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 Ferrary/Silva/Lara
LAST UPDATED
ORIGINAL DATE 3/17/2025
SHORT TITLE Study Spaceport Issues
BILL
NUMBER
House Memorial
60
ANALYST Rodriguez
ESTIMATED ADDITIONAL OPERATING BUDGET IMPACT*
(dollars in thousands)
Agency/Program
FY25 FY26 FY27
3 Year
Total Cost
Recurring or
Nonrecurring
Fund
Affected
No fiscal
impact
No fiscal
impact
No fiscal
impact
Parentheses ( ) indicate expenditure decreases.
*Amounts reflect most recent analysis of this legislation.
Relates to House Bill 396
Sources of Information
LFC Files
Agency Analysis was Solicited but Not Received From
Spaceport Authority
Because of the short timeframe between the introduction of this bill and its first hearing, LFC has
yet to receive analysis from state, education, or judicial agencies. This analysis could be updated
if that analysis is received.
SUMMARY
Synopsis of House Memorial 60
House Memorial 60 (HM60) requests the Science, Technology and Telecommunications and
Revenue Stabilization and Tax Policy Committee interim committees to study the provisions,
execution, and impacts of the Regional Spaceport District Act and the Spaceport Development
Act, specifically the governance structures, financial contributions, imbalance in governing
units’ representation, and requirements for issuing bonds. The memorial directs the committees
to examine potential reforms and make recommendations for the Regional Spaceport District Act
and the Spaceport Development Act for the second session of the fifty-seventh Legislature.
This bill does not contain an effective date and, as a result, would go into effect 90 days after the
Legislature adjourns if enacted, or June 20, 2025.
House Memorial 60 – Page 2
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
HM60 contains no appropriation and has no known fiscal impact to the state.
SIGNIFICANT ISSUES
Spaceport America. Spaceport America is the world's first purpose-built commercial spaceport.
The state of New Mexico designed, built, owns, and operates Spaceport America. Its anchor
tenant is Virgin Galactic. Other tenants include SpinLaunch, UP Aerospace, AeroVironment, and
HAPS Mobile.
Spaceport America was built with more than $220 million in taxpayer money. In 2007, the New
Mexico Legislature authorized up to $100 million in STBs for Spaceport America. In 2009 and
2010, the Spaceport Authority issued an additional $78.6 million in revenue bonds at 4.5 percent
interest rate. The bonds were supported by a 0.25 percent local option gross receipts tax collected
in Doña Ana and Sierra counties. Overall, the state provided about two-thirds of the funding, and
the remainder came from revenue bonds.
The monthly bond payment amount is constant at $368.3 thousand for Doña Ana County and
$16.8 thousand for Sierra County. Twenty-five percent of the proceeds of the county regional
spaceport gross receipts taxes are retained by the sponsoring county for educational use.
Amounts in excess of the mandated bond repayment and the 25 percent for the sponsoring
counties are available to the Spaceport Authority for capital or operating.
In 2021, the Spaceport Authority refinanced $35.4 million of the spaceport bonds. This led to a
reduction from a 4.5 percent annual interest rate to less than 0.8 percent. That would save $8.2
million over the nine years it would take to pay off the bonds. These were 20-year bonds that
mature in 2029 and 2030. The principal remaining on the bond as of June 30, 2025, is
approximately $13.6 million, based on the audited amount at the end of FY22 of $26,950,671.
Regional Spaceport District Act. The Regional Spaceport District Act was enacted in 2006 and
allows for local government cooperation and funding mechanisms for spaceport-related projects.
Regional spaceport districts may be created by contract by two or more governmental units (the
state, a county or municipality, or an Indian nation, tribe, or pueblo) and are to be governed by a
board composed of representatives of district members. The regional spaceport districts would
be political subdivisions of the state. Any city or county can join the district if it imposes a
regional spaceport gross receipts tax.
CONFLICT, DUPLICATION, COMPANIONSHIP, RELATIONSHIP
HM5 relates to House Bill 396 (HB396), which amends both the Regional Spaceport District Act
and the Spaceport Development Act. HB396 proposes the following:
Changes the composition of the Regional Spaceport District Board such that Doña Ana
County would have four board members and Sierra County would have one member on
the board. Note that the Spaceport District Board is separate and distinct from the
Spaceport Authority.
The proceeds of the revenue bonds supported by the Doña Ana and Sierra counties gross
receipts taxes may not be used for “spaceport-related projects,” but only planning, House Memorial 60 – Page 3
designing, engineering, and construction of a regional spaceport. This provision prevents
the Spaceport Authority from using the proceeds for any purpose except paying off the
bonds early.
When the bonds have been paid off, the county regional spaceport gross receipts taxes
would be canceled.
The 25 percent proceeds of the county regional spaceport gross receipts taxes currently
retained by the two contributing counties are now directed to pay off the bonds early.
For the proposed changes in HB396, Spaceport Authority notes the following:
The bill raises questions about the long-term viability of the Spaceport Authority and
continuing its consistent development of infrastructure development at the termination of
GRT revenue. To remain competitive as a spaceport as the space industry continues to
grow at an exponential pace and to further the NMSA's mission of "creating programs to
expand high-technology economic opportunities within New Mexico" and "coordinate
and expedite the involvement of the state executive branch's space-related development
efforts" 58-31-5 NMSA 1978, the NMSA requires significant and stable financial support
from governmental entities tasked with providing these resources.
JR/hj/SL2