has outstanding general obligation or revenue bonds, neither the board nor the board of regents may terminate the agreement until the outstanding bonds are retired, except as provided by Section 21-13-24.1 NMSA 1978. This provision shall apply to all agreements in existence between the branch community college and the board of regents of the parent institution.
F. All taxes levied to pay for principal and interest on bonds of the branch community college shall be in addition to the taxes levied for operating, maintaining and providing facilities for the branch community college pursuant to the College District Tax Act.
G. For the purpose of relating branch community colleges to existing laws, branch community college districts or branch community colleges shall not:
(1) be considered a part of the uniform system of free public schools pursuant to Article 12, Section 1 and Article 21, Section 4 of the constitution of New Mexico;
(2) benefit from the permanent school fund and from the current school fund under Article 12, Sections 2 and 4 of the constitution of New Mexico;
(3) be subject, except as it relates to technical and vocational education, to the control, management and direction of the public education department; and
(4) be considered school districts insofar as the restrictions of Article 9, Section 11 of the constitution of New Mexico are concerned.
H. All elections held pursuant to the branch community college laws shall be as follows:
(1) the board calling the election shall give notice of the election in a newspaper of general circulation in the branch community college district at least once a week for three consecutive weeks, the last insertion to be not less than thirty days prior to the proposed election;
(2) the election shall be conducted and canvassed in the same manner as [municipal] school district elections unless otherwise provided in the branch community college laws; and
(3) any person or corporation may institute in the district court of any county in which the branch community college district affected lies an action or suit to contest the validity of any proceedings held under the branch community college laws, but no such suit or action shall be maintained unless it is instituted within ten days after the issuance by the proper officials of a certificate or notification of the results of the election and the canvassing of the election returns by the board.
I. The tax rolls of the school districts comprising the branch community college district shall be adopted as the tax rolls of the branch community college district.
J. A branch community college district may be expanded by the procedures in either Subsection K or M of this section.
K. The voters of a school district within a county containing a branch community college or in an adjoining county, which school district was not included in the branch community college district as originally formed, may petition the school district to hold an election on the question of the school district's area being added to the branch community college district; provided that:
(1) if the school board finds that the petition is signed by a number of voters at least equal to twenty percent of the votes cast for governor in the school district in the last preceding gubernatorial election, the board shall contract with an independent survey firm to conduct a survey to determine the desirability of joining the branch community college district; and
(2) if, on the basis of the survey, the school board finds that the proposal will promote improved education services in the school district, it shall approve the petition.
L. The school board shall notify the branch community college board of the approval of the petition, and the two boards shall hold a joint election on the question of adding the school district area to the branch community college district. The election may be part of a regular election of the school board. If, on canvass of the results of the election, a majority of the votes cast in the school district and in the branch community college district are in favor of the addition of the school district area, the higher education department shall notify the school board and the branch community college board of the results of the election and shall declare the extension of the boundaries of the branch community college district. The addition shall take effect on the next succeeding July 1.
M. The school board of a school district specified in Subsection K of this section by resolution of a majority of the members of the school board may call for an election as provided in Subsection L of this section.
N. The territory within each school district added to an existing branch community college district shall automatically be subject to any special levy on taxable property approved for the branch community college district for the maintenance of facilities and services and for support of bond issues.
O. The effect of any change in property tax levies shall be clearly and fully described and disclosed in petitions and surveys specified in Subsection K of this section and on ballots for elections specified in Subsection L of this section."
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