0001| AN ACT | 0002| RELATING TO COUNTIES; PROVIDING FOR PUBLIC UTILITIES IN CERTAIN CLASS A | 0003| COUNTIES; AMENDING AND ENACTING CERTAIN SECTIONS OF THE NMSA 1978; | 0004| DECLARING AN EMERGENCY. | 0005| | 0006| BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO: | 0007| Section 1. A new Section 4-36-10 NMSA 1978 is enacted to read: | 0008| "4-36-10. CLASS A COUNTY--SEWER AND WATER UTILITY--OPERATION | 0009| AUTHORIZATION.-- | 0010| A. A class A county having a population of more than one | 0011| hundred thirty-five thousand but less than four hundred eighty-one | 0012| thousand according to the last federal decennial census, and having a | 0013| 1993 net taxable value of property, as that term is defined in the | 0014| Property Tax Code, of at least one billion one hundred thirty-one | 0015| million dollars ($1,131,000,000) but not more than five billion two | 0016| hundred million dollars ($5,200,000,000) may establish, purchase, own | 0017| and operate sewer and water utilities and sell water and sewer utility | 0018| service. | 0019| B. In the operation of a sewer or water utility, the county | 0020| shall set just and reasonable rates based on its cost of service." | 0021| Section 2. Section 4-62-1 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1992, Chapter 95, | 0022| Section 1, as amended) is amended to read: | 0023| "4-62-1. REVENUE BONDS--AUTHORITY TO ISSUE--PLEDGE OF REVENUES--LIMITATION ON TIME OF ISSUANCE.-- | 0024| A. In addition to any other law authorizing a county to | 0025| issue revenue bonds, a county may issue revenue bonds pursuant to | 0001| Chapter 4, Article 62 NMSA 1978 for the purposes specified in this | 0002| section. The term "pledged revenues", as used in Chapter 4, Article 62 | 0003| NMSA 1978, means the revenues, net income or net revenues authorized to | 0004| be pledged to the payment of particular revenue bonds as specifically | 0005| provided in Subsections B through I of this section. | 0006| B. Gross receipts tax revenue bonds may be issued for any | 0007| one or more of the following purposes: | 0008| (1) constructing, purchasing, furnishing, equipping, | 0009| rehabilitating, making additions to or making improvements to one or | 0010| more public buildings or purchasing or improving any ground relating | 0011| thereto, including but not necessarily limited to acquiring and | 0012| improving parking lots, or any combination of the foregoing; | 0013| (2) acquiring or improving county or public parking | 0014| lots, structures or facilities or any combination of the foregoing; | 0015| (3) purchasing, acquiring or rehabilitating | 0016| firefighting equipment or any combination of the foregoing; | 0017| (4) acquiring, extending, enlarging, bettering, | 0018| repairing, otherwise improving or maintaining storm sewers and other | 0019| drainage improvements, sanitary sewers, sewage treatment plants or water | 0020| utilities, including but not limited to the acquisition of rights of way | 0021| and water and water rights, or any combination of the foregoing; | 0022| (5) reconstructing, resurfacing, maintaining, | 0023| repairing or otherwise improving existing alleys, streets, roads or | 0024| bridges or any combination of the foregoing or laying off, opening, | 0025| constructing or otherwise acquiring new alleys, streets, roads or | 0001| bridges or any combination of the foregoing; provided that any of the | 0002| foregoing improvements may include but are not limited to the | 0003| acquisition of rights of way; | 0004| (6) purchasing, acquiring, constructing, making | 0005| additions to, enlarging, bettering, extending or equipping any airport | 0006| facilities or any combination of the foregoing, including without | 0007| limitation the acquisition of land, easements or rights of way; | 0008| (7) purchasing or otherwise acquiring or clearing land | 0009| or purchasing, otherwise acquiring and beautifying land for open space; | 0010| (8) acquiring, constructing, purchasing, equipping, | 0011| furnishing, making additions to, renovating, rehabilitating, beautifying | 0012| or otherwise improving public parks, public recreational buildings or | 0013| other public recreational facilities or any combination of the | 0014| foregoing; or | 0015| (9) acquiring, constructing, extending, enlarging, | 0016| bettering, repairing or otherwise improving or maintaining solid waste | 0017| disposal equipment, equipment for operation and maintenance of sanitary | 0018| landfills, sanitary landfills, solid waste facilities or any combination | 0019| of the foregoing. | 0020| A county may pledge irrevocably any or all of the revenue from the | 0021| first one-eighth of one percent increment of the county gross receipts | 0022| tax for payment of principal and interest due in connection with, and | 0023| other expenses related to, gross receipts tax revenue bonds for any of | 0024| the purposes authorized in this section or specific purposes or for any | 0025| area of county government services. If the county gross receipts tax | 0001| revenue from the first one-eighth of one percent increment of the county | 0002| gross receipts tax is pledged for payment of principal and interest as | 0003| authorized by this subsection, the pledge shall require the revenues | 0004| received from that increment of the county gross receipts tax to be | 0005| deposited into a special bond fund for payment of the principal, | 0006| interest and expenses. At the end of each fiscal year, any money | 0007| remaining in the special bond fund after the annual obligations for the | 0008| bonds are fully met may be transferred to any other fund of the county. | 0009| C. Fire protection revenue bonds may be issued for | 0010| acquiring, extending, enlarging, bettering, repairing, improving, | 0011| constructing, purchasing, furnishing, equipping or rehabilitating any | 0012| independent fire district project or facilities, including, where | 0013| applicable, purchasing, otherwise acquiring or improving the ground for | 0014| the project or any combination of such purposes. A county may pledge | 0015| irrevocably any or all of the county fire protection excise tax revenue | 0016| for payment of principal and interest due in connection with, and other | 0017| expenses related to, fire protection revenue bonds. These bonds may be | 0018| referred to in Chapter 4, Article 62 NMSA 1978 as "fire protection | 0019| revenue bonds". | 0020| D. Environmental revenue bonds may be issued for the | 0021| acquisition and construction of solid waste facilities, water | 0022| facilities, wastewater facilities, sewer systems and related facilities. | 0023| A county may pledge irrevocably any or all of the county environmental | 0024| services gross receipts tax revenue for payment of principal and | 0025| interest due in connection with, and other expenses related to, | 0001| environmental revenue bonds. These bonds may be referred to in Chapter | 0002| 4, Article 62 NMSA 1978 as "environmental revenue bonds". | 0003| E. Gasoline tax revenue bonds may be issued for the | 0004| acquisition of rights of way for and the construction, reconstruction, | 0005| resurfacing, maintenance, repair or other improvement of county roads | 0006| and bridges. A county may pledge irrevocably any or all of the county | 0007| gasoline tax revenue for payment of principal and interest due in | 0008| connection with, and other expenses related to, county gasoline tax | 0009| revenue bonds. These bonds may be referred to in Chapter 4, Article 62 | 0010| NMSA 1978 as "gasoline tax revenue bonds". | 0011| F. Utility revenue bonds or joint utility revenue bonds may | 0012| be issued for acquiring, extending, enlarging, bettering, repairing or | 0013| otherwise improving water facilities, sewer facilities, gas facilities | 0014| or electric facilities or for any combination of the foregoing purposes. | 0015| A county may pledge irrevocably any or all of the net revenues from the | 0016| operation of the utility or joint utility for which the particular | 0017| utility or joint utility bonds are issued to the payment of principal | 0018| and interest due in connection with, and other expenses related to, | 0019| utility or joint utility revenue bonds. These bonds may be referred to | 0020| in Chapter 4, Article 62 NMSA 1978 as "utility revenue bonds" or "joint | 0021| utility revenue bonds". | 0022| G. Project revenue bonds may be issued for acquiring, | 0023| extending, enlarging, bettering, repairing, improving, constructing, | 0024| purchasing, furnishing, equipping or rehabilitating any | 0025| revenue-producing project, including, as applicable, purchasing, | 0001| otherwise acquiring or improving the ground therefor and including but | 0002| not limited to acquiring and improving parking lots, or may be issued | 0003| for any combination of the foregoing purposes. The county may pledge | 0004| irrevocably any or all of the net revenues from the operation of the | 0005| revenue-producing project for which the particular project revenue bonds | 0006| are issued to the payment of the interest on and principal of the | 0007| project revenue bonds. The net revenues of any revenue-producing | 0008| project may not be pledged to the project revenue bonds issued for any | 0009| other revenue-producing project that is clearly unrelated in nature; but | 0010| nothing in this subsection prevents the pledge to any of the project | 0011| revenue bonds of any revenues received from any existing, future or | 0012| disconnected facilities and equipment that are related to and that may | 0013| constitute a part of the particular revenue-producing project. Any | 0014| general determination by the governing body that any facilities or | 0015| equipment are reasonably related to and shall constitute a part of a | 0016| specified revenue-producing project shall be conclusive if set forth in | 0017| the proceedings authorizing the project revenue bonds. As used in | 0018| Chapter 4, Article 62 NMSA 1978: | 0019| (1) "project revenue bonds" means the bonds authorized | 0020| in this subsection; and | 0021| (2) "project revenues" means the net revenues of | 0022| revenue-producing projects that may be pledged to project revenue bonds | 0023| pursuant to this subsection. | 0024| H. Fire district revenue bonds may be issued for acquiring, | 0025| extending, enlarging, bettering, repairing, improving, constructing, | 0001| purchasing, furnishing, equipping and rehabilitating any fire district | 0002| project, including, where applicable, purchasing, otherwise acquiring or | 0003| improving the ground therefor, or for any combination of the foregoing | 0004| purposes. The county may pledge irrevocably any or all of the revenues | 0005| received by the fire district from the fire protection fund as provided | 0006| in Sections 59A-53-1 through 59A-53-17 NMSA 1978 and any or all of the | 0007| revenues provided for the operation of the fire district project for | 0008| which the particular bonds are issued to the payment of the interest on | 0009| and principal of such bonds. The revenues of any fire district project | 0010| shall not be pledged to the bonds issued for any fire district project | 0011| that clearly is unrelated in its purpose; but nothing in this section | 0012| shall prevent the pledge to any of such bonds of any such revenues | 0013| received from any existing, future or of disconnected facilities and | 0014| equipment that are related to and that may constitute a part of the | 0015| particular fire district project. Any general determination by the | 0016| governing body of the county that any facilities or equipment are | 0017| reasonably related to and shall constitute a part of a specified fire | 0018| district project shall be conclusive if set forth in the proceedings | 0019| authorizing such fire district bonds. | 0020| I. Law enforcement protection revenue bonds may be issued | 0021| for the repair and purchase of law enforcement apparatus and equipment | 0022| that meet nationally recognized standards. The county may pledge | 0023| irrevocably any or all of the revenues received by the county from the | 0024| law enforcement protection fund distributions pursuant to Sections 29-13-1 through 29-13-9 NMSA 1978, to the payment of the interest on and | 0025| principal of the law enforcement protection revenue bonds. | 0001| J. Except for the purpose of refunding previous revenue bond | 0002| issues, no county may sell revenue bonds payable from pledged revenue | 0003| after the expiration of two years from the date of the ordinance | 0004| authorizing the issuance of the bonds or, for bonds to be issued and | 0005| sold to the New Mexico finance authority as authorized in Subsection C | 0006| of Section 4-62-4 NMSA 1978, after the expiration of two years from the | 0007| date of the resolution authorizing the issuance of the bonds. However, | 0008| any period of time during which a particular revenue bond issue is in | 0009| litigation shall not be counted in determining the expiration date of | 0010| that issue. | 0011| K. No bonds may be issued by a county, other than an H class | 0012| county, a class B county as defined in Section | 0013| 4-36-8 NMSA 1978 or a class A county as described in Section | 0014| 4-36-10 NMSA 1978, to acquire, equip, extend, enlarge, better, repair or | 0015| construct any utility unless the utility is regulated by the New Mexico | 0016| public utility commission pursuant to the Public Utility Act and the | 0017| issuance of the bonds is approved by the commission. For purposes of | 0018| Chapter 4, Article 62 NMSA 1978, a "utility" includes but is not limited | 0019| to any water, wastewater, sewer, gas or electric utility or joint | 0020| utility serving the public. H class counties shall obtain New Mexico | 0021| public utility commission approvals required by Section 3-23-3 NMSA | 0022| 1978. | 0023| L. Any law that imposes or authorizes the imposition of a | 0024| county gross receipts tax, a county environmental services gross | 0025| receipts tax, a county fire protection excise tax or the gasoline tax, | 0001| or that affects any of those taxes, shall not be repealed or amended in | 0002| such a manner as to impair any outstanding revenue bonds that are issued | 0003| pursuant to Chapter 4, Article 62 NMSA 1978 and that may be secured by a | 0004| pledge of those taxes unless the outstanding revenue bonds have been | 0005| discharged in full or provision has been fully made therefor. | 0006| M. As used in this section: | 0007| (1) "county environmental services gross receipts tax | 0008| revenue" means the revenue from the county environmental services gross | 0009| receipts tax transferred to the county pursuant to Section 7-1-6.13 NMSA | 0010| 1978; | 0011| (2) "county fire protection excise tax revenue" means | 0012| the revenue from the county fire protection excise tax transferred to | 0013| the county pursuant to Section 7-1-6.13 NMSA 1978; | 0014| (3) "county gross receipts tax revenue" means the | 0015| revenue attributable to the first one-eighth of one percent increment of | 0016| the county gross receipts tax transferred to the county pursuant to | 0017| Section 7-1-6.13 NMSA 1978 and any distribution related to the first | 0018| one-eighth of one percent made pursuant to Section 7-1-6.16 NMSA 1978; | 0019| (4) "gasoline tax revenue" means the revenue from that | 0020| portion of the gasoline tax distributed to the county pursuant to | 0021| Sections 7-1-6.9 and 7-1-6.26 NMSA 1978; and | 0022| (5) "public building" includes but is not limited to | 0023| fire stations, police buildings, jails, libraries, museums, auditoriums, | 0024| convention halls, hospitals, buildings for administrative offices, | 0025| courthouses and garages for housing, repairing and maintaining county | 0001| vehicles and equipment. | 0002| N. As used in Chapter 4, Article 62 NMSA 1978, the term | 0003| "bond" means any obligation of a county issued under Chapter 4, Article | 0004| 62 NMSA 1978, whether designated as a bond, note, loan, warrant, | 0005| debenture, lease-purchase agreement or other instrument evidencing an | 0006| obligation of a county to make payments." | 0007| Section 3. Section 62-3-3 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1967, Chapter 96, | 0008| Section 3, as amended by Laws 1993, Chapter 282, Section 21 and by Laws | 0009| 1993, Chapter 308, Section 3 and also by Laws 1993, Chapter 351, Section | 0010| 2) is amended to read: | 0011| "62-3-3. DEFINITIONS, WORDS AND PHRASES.--Unless otherwise | 0012| specified, when used in the Public Utility Act: | 0013| A. "affiliated interest" means a person who directly or | 0014| indirectly, through one or more intermediaries, controls or is | 0015| controlled by or is under common control with a public utility. Control | 0016| includes instances where a person is an officer, director, partner, | 0017| trustee or person of similar status or function or who owns directly or | 0018| indirectly or has a beneficial interest in ten percent or more of any | 0019| class of securities of a person; | 0020| B. "commission" means the New Mexico public utility | 0021| commission; | 0022| C. "commissioners" means any member of the commission; | 0023| D. "municipality" means any municipal corporation organized | 0024| under the laws of the state, and H class counties; | 0025| E. "person" means individuals, firms, partnerships, | 0001| companies, rural electric cooperatives organized under Laws 1937, | 0002| Chapter 100 or the Rural Electric Cooperative Act, as amended, | 0003| corporations and lessees, trustees or receivers appointed by any court. | 0004| It shall not mean any class A county as described by Section 4-36-10 | 0005| NMSA 1978 or any class B county as described by Section 4-36-8 NMSA | 0006| 1978. It shall not mean any municipality as defined in this section | 0007| unless the municipality has elected to come within the terms of the | 0008| Public Utility Act as provided in Section 62-6-5 NMSA 1978. In the | 0009| absence of such voluntary election by any municipality to come within | 0010| the provisions of the Public Utility Act, the municipality shall be | 0011| expressly excluded from the operation of that act and from the operation | 0012| of all of its provisions, and no such municipality shall for any purpose | 0013| be considered a public utility; | 0014| F. "securities" means stock, stock certificates, bonds, | 0015| notes, debentures, mortgages or deeds of trust or other evidences of | 0016| indebtedness issued, executed or assumed by any utility; | 0017| G. "public utility" or "utility" means every person not | 0018| engaged solely in interstate business and, except as stated in Sections | 0019| 62-3-4 and 62-3-4.1 NMSA 1978, that now does or hereafter may own, | 0020| operate, lease or control: | 0021| (1) any plant, property or facility for the | 0022| generation, transmission or distribution, sale or furnishing to or for | 0023| the public of electricity for light, heat or power or other uses; | 0024| (2) any plant, property or facility for the | 0025| manufacture, storage, distribution, sale or furnishing to or for the | 0001| public of natural or manufactured gas or mixed or liquefied petroleum | 0002| gas, for light, heat or power or for other uses; but the term "public | 0003| utility" or "utility" shall not include any plant, property or facility | 0004| used for or in connection with the business of the manufacture, storage, | 0005| distribution, sale or furnishing of liquefied petroleum gas in enclosed | 0006| containers or tank truck for use by others than consumers who receive | 0007| their supply through any pipeline system operating under municipal | 0008| authority or franchise, and distributing to the public; | 0009| (3) any plant, property or facility for the supplying, | 0010| storage, distribution or furnishing to or for the public of water for | 0011| manufacturing, municipal, domestic or other uses; provided, however, | 0012| nothing contained in this paragraph shall be construed to apply to | 0013| irrigation systems, the chief or principal business of which is to | 0014| supply water for the purpose of irrigation; | 0015| (4) any plant, property or facility for the | 0016| production, transmission, conveyance, delivery or furnishing to or for | 0017| the public of steam for heat or power or other uses; or | 0018| (5) any plant, property or facility for the supplying | 0019| and furnishing to or for the public of sanitary sewers for transmission | 0020| and disposal of sewage produced by manufacturing, municipal, domestic or | 0021| other uses; provided that the terms "public utility" or "utility" as | 0022| used in the Public Utility Act do not include any utility owned or | 0023| operated by any class A county as described in Section 4-36-10 NMSA 1978 | 0024| either directly or through a corporation owned by or under contract with | 0025| such a county; | 0001| H. "rate" means every rate, tariff, charge or other | 0002| compensation for utility service rendered or to be rendered by any | 0003| utility and every rule, regulation, practice, act, requirement or | 0004| privilege in any way relating to such rate, tariff, charge or other | 0005| compensation and any schedule or tariff or part of a schedule or tariff | 0006| thereof; | 0007| I. "service" or "service regulation" means every rule, | 0008| regulation, practice, act or requirement in any way relating to the | 0009| service or facility of a utility; | 0010| J. "Class I transaction" means the sale, lease or provision | 0011| of real property, water rights or other goods or services by an | 0012| affiliated interest to any public utility with which it is affiliated or | 0013| by a public utility to its affiliated interest; | 0014| K. "Class II transaction" means: | 0015| (1) the formation after May 19, 1982 of a corporate | 0016| subsidiary by a public utility or a public utility holding company by a | 0017| public utility or its affiliated interest; | 0018| (2) the direct acquisition of the voting securities or | 0019| other direct ownership interests of a person by a public utility if such | 0020| acquisition would make the | 0021| utility the owner of ten percent or more of the voting securities or | 0022| other direct ownership interests of that person; | 0023| (3) the agreement by a public utility to purchase | 0024| securities or other ownership interest of a person other than a | 0025| nonprofit corporation, contribute additional equity to, acquire | 0001| additional equity interest in or pay or guarantee any bonds, notes, | 0002| debentures, deeds of trust or other evidence of indebtedness of any such | 0003| person; provided, however, that a public utility may honor all | 0004| agreements entered into by such utility prior to May 19, 1982; or | 0005| (4) the divestiture by a public utility of any | 0006| affiliated interest that is a corporate subsidiary of the public | 0007| utility; | 0008| L. "corporate subsidiary" means any person ten percent or | 0009| more of whose voting securities or other ownership interests are | 0010| directly owned by a public utility; and | 0011| M. "public utility holding company" means an affiliated | 0012| interest that controls a public utility through the direct or indirect | 0013| ownership of voting securities of such public utility." | 0014| Section 4. Section 62-6-4 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1941, Chapter 84, | 0015| Section 17, as amended) is amended to read: | 0016| "62-6-4. SUPERVISION AND REGULATION OF UTILITIES.-- | 0017| A. The commission shall have general and exclusive power and | 0018| jurisdiction to regulate and supervise every public utility in respect | 0019| to its rates and service regulations and in respect to its securities, | 0020| all in accordance with the provisions and subject to the reservations of | 0021| the Public Utility Act, and to do all things necessary and convenient in | 0022| the exercise of its power and jurisdiction. Nothing in this section, | 0023| however, shall be deemed to confer upon the commission power or | 0024| jurisdiction to regulate or supervise the rates or service of any | 0025| utility owned and operated by any municipal corporation either directly | 0001| or through a municipally owned corporation or owned and operated by any | 0002| H class county, by a class B county as defined in Section 4-36-8 NMSA | 0003| 1978 or by a class A county as described by Section 4-36-10 NMSA 1978 | 0004| either directly or through a corporation owned by or under contract with | 0005| an H class county, by a class B county as defined in Section 4-36-8 NMSA | 0006| 1978 or by a class A county as described by Section 4-36-10 NMSA 1978. | 0007| No inspection or supervision fees shall be paid by such municipalities | 0008| or municipally owned corporations, a class B county as defined in | 0009| Section 4-36-8 NMSA 1978, a class A county as described by Section 4-36-10 NMSA 1978 or H class counties or such corporation owned by or under | 0010| contract with a class B county as defined in Section 4-36-8 NMSA 1978, a | 0011| class A county as described by Section 4-36-10 NMSA 1978 or an H class | 0012| county with respect to operations conducted in a class B county as | 0013| defined in Section 4-36-8 NMSA 1978, in a class A county as described by | 0014| Section 4-36-10 NMSA 1978 or in H class counties. | 0015| B. The sale, furnishing or delivery of gas, water or | 0016| electricity by any person to a utility for resale to or for the public | 0017| shall be subject to regulation by the commission but only to the extent | 0018| necessary to enable the commission to determine that the cost to the | 0019| utility of the gas, water or electricity at the place where the major | 0020| distribution to the public begins is reasonable and that the methods of | 0021| delivery of the gas, water or electricity are adequate; provided, | 0022| however, that nothing in this subsection shall be construed to permit | 0023| regulation by the commission of production or sale price at the wellhead | 0024| of gas or petroleum, except regulation of abandonment pursuant to | 0025| Section 62-7-8 NMSA 1978. | 0001| C. The sale, furnishing or delivery of coal, uranium or | 0002| other fuels by any affiliated interest to a utility for the generation | 0003| of electricity for the public shall be subject to regulation by the | 0004| commission but only to the extent necessary to enable the commission to | 0005| determine that the cost to the utility of the coal, uranium or other | 0006| fuels at the point of sale is reasonable and that the methods of | 0007| delivery of the electricity are adequate; provided, however, that | 0008| nothing in this subsection shall be construed to permit regulation by | 0009| the commission of production or sale price at the wellhead of gas or | 0010| petroleum, except regulation of abandonment pursuant to Section 62-7-8 | 0011| NMSA 1978. Nothing in this section shall be construed to permit | 0012| regulation by the commission of production or sale price at the point of | 0013| production of coal, uranium or other fuels." | 0014| Section 5. EMERGENCY.--It is necessary for the public peace, | 0015| health and safety that this act take effect immediately. | 0016| | 0017| | 0018| HB | 0019| 610 | 0020| Page  |