§ 4-62-1 — Revenue bonds; authority to issue; pledge of revenues;

limitation on time of issuance. A. In addition to any other law authorizing a county to issue revenue bonds, a county may issue revenue bonds pursuant to Chapter 4, Article 62 NMSA 1978 for the purposes specified in this section. B. Gross receipts tax revenue bonds may be issued for any county purpose. A county may pledge irrevocably any or all of the revenue received by the county pursuant to Section 7-1-6.13 NMSA 1978 for payment of principal and interest due in connection with, and other expenses related to, gross receipts tax revenue bonds or for any area of county government services. If the revenue is pledged for payment of principal and interest as authorized by this subsection, the pledge shall require the revenues received to be deposited into a special bond fund for payment of the principal, interest and expenses. At the end of each fiscal year, money remaining in the special bond fund after the annual obligations for the bonds are fully met may be transferred to any other fund of the county. Revenues in excess of the annual principal and interest due on gross receipts tax revenue bonds secured by a pledge of gross receipts tax revenue may be accumulated in a debt service reserve account. The governing body of the county may appoint a commercial bank trust department to act as trustee of the proceeds of the tax and to administer the payment of principal of and interest on the bonds. C. Gasoline tax revenue bonds may be issued for the acquisition of rights of way for and the construction, reconstruction, resurfacing, maintenance, repair or other improvement of county roads and bridges. A county may pledge irrevocably any or all of the county gasoline tax revenue for payment of principal and interest due in connection with, and other expenses related to, county gasoline tax revenue bonds. D. Utility revenue bonds or joint utility revenue bonds may be issued for acquiring, extending, enlarging, bettering, repairing or otherwise improving water facilities, sewer facilities, gas facilities or electric facilities. A county may pledge irrevocably any or all of the net revenues from the operation of the utility or joint utility for which the particular utility or joint utility bonds are issued to the payment of principal and interest due in connection with, and other expenses related to, utility or joint utility revenue bonds. E. Project revenue bonds may be issued for acquiring, extending, enlarging, bettering, repairing, improving, constructing, purchasing, furnishing, equipping or rehabilitating any revenue-producing project, including, as applicable, purchasing, otherwise acquiring or improving the ground for the project and acquiring and improving parking lots. The county may pledge irrevocably any or all of the net revenues from the operation of the revenue-producing project for which the particular project revenue bonds are issued to the payment of the interest on and principal of the project revenue bonds. The net revenues of any revenue-producing project shall not be pledged to the project revenue bonds issued for any other revenue-producing project that is clearly unrelated in nature; but nothing in this subsection prevents the pledge to any of the project revenue bonds of the revenues received from existing, future or disconnected facilities and equipment that are related to and that may constitute a part of the particular revenue-producing project. A general determination by the governing body that facilities or equipment is reasonably related to and constitutes a part of a specified revenue-producing project shall be conclusive if set forth in the proceedings authorizing the project revenue bonds. F. Fire district revenue bonds may be issued for acquiring, extending, enlarging, bettering, repairing, improving, constructing, purchasing, furnishing, equipping and rehabilitating a fire district project, including, as applicable, purchasing, otherwise acquiring or improving the ground for the project. The county may pledge irrevocably any or all of the revenues received by the fire district from the fire protection fund as provided in the Fire Protection Fund Law and any or all of the revenues provided for the operation of the fire district project for which the particular bonds are issued to the payment of the interest on and principal of the bonds. The revenues of a fire district project shall not be pledged to the bonds issued for a fire district project that clearly is unrelated in its purpose; but nothing in this section prevents the pledge to such bonds of revenues received from existing, future or disconnected facilities and equipment that are related to and that may constitute a part of the particular fire district project. A general determination by the governing body of the county that facilities or equipment is reasonably related to and constitutes a part of a specified fire district project shall be conclusive if set forth in the proceedings authorizing the fire district revenue bonds. G. Law enforcement protection revenue bonds may be issued for the repair and purchase of law enforcement apparatus and equipment that meet nationally recognized standards. The county may pledge irrevocably any or all of the revenues received by the county from the law enforcement protection fund distributions pursuant to the Law Enforcement Protection Fund Act [Chapter 29, Article 13 NMSA 1978] to the payment of the interest on and principal of the law enforcement protection revenue bonds. H. PILT revenue bonds may be issued by a county to repay all or part of the principal and interest of an outstanding loan owed by the county to the New Mexico finance authority. A county may pledge irrevocably all or part of PILT revenue to the payment of principal of and interest on new loans or preexisting loans provided by the New Mexico finance authority to finance a public project. I. Emergency medical services bonds may be issued for the purchase of equipment for emergency medical system improvement projects or emergency medical services vehicles for which funding has been granted pursuant to the Emergency Medical Services Fund Act [Chapter 24, Article 10A NMSA 1978]. The county may pledge irrevocably any or all of the revenues received by the county from the emergency medical services fund distributions pursuant to the Emergency Medical Services Fund Act to the payment of the interest on and principal of the emergency medical services bonds. J. Except for the purpose of refunding previous revenue bond issues, no county may sell revenue bonds payable from pledged revenue after the expiration of two years from the date of the ordinance authorizing the issuance of the bonds or, for bonds to be issued and sold to the New Mexico finance authority as authorized in Subsection C of Section 4-62-4 NMSA 1978, after the expiration of two years from the date of the resolution authorizing the issuance of the bonds. However, any period of time during which a particular revenue bond issue is in litigation shall not be counted in determining the expiration date of that issue. K. No bonds may be issued by a county, other than an H class county, a class B county as defined in Section 4-36-8 NMSA 1978 or a class A county as described in Section 4-36-10 NMSA 1978, to acquire, equip, extend, enlarge, better, repair or construct a utility unless the utility is regulated by the public regulation commission pursuant to the Public Utility Act [Chapter 62, Articles 1 to 6 and 8 to 13 NMSA 1978] and the issuance of the bonds is approved by the commission. L. Any law that imposes or authorizes the imposition of a tax authorized by the County Local Option Gross Receipts and Compensating Taxes Act [Chapter 7, Article 20E NMSA 1978] or that affects that tax shall not be repealed or amended in such a manner as to impair outstanding revenue bonds that are issued pursuant to Chapter 4, Article 62 NMSA 1978 and that may be secured by a pledge of the tax unless the outstanding revenue bonds have been discharged in full or for which provision has been fully made.

Legislative History

1978 Comp., § 4-62-1, enacted by Laws 1992, ch. 95, § 1; 1993, ch. 282, § 14;