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HOUSE BILL 396
57
TH LEGISLATURE
-
STATE
OF
NEW
MEXICO
-
FIRST SESSION
,
2025
INTRODUCED BY
Joanne J. Ferrary and Raymundo Lara and Sarah Silva
AN ACT
RELATING TO REGIONAL SPACEPORT DISTRICTS; CHANGING BOARD
COMPOSITION; LIMITING THE ISSUANCE OF BONDS UNDER THE SPACEPORT
DEVELOPMENT ACT THAT ARE SECURED WITH REVENUE FROM A COUNTY
REGIONAL SPACEPORT GROSS RECEIPTS TAX; PROVIDING THAT A COUNTY
REGIONAL SPACEPORT GROSS RECEIPTS TAX BE IMPOSED ONLY UNTIL THE
BONDS ISSUED ARE FULLY DISCHARGED OR OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR IN
FULL; REQUIRING THAT ALL REVENUE FROM A COUNTY REGIONAL
SPACEPORT GROSS RECEIPTS TAX BE DEDICATED TO THE PAYMENT OF THE
PRINCIPAL OF AND INTEREST ON BONDS ISSUED UNDER THE SPACEPORT
DEVELOPMENT ACT.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
SECTION 1. Section 5-16-5 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2006,
Chapter 15, Section 5) is amended to read:
"5-16-5. BOARD.--
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A. All powers, privileges and duties vested in or
imposed upon the district shall be exercised and performed by
the board. The board may delegate its powers by resolution to
an officer or agent of the board, with the exception of the
following:
(1) adoption of board policies and procedures;
(2) initiation or continuation of legal
action;
(3) establishment of policies regarding the
use of revenues; and
(4) request to the authority to issue bonds.
B. Only an elected official may vote on resolutions
regarding Paragraph (4) of Subsection A of this section.
C. The board shall adopt rules to govern its
conduct and provide meaningful opportunities for public input,
which shall include standards and procedures for calling
emergency meetings.
D. The board shall be composed of at least one
director from each governmental unit that is a member of the
district. A director shall be an elected official or the
official's designee. A governmental unit shall not have a
majority of membership on the board, unless there are three or
fewer participating governmental units in the district, in
which case each governmental unit that is a member shall have
one director for every one million dollars ($1,000,000) in
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gross receipts tax provided in the previous taxable year to the
regional spaceport district board pursuant to Section 7-20E-25
NMSA 1978, up to a maximum of four directors from each
governmental unit that is a member .
E. A director of the board shall not vote on an
issue when the director has a conflict of interest. A director
of the board, officer of the board or employee of the board
shall not:
(1) acquire a financial interest in a new or
existing business venture or business property of any kind when
the person believes or has reason to believe that the new
financial interest will be directly affected by the official
act;
(2) use confidential information acquired by
virtue of the person's office or employment for the person's or
another's private gain; or
(3) contract with the district without public
notice and competitive bidding and full disclosure of the
person's financial or other interest in the business that is
party to the contract.
F. The attorney general shall investigate and
prosecute, when appropriate, a complaint brought to the
attorney general's attention involving a violation of
Subsection E of this section. Violation of the provisions of
Subsection E of this section by a director of the board,
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officer of the board or employee of the board is grounds for
removal or suspension of the director or officer and dismissal,
demotion or suspension of the employee.
G. In addition to all other powers conferred by the
Regional Spaceport District Act, the board may:
(1) adopt bylaws;
(2) fix the time and place of meetings and the
method of providing notice of the meetings;
(3) make and pass orders and resolutions
necessary for the government and management of the affairs of
the district and the execution of the powers vested in the
district;
(4) adopt and use a seal; and
(5) appoint advisory committees and define the
duties of the committees."
SECTION 2. Section 5-16-7 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2006,
Chapter 15, Section 7) is amended to read:
"5-16-7. BONDS.--A district may enter into contracts with
the authority pursuant to which the authority may issue bonds
under the Spaceport Development Act for the purpose of
financing the planning, designing, engineering and construction
of a regional spaceport [or spaceport-related project ]. The
district shall request that the authority issue bonds pursuant
to resolution of the board, and the bonds shall be payable
solely out of all [or a specified portion ] of the revenues as
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designated by the board."
SECTION 3. Section 7-20E-25 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2006,
Chapter 15, Section 15) is amended to read:
"7-20E-25. COUNTY REGIONAL SPACEPORT GROSS RECEIPTS TAX--
AUTHORITY TO IMPOSE--RATE--ELECTION REQUIRED.--
A. A majority of the members of the governing body
of a county that desires to become a member of a regional
spaceport district pursuant to the Regional Spaceport District
Act shall impose by ordinance an excise tax at a rate not to
exceed one-half percent of the gross receipts of a person
engaging in business in the district area of the county for the
privilege of engaging in business. A tax imposed pursuant to
this section may be imposed by one or more ordinances, each
imposing any number of tax rate increments, but an increment
shall not be less than one-sixteenth percent of the gross
receipts of a person engaging in business in the district area
of the county, and the aggregate of all rates shall not exceed
one-half percent of the gross receipts of a person engaging in
business in the district area of the county. The tax shall be
imposed only until the bonds issued pursuant to the Regional
Spaceport District Act are fully discharged or otherwise
provided for in full. The tax may be referred to as the
"county regional spaceport gross receipts tax".
B. A governing body, at the time of enacting an
ordinance imposing the tax authorized in Subsection A of this
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section, shall dedicate [a minimum of seventy-five percent ] all
of the proceeds of the revenue to the regional spaceport
district for payment of the principal and interest of bonds
issued under the Spaceport Development Act for the financing,
planning, designing and engineering and construction of a
spaceport [or for projects or services of the district pursuant
to the Regional Spaceport District Act and may dedicate no more
than twenty-five percent of the revenue for spaceport-related
projects as approved by resolution of the governing body of the
county].
C. An ordinance imposing a county regional
spaceport gross receipts tax shall not go into effect until
after an election is held and a majority of the voters of the
district area of the county voting in the election votes in
favor of imposing the tax. The governing body shall adopt an
ordinance calling for an election within seventy-five days of
the date the resolution is adopted on the question of imposing
the tax. The question shall be submitted to the voters of the
district area of the county as a separate question at a general
election or at a special election called for that purpose by
the governing body. A special election shall be called,
conducted and canvassed substantially in the same manner as
provided by law for general elections. If a majority of the
voters voting on the question approves the ordinance imposing
the county regional spaceport gross receipts tax, the ordinance
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shall become effective in accordance with the provisions of the
County Local Option Gross Receipts and Compensating Taxes Act.
If the question of imposing the county regional spaceport gross
receipts tax fails, the governing body shall not again propose
the imposition of an increment of the tax for a period of one
year from the date of the election.
D. The governing body of a county imposing a county
regional spaceport gross receipts tax shall transfer [a minimum
of seventy-five percent of ] all proceeds from the tax to the
regional spaceport district of which it is a member for the
payment of the principal and interest of bonds issued under the
Spaceport Development Act for purposes in accordance with the
provisions of the Regional Spaceport District Act. [The
governing body of a county imposing a county regional spaceport
gross receipts tax may retain no more than twenty-five percent
of the county regional spaceport gross receipts tax for
spaceport-related projects as approved by the resolution of the
governing body of the county. ]
E. A county regional spaceport gross receipts tax
imposed pursuant to this section shall be repealed and no
longer imposed once the bonds to which the tax revenue is
dedicated are fully discharged or otherwise provided for in
full.
[E.] F. As used in this section, "district area of
the county" means that portion of a county that is outside the
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boundaries of a municipality and that is within the boundaries
of a regional spaceport district of which the county is a
member; provided that if no municipality within the county has
imposed a municipal regional spaceport gross receipts tax,
"district area of the county" may mean the area within the
boundaries of the county that is within the boundaries of a
regional spaceport district of which the county is a member."
SECTION 4. Section 58-31-9 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2005,
Chapter 128, Section 9) is amended to read:
"58-31-9. AUTHORITY REVENUE BONDS--LIMITATIONS--
AUTHORIZATION--AUTHENTICATION.--
A. Revenue bonds or refunding bonds issued pursuant
to the Spaceport Development Act and other loans to the
authority are:
(1) not general obligations of the state or
any other agency of the state or of the authority; and
(2) payable only from properly pledged
revenues and each bond or loan shall state that it is payable
solely from the properly pledged revenues and that the
bondholders or lenders may not look to any other fund for the
payment of the [interest and ] principal and interest of the
bond or the loan.
B. Revenue or refunding bonds or loans may be
authorized by resolution of the authority, which shall be
approved by a majority of the voting members of the authority
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and by the state board of finance.
C. The bonds or loans shall be executed by the
chair of the authority and may be authenticated by any public
or private transfer agent or registrar, or its successor, named
or otherwise designated by the authority. Bonds, notes or
other certificates of indebtedness of the authority may be
executed as provided under the Uniform Facsimile Signature of
Public Officials Act, and the coupons, if any, shall bear the
facsimile signature of the chair of the authority.
D. Revenue bonds or refunding bonds issued pursuant
to the Spaceport Development Act that are secured by revenue
from a county regional spaceport gross receipts tax may be
issued only for the financing, planning, designing, engineering
and construction of a spaceport. The authority shall pledge
irrevocably all of the revenue received from the county
regional spaceport gross receipts tax to the payment of the
principal and interest of the bonds. "
SECTION 5. APPLICABILITY.--The provisions of this act
apply to county regional spaceport gross receipts taxes imposed
and bonds issued under the Spaceport Development Act on or
after July 1, 2025.
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