Fiscal impact reports (FIRs) are prepared by the Legislative Finance Committee (LFC) for standing finance
committees of the Legislature. LFC does not assume responsibility for the accuracy of these reports if they
are used for other purposes.
F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T
SPONSOR Hernandez
LAST UPDATED
ORIGINAL DATE 02/24/2025
SHORT TITLE ABQ Isotopes License Plate
BILL
NUMBER House Bill 507
ANALYST Montano
REVENUE*
(dollars in thousands)
Type FY25 FY26 FY27 FY28 FY29
Recurring or
Nonrecurring
Fund
Affected
TRD $0 $1.2 $1.2 $1.2 $1.2 Recurring
MVD
Suspense
Fund
UNM $0 $2.3 $4.8 $7.3 $9.8 Recurring
Carrie Tingley
Crippled
Childre Fund
Parentheses ( ) indicate revenue decreases.
*Amounts reflect most recent analysis of this legislation.
ESTIMATED ADDITIONAL OPERATING BUDGET IMPACT*
(dollars in thousands)
Agency/Program
FY25 FY26 FY27
3 Year
Total Cost
Recurring or
Nonrecurring
Fund
Affected
TRD No fiscal impact $31.9 No fiscal impact $31.9 Nonrecurring
MVD Suspense
Fund
Parentheses ( ) indicate expenditure decreases.
*Amounts reflect most recent analysis of this legislation.
Sources of Information
LFC Files
Agency Analysis Received From
Taxation and Revenue Department (TRD)
State Ethics Commission (SEC)
General Services Department (GSD)
Agency Analysis was Solicited but Not Received From
UNM Board of Regents (UNM)
SUMMARY
Synopsis of House Bill 507
House Bill 507 (HB507) establishes a specialty license plate in support of the Albuquerque
Isotopes, a New Mexico minor league baseball team. Beginning January 1, 2026, the Motor
Vehicle Division (MVD) of the Taxation and Revenue Department would issue a special
registration plate featuring a design supporting the team, in accordance with Section 66-3-424
NMSA 1978. The bill sets the fees, revenue distribution rules, and a process for discontinuing
the plate if demand declines. House Bill 507 – Page 2
Vehicle owners may apply for the Albuquerque Isotopes specialty registration plate for a fee of
$35, in addition to their regular motor vehicle registration costs. To retain the plate, an annual
renewal fee of $25 is required. Twelve dollars from the initial application fee would be retained
by the Taxation and Revenue Department (TRD) to cover the manufacturing and issuance costs
of the plates. The remaining portion of the initial fee and the entire renewal fee would be
appropriated to the Board of Regents of the University of New Mexico for the Carrie Tingley
Crippled Children’s Hospital, a pediatric rehabilitation facility that provides specialized medical
care.
Additionally, the bill includes a review mechanism for the plate’s continuation. Beginning July
1, 2031, and each subsequent year, the Motor Vehicle Division would assess the number of
plates issued and renewed in the previous fiscal year compared to the average annual issuance
from fiscal years 2026 to 2031. If the number of issued and renewed plates falls below 50
percent of the average annual issuance, the department may discontinue production of the plate.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
TRD cannot accurately predict how many of these plates will be requested. TRD can report the
total cost of manufacturing and distributing each license plate will be about $10, which is
covered by the $12 that TRD retains from the $35 initial fee. TRD highlights:
Creation of the new specialty plate must be in accordance with existing state statute under
Section 66-3-424D2 NMSA 1978, which states that entities registering a registration
plate with a logo “shall provide a prepayment to the division in an amount sufficient to
cover the plate and logo costs of the initial order.” Typically, the initial fee to purchase
plates is $800; $250 for design/artwork costs while $5.50 is charged for each plate in the
initial batch of 100.
If 100 of these plates were sold, then TRD would generate $1,200 in revenue, which is sufficient
to cover the initial purchase of $800. A projection for the implementation of HB507 is that TRD
would gain $200 in revenue and would gain more depending on how many batches of license
plates are required.
The Board of Regents of the University of New Mexico would collect $23 in revenue per plate
sold and an additional $25 for the renewable license fee to use for the Carrie Tingley Children's
Hospital fund. If TRD only creates one batch of 100 license plates, then UNM will generate
$2,300 in revenue from the initial fee and a subsequent $2,500 for every year if all 100 license
plate owners renew their license plate. If TRD continues to sell at least 100 license plates a year,
then each subsequent year will experience $2,500 more of renewable license fees compared to
the previous year from the 100 new license plate owners. This recurring source of revenue is just
a floor, and UNM should project at least $2,300 of revenue generated for FY26, with a $2,500
increase for each subsequent year. The limit of potential revenue generated for UNM is
dependent on the total number of batches of license plates TRD makes.
Regarding the implications for TRD’s operating budget, TRD reports it would need to dedicate
480 hours of staff time to update the Tapestry database system at a workload cost of
$31,987.
House Bill 507 – Page 3
SIGNIFICANT ISSUES
New Mexico has at least 40 specialty license plates, including 10 plates for colleges and
universities, 11 related to military service, one for Santa Fe and one for Las Cruces, and plates
for autism, wildlife, fish, the children’s trust fund, pet care, breast cancer awareness, Route 66,
organ donors, Cumbres and Toltec railway, farm and ranch heritage, adoption, firefighters,
pollinators, Smokey Bear, and other causes.
NM/hj/hg