HOUSE BILL 188

56th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2024

INTRODUCED BY

Kristina Ortez and Stefani Lord

 

 

 

 

 

AN ACT

RELATING TO LAND GRANTS; AMENDING THE LAND GRANT SUPPORT ACT; CREATING THE LAND GRANT-MERCED REVOLVING LAND FUND; PROVIDING FOR ADMINISTRATION AND RULEMAKING; AMENDING THE LAND GRANT- MERCED ASSISTANCE FUND; PROVIDING FOR DISTRIBUTIONS FOR LOAN REPAYMENTS; MAKING AN APPROPRIATION.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

     SECTION 1. Section 49-11-1 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2009, Chapter 94, Section 1) is amended to read:

     "49-11-1. SHORT TITLE.--[This act] Chapter 49, Article 11 NMSA 1978 may be cited as the "Land Grant Support Act"."

     SECTION 2. Section 49-11-2 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2009, Chapter 94, Section 2) is amended to read:

     "49-11-2. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Land Grant Support Act:

          A. "assistance fund" means the land grant-merced assistance fund;

          [A.] B. "council" means the land grant council; [and]

          C. "land fund" means the land grant-merced revolving land fund;

          [B.] D. "land grant" means a patented community land grant-merced organized and operating as a political subdivision of the state;

          E. "qualified land grant-merced" means a land grant-merced:

                (1) with an elected board of trustees that is in compliance with Chapter 49, Article 1 or 4 NMSA 1978;

                (2) that is in compliance with the Audit Act;

                (3) that is in compliance with Section 49-11-6 NMSA 1978; and

                (4) that has submitted a report by September 1 of each year to the council of its annual revenue for the previous year, calculated on a cash basis of accounting, exclusive of capital outlay funds, federal or private grants disbursed directly by an administering agency or previous year distributions from the assistance fund; and

          F. "real property" means land, improvements, water rights, mineral rights and right-of-way easements."

     SECTION 3. Section 49-11-6 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2022, Chapter 32, Section 2) is amended to read:

     "49-11-6. LAND GRANT-MERCED ASSISTANCE FUND CREATED--DISTRIBUTION.--

          A. The "land grant-merced assistance fund" is created in the state treasury and shall be administered by the department of finance and administration. The assistance fund consists of gifts, grants, donations, appropriations to the assistance fund and distributions to the assistance fund made pursuant to the Tax Administration Act.

          B. On or before September 1, 2023 and on or before September 1 of each subsequent year, the state auditor shall provide a list to the [land grant] council of the land grants-mercedes that are in compliance with the Audit Act and the category of compliance required for each land grant-merced pursuant to Subsection B of Section 12-6-3 NMSA 1978.

          C. Within thirty days of the receipt of the list of Audit-Act-compliant land grants-mercedes and their Audit Act compliance levels provided by the state auditor pursuant to Subsection B of this section, the [land grant council shall determine the land grants-mercedes on the list that are assistance-qualified pursuant to Paragraph (1) of Subsection F of this section] council shall create a list of qualified land grants-mercedes and their distribution categories pursuant to Subsection D of this section and provide [a] the list of those determinations to the department of finance and administration and the state treasurer; provided that when a land grant-merced is in arrears on repayment of a loan from the land fund at the time the council submits its list, the council shall also notify the department of finance and administration and the state treasurer of the payment amount owed.

          D. [An assistance-qualified] A qualified land grant-merced with an annual revenue [calculated on a cash basis of accounting, exclusive of capital outlay funds or federal or private grants disbursed directly by an administrating agency or previous year distributions from the land grant-merced assistance fund] as reported to the council as a condition of being a qualified land grant-merced as defined in Section 49-11-2 NMSA 1978 shall receive an annual distribution amount starting in fiscal year 2024 and continuing in each subsequent fiscal year in accordance with the following:

                (1) less than fifty thousand dollars ($50,000), the [assistance-qualified] qualified land grant-merced shall receive a full distribution;

                (2) at least fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) but not more than two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000), the [assistance-qualified] qualified land grant-merced shall receive seventy-five percent of a full distribution;

                (3) at least two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000) but not more than five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000), the [assistance-qualified] qualified land grant-merced shall receive fifty percent of a full distribution; and

                (4) five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) or more, the [assistance-qualified] qualified land grant-merced shall receive twenty-five percent of a full distribution.

          E. Within thirty days of receiving the list of [assistance-qualified] qualified land grants-mercedes pursuant to Subsection C of this section, the state treasurer shall distribute to each [assistance-qualified] qualified land grant-merced the amount determined pursuant to Subsections C and D of this section; provided that upon notification of a payment in arrears pursuant to Subsection C of this section, the state treasurer shall subtract the lesser of forty-five percent of the distribution or the amount of the payment owed from that land grant-merced's distribution and distribute the subtracted amount to the land fund. If the balance in the assistance fund as of the preceding June 30 exceeds the sum of certified amounts distributed, the difference shall revert to the [general] land fund.

          F. As used in this section,

                [(1) "assistance-qualified land grant-merced" means a land grant-merced that has supplied an account of its previous fiscal year revenue calculated in the same manner used for an annual calculation pursuant to Subsection D of this section to the land grant council, is in compliance with Chapter 49, Article 1 or 4 NMSA 1978, including having an elected board of trustees, and is in compliance with the Audit Act; and

                (2)] "full distribution" means an amount equal to the annual amount of money in the [land grant-merced] assistance fund at the start of a fiscal year divided by the total number of [assistance-qualified] qualified land grants-mercedes as determined by the [land grant] council pursuant to Subsection C of this section for that fiscal year."

     SECTION 4. A new section of the Land Grant Support Act is enacted to read:

     "[NEW MATERIAL] LAND GRANT-MERCED REVOLVING LAND FUND CREATED--ADMINISTRATION--PURPOSES.--

          A. The "land grant-merced revolving land fund" is created as a nonreverting fund in the state treasury. The land fund consists of accrued interest, appropriations, donations, gifts, grants, payments on loans made from the land fund, reversions from the assistance fund and other money provided to the land fund pursuant to statute. The land fund shall be administered by the council to make loans to qualified land grants-mercedes pursuant to Subsection B of this section. Disbursements from the land fund shall be made by warrant of the secretary of finance and administration pursuant to vouchers signed by the chair of the council or the chair's designee.

          B. The council shall make loans from the land fund to qualified land grants-mercedes for purchases of real property; provided that:

                (1) the council shall establish an application process and the terms, conditions and rates of interest for loans made from the land fund by rule; and provided further that the council shall not establish:

                     (a) a rate of interest on a loan of less than two percent per year or in excess of four percent per year;

                     (b) a loan repayment schedule for less than ten years or in excess of forty years; and

                     (c) a penalty for early repayment of a loan;

                (2) the council shall accept a capital outlay appropriation toward repayment of a loan;

                (3) the total amount of unpaid loans from the land fund to an individual land grant-merced shall not exceed twenty-five percent of the total amount of money appropriated or accrued to the land fund;

                (4) an otherwise qualified land grant-merced shall not be eligible for a loan from the land fund when its resulting total debt service to the land fund exceeds forty-five percent of its annual budget averaged over the previous five fiscal years; and

                (5) land purchased in whole or in part using money from a loan from the land fund shall be perpetually held in trust by the board of trustees of the purchasing land grant-merced as a nontransferrable asset for the benefit of the heirs of the land grant-merced; and provided further that purchased land may be transferred in an exchange with other government entities for other land. Land acquired through such an exchange shall be subject to the restrictions of this paragraph."

     SECTION 5. APPROPRIATION.--Eight million dollars ($8,000,000) is appropriated from the general fund to the land grant-merced revolving land fund for expenditure in fiscal year 2025 and subsequent fiscal years for the purposes of the fund. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of a fiscal year shall not revert to the general fund.

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