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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T
SPONSOR Smith
ORIGINAL DATE
LAST UPDATED
2/05/06
HB
SHORT TITLE State-Owned Spaceport Land Fund Expenditures
SB 557
ANALYST Earnest
REVENUE (dollars in thousands)
Estimated Revenue
Recurring
or Non-Rec
Fund
Affected
FY06
FY07
FY08
See narrative
See narrative
(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
Senate Bill 557 duplicates House Bill 88.
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
LFC Files
Responses Received From
Economic Development Department (EDD)
State Land Office (SLO)
SUMMARY
Synopsis of Bill
Senate Bill 557 would amend the Spaceport Development Act, Section 57-31-5 C (3) NMSA
1978, to clarify the Spaceport Authority’s limitations on expending funds or incurring debt.
Specifically, the proposed amendment will allow the NM Spaceport Authority to expend funds,
incur debt for the improvement, maintenance, repair or addition to property owned by the state or
a political subdivision of the state.
The current statute allows such activity only on land owned by the NM Spaceport Authority.
According to EDD, current law mistakenly restricts the construction of facilities on property
owned by the Authority. It is the intent of the Authority to enter into a long term lease with the
State Land Office for 27 square miles of state land on which the spaceport will be designed and
constructed. This amendment allows for construction of the spaceport on property leased from
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Senate Bill 557 – Page
2
political subdivisions, i.e. State Land Office
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
While it is unclear at this point, the state may recognize a loss in revenue, or at least a shift in
revenue source, from the change in land usage. The specific lease arrangement between the
Spaceport Authority and the State Land Office has not been negotiated or finalized.
According to the SLO, land currently under SLO agricultural lease in the desired spaceport loca-
tion is revenue producing, designated to educational and other state sponsored beneficiaries. A
separate commercial lease will need to be negotiated by the NM Spaceport Authority and the
SLO, depending on the success of this project. If this land is somehow conveyed to the NM
Spaceport Authority without due compensation, such beneficiaries will lose corresponding lease
revenue.
SIGNIFICANT ISSUES
According to the SLO, this legislation, changing subsection (3), would allow the Spaceport Au-
thority to expend funds or incur debt for the improvement, maintenance, repair or addition to
property owned by the state county or municipal governments.
Thus, the bill provides the Authority with unlimited ability to adhere to Subsection C on land
that the Authority does not want nor need. As this bill is clearly intended to remedy a situation
for one location, it may be wise to specify the location.
SLO indicates that an alternative may be to specify the precise location in the bill. For example,
“state or political subdivision land included in the proposed location for the NM Spaceport, more
commonly referred to as Range 1 West, Township 15 South, Sections 16, 17, 18, 19…etc..”
PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS
There are no performance measures to gauge Spaceport Authority activities.
WHAT WILL BE THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT ENACTING THIS BILL
EDD indicates that if the bill fails to pass, the construction of the spaceport facility on leased
property (from State Land Office) will not be possible.
SLO indicates that if the bill fails to pass, the NM Spaceport Authority will have to purchase or
lease the property proposed for the NM Spaceport.
BE/mt:nt:yr