1. A. In addition to any other law authorizing a county to issue revenue bonds, a county may issue revenue bonds pursuant to Chapter 4, Article 62 NMSA 1978 for the purposes specified in this section.
2. B. Gross receipts tax revenue bonds may be issued for any county purpose. A county may pledge irrevocably any or all of the revenue received by the county pursuant to Section 7-1-6.13 NMSA 1978 for payment of principal and interest due in connection with, and other expenses related to, gross receipts tax revenue bonds or for any area of county government services. If the revenue is pledged for payment of principal and interest as authorized by this subsection, the pledge shall require the revenues received to be deposited into a special bond fund for payment of the principal, interest and expenses. At the end of each fiscal year, money remaining in the special bond fund after the annual obligations for the bonds are fully met may be transferred to any other fund of the county. Revenues in excess of the annual principal and interest due on gross receipts tax revenue bonds secured by a pledge of gross receipts tax revenue may be accumulated in a debt service reserve account. The governing body of the county may appoint a commercial bank trust department to act as trustee of the proceeds of the tax and to administer the payment of principal of and interest on the bonds.
3. C. Gasoline tax revenue bonds may be issued for the acquisition of rights of way for and the construction, reconstruction, resurfacing, maintenance, repair or other improvement of county roads and bridges. A county may pledge irrevocably any or all of the county gasoline tax revenue for payment of principal and interest due in connection with, and other expenses related to, county gasoline tax revenue bonds.
4. D. Utility revenue bonds or joint utility revenue bonds may be issued for acquiring, extending, enlarging, bettering, repairing or otherwise improving water facilities, sewer facilities, gas facilities or electric facilities. A county may pledge irrevocably any or all of the net revenues from the operation of the utility or joint utility for which the particular utility or joint utility bonds are issued to the payment of principal and interest due in connection with, and other expenses related to, utility or joint utility revenue bonds.
5. E. Project revenue bonds may be issued for acquiring, extending, enlarging, bettering, repairing, improving, constructing, purchasing, furnishing, equipping or rehabilitating any revenue-producing project, including, as applicable, purchasing, otherwise acquiring or improving the ground for the project and acquiring and improving parking lots. The county may pledge irrevocably any or all of the net revenues from the operation of the revenue-producing project for which the particular project revenue bonds are issued to the payment of the interest on and principal of the project revenue bonds. The net revenues of any revenue-producing project shall not be pledged to the project revenue bonds issued for any other revenue-producing project that is clearly unrelated in nature; but nothing in this subsection prevents the pledge to any of the project revenue bonds of the revenues received from existing, future or disconnected facilities and equipment that are related to and that may constitute a part of the particular revenue-producing project. A general determination by the governing body that facilities or equipment is reasonably related to and constitutes a part of a specified revenue-producing project shall be conclusive if set forth in the proceedings authorizing the project revenue bonds.
6. F. Fire district revenue bonds may be issued for acquiring, extending, enlarging, bettering, repairing, improving, constructing, purchasing, furnishing, equipping and rehabilitating a fire district project, including, as applicable, purchasing, otherwise acquiring or improving the ground for the project. The county may pledge irrevocably any or all of the revenues received by the fire district from the fire protection fund as provided in the Fire Protection Fund Law and any or all of the revenues provided for the operation of the fire district project for which the particular bonds are issued to the payment of the interest on and principal of the bonds. The revenues of a fire district project shall not be pledged to the bonds issued for a fire district project that clearly is unrelated in its purpose; but nothing in this section prevents the pledge to such bonds of revenues received from existing, future or disconnected facilities and equipment that are related to and that may constitute a part of the particular fire district project. A general determination by the governing body of the county that facilities or equipment is reasonably related to and constitutes a part of a specified fire district project shall be conclusive if set forth in the proceedings authorizing the fire district revenue bonds.
7. G. Law enforcement protection revenue bonds may be issued for the repair and purchase of law enforcement apparatus and equipment that meet nationally recognized standards. The county may pledge irrevocably any or all of the revenues received by the county from the law enforcement protection fund distributions pursuant to the Law Enforcement Protection Fund Act [Chapter 29, Article 13 NMSA 1978] to the payment of the interest on and principal of the law enforcement protection revenue bonds.
8. H. PILT revenue bonds may be issued by a county to repay all or part of the principal and interest of an outstanding loan owed by the county to the New Mexico finance authority. A county may pledge irrevocably all or part of PILT revenue to the payment of principal of and interest on new loans or preexisting loans provided by the New Mexico finance authority to finance a public project.
9. I. Emergency medical services bonds may be issued for the purchase of equipment for emergency medical system improvement projects or emergency medical services vehicles for which funding has been granted pursuant to the Emergency Medical Services Fund Act [Chapter 24, Article 10A NMSA 1978]. The county may pledge irrevocably any or all of the revenues received by the county from the emergency medical services fund distributions pursuant to the Emergency Medical Services Fund Act to the payment of the interest on and principal of the emergency medical services bonds.
10. J. Except for the purpose of refunding previous revenue bond issues, no county may sell revenue bonds payable from pledged revenue after the expiration of two years from the date of the ordinance authorizing the issuance of the bonds or, for bonds to be issued and sold to the New Mexico finance authority as authorized in Subsection C of Section 4-62-4 NMSA 1978, after the expiration of two years from the date of the resolution authorizing the issuance of the bonds. However, any period of time during which a particular revenue bond issue is in litigation shall not be counted in determining the expiration date of that issue.
11. K. No bonds may be issued by a county, other than an H class county, a class B county as defined in Section 4-36-8 NMSA 1978 or a class A county as described in Section 4-36-10 NMSA 1978, to acquire, equip, extend, enlarge, better, repair or construct a utility unless the utility is regulated by the public regulation commission pursuant to the Public Utility Act [Chapter 62, Articles 1 to 6 and 8 to 13 NMSA 1978] and the issuance of the bonds is approved by the commission.
12. L. Any law that imposes or authorizes the imposition of a tax authorized by the County Local Option Gross Receipts and Compensating Taxes Act [Chapter 7, Article 20E NMSA 1978] or that affects that tax shall not be repealed or amended in such a manner as to impair outstanding revenue bonds that are issued pursuant to Chapter 4, Article 62 NMSA 1978 and that may be secured by a pledge of the tax unless the outstanding revenue bonds have been discharged in full or for which provision has been fully made.

History: 1978 Comp., § 4-62-1, enacted by Laws 1992, ch. 95, § 1; 1993, ch. 282, § 14; 1993, ch. 308, § 2; 1995, ch. 141, § 8; 1996, ch. 83, § 2; 1997, ch. 20, § 1; 1998, ch. 90, § 2; 1999, ch. 199, § 2; 2000, ch. 69, § 1; 2001, ch. 172, § 3; 2001, ch. 328, § 2; 2003, ch. 98, § 1; 2010, ch. 82, § 1; 2017, ch. 47, § 1; 2019, ch. 210, § 1; 2019, ch. 274, § 4; 2025, ch. 23, § 3.

ANNOTATIONS

Repeals and reenactments. — Laws 1992, ch. 95, § 1 repealed former 4-62-1 NMSA 1978, as enacted by Laws 1983, ch. 158, § 1, relating to authorization for revenue bonds, and enacted a new section, effective May 20, 1992.

Repeals. — Laws 2025, ch. 23, § 6 repealed Laws 2019, ch. 210, § 1, effective July 1, 2025.

The 2025 amendment, effective July 1, 2025, allowed the issuance of emergency medical services bonds for the purchase of equipment for emergency medical system improvement projects or emergency medical services vehicles for which funding has been granted pursuant to the Emergency Medical Services Fund Act, and made technical amendments; added new Subsection I and redesignated the succeeding subsections accordingly; and in Subsection L, after "County Local Option Gross Receipts," added "and Compensating".

2019 Amendments. — Laws 2019, ch. 274, § 4, effective July 1, 2019, removed specific purposes for which gross receipts revenue bonds may be issued, and provided that gross receipts revenue bonds may be issued for any county purpose; in Subsection A, after "specified in this section.", deleted the remainder of the subsection, which provided for "pledged revenues"; in Subsection B, after "may be issued for", deleted "one or more of the following purposes:" and added "any county purpose", deleted Paragraphs B(1) through B(9) and paragraph designation "(10)", from former Paragraph B(10), deleted "acquiring, constructing, extending, bettering, repairing or otherwise improving public transit systems or regional transit systems of facilities", after "all of the revenue", deleted "from the first one-eighth increment, the third one-eighth increment and the one-sixteenth increment of the county gross receipts tax and any increment of the county infrastructure gross receipts tax and county capital outlay gross receipts tax" and added "received by the county pursuant to Section 7-1-6.13 NMSA 1978", after "If the revenue", deleted "from the first one-eighth increment, the third one-eighth increment or the one-sixteenth increment of the county gross receipts tax or any increment of the county infrastructure gross receipts tax or county capital outlay gross receipts tax", and after "require the revenues received", deleted "from that increment of the county gross receipts tax or any increment of the county infrastructure gross receipts tax or county capital outlay gross receipts tax"; deleted former Subsections C and D and redesignated former Subsections E through H as Subsections C through F, respectively; in Subsection C, deleted the last sentence of the subsection, which provided "These bonds may be referred to in Chapter 4, Article 62 NMSA 1978 as ‘gasoline tax revenue bonds’"; in Subsection D, deleted the last sentence of the subsection, which provided "These bonds may be referred to in Chapter 4, Article 62 NMSA 1978 as ‘utility revenue bonds’ or ‘joint utility revenue bonds’"; in Subsection E, after "authorizing the project revenue bonds.", deleted "As used in Chapter 4, Article 62 NMSA 1978:", deleted former Paragraphs E(1) and E(2); deleted former Subsections J through M and redesignated former Subsections N through Q as Subsections H through K, respectively; in Subsection H, after "authority to finance a public project.", deleted "as ‘public project’ is defined in Subsection E of Section 6-21-3 NMSA 1978."; in Subsection J, after "approved by the commission.", deleted "For purposes of Chapter 4, Article 62 NMSA 1978, a ‘utility’ includes a water, wastewater, sewer, gas or electric utility or joint utility serving the public. H class counties shall obtain public regulation commission approvals required by Section 3-23-3 NMSA 1978"; in Subsection K, after "authorizes the imposition of a", deleted "county gross receipts tax, a county environmental services gross receipts tax, a county fire protection excise tax, a county infrastructure gross receipts tax, the county education gross receipts tax, a county capital outlay gross receipts tax, the gasoline tax, the county hospital emergency gross receipts tax, the countywide emergency communications and emergency medical and behavioral health services tax or the county area emergency communications and emergency medical and behavioral health services tax, or that affects any of those taxes" and added "tax authorized by the County Local Option Gross Receipts Taxes Act or that affects that tax"; and deleted former Subsections R and S.

Temporary provisions. — Laws 2019, ch. 274, § 15 provided:

A. The repeal of and changes to certain taxes made in this act shall not impair outstanding bonds that are secured by a pledge of those taxes.

B. If a municipality or county has issued a revenue bond that is secured by a pledge of a tax being amended or repealed by this act, the revenue received by the municipality or county is impressed with the obligation to repay the outstanding bond and is dedicated to that repayment until the bond is fully discharged or otherwise provided for in full.

C. If a municipality or county has dedicated any amount of revenue attributable to a tax being amended or repealed by this act, the municipality or county shall continue to dedicate the same amount of revenue attributable to the tax until the ordinance dedicating the revenue expires, the term of the dedication expires, the governing body acts to change the dedication or, in the case of bonded indebtedness, the debt is fully discharged or otherwise provided for in full.

The 2017 amendment, effective April 6, 2017, authorized the issuance of county area emergency communications and emergency medical and behavioral health services tax revenue bonds and countywide emergency communications and emergency medical and behavioral health services tax revenue bonds to purchase emergency communications equipment for certain emergency communications centers, defined "county area emergency communications and emergency medical and behavioral health services tax revenue", "county infrastructure gross receipts tax revenue", and "countywide emergency communications and emergency medical and behavioral health services tax revenue" for purposes of this section, and made technical changes; in Subsection A, after "in Subsections B through", deleted "M" and added "N"; in Subsection B, Paragraph B(1), after "ground", deleted "relating thereto, including but not necessarily limited to acquiring and improving parking lots, or any combination of the foregoing" and added "of the building or buildings", in Paragraph B(2), after "facilities", deleted "or any combination of the foregoing", in Paragraph B(3), after "firefighting equipment", deleted "or any combination of the foregoing", in Paragraph B(4), after "wastewater or related facilities", deleted "including but not limited to" and added "which may include", and after "water rights", deleted "or any combination of the foregoing", in Paragraph B(5), after "roads or bridges", deleted "or any combination of the foregoing", and after "roads or bridges", deleted "or any combination of the foregoing; provided that any of the foregoing improvements" and added "which", in Paragraph B(6), after "airport facilities", deleted "or any combination of the foregoing, including without limitation", and added "which may include", in Paragraph B(7), after "purchasing", deleted "or", after "otherwise acquiring", deleted "and" and added "or", in Paragraph B(8), after "recreational facilities", deleted "or any combination of the foregoing", in Paragraph B(9), after "repairing", deleted "or", after the second occurrence of "sanitary landfills", added "or", after "solid waste facilities", deleted "or any combination of the foregoing; or", and added "and" at the end of the paragraph, and in Paragraph B(10), after "public transit systems or", deleted "any"; in Subsection C, after "equipping or rehabilitating", deleted "any" and added "an", after "district project or", deleted "facilities" and added "facility", and after "ground for the project", deleted "or any combination of such purposes"; in Subsection F, after "electric facilities", deleted "or for any combination of the foregoing purposes"; in Subsection G, in the introductory paragraph, after "acquiring or improving the ground", deleted "therefor" and added "for the project", after "and", deleted "including but not limited to", and after "improving parking lots", deleted "or may be issued for any combination of the foregoing purposes"; in Subsection H, after "equipping and rehabilitating", deleted "any" and added "a", after "acquiring or improving the ground", deleted "therefor, or for any combination of the foregoing purposes" and added "for the project"; added a new Subsection M and redesignated the succeeding subsections accordingly; in Subsection P, after "‘utility’ includes", deleted "but is not limited to"; in Subsection Q, after "county hospital emergency gross receipts tax", added "the countywide emergency communications and emergency medical and behavioral health services tax or the county area emergency communications and emergency medical and behavioral health services tax"; in Subsection R, deleted former Paragraph R(1), which defined "county infrastructure gross receipts tax revenue", and added a new Paragraph R(1), added new Paragraphs R(7) and R(8) and redesignated the succeeding paragraphs accordingly, and in Paragraph R(11), after "includes", deleted "but is not limited to"; and in Subsection S, after "Article 62 NMSA 1978,", deleted "the term".

The 2010 amendment, effective July 1, 2010, in Subsection B, in the first sentence of the second paragraph, after "revenue from the first one-eighth", changed "of one percent increment and, the third one-eighth of one percent increment of the county gross receipts tax" to "increment, the third one-eighth increment and the one-sixteenth increment of the county gross receipts tax"; in the second sentence, after "If the revenue from the first one-eighth", changed "of one percent increment or, the third one-eighth of one percent increment of the county gross receipts tax" to "increment, the third one-eighth increment or the one-sixteenth increment of the county gross receipts tax"; and in Subsection Q(6), after "revenue attributable to the first one-eighth", changed "of one percent and, the third one-eighth of one percent increments of the county gross receipts tax" to "increment, third one-eighth increment and the one-sixteenth increment of the county gross receipts tax" and after "distribution related to the first one-eighth", deleted "of one percent" and added "increment".

The 2003 amendment, effective July 1, 2003, substituted "M" for "L" near the end of Subsection A; substituted "receipts" for "receipt" following "capital outlay gross" in the paragraph following Subsection B(10); substituted "may" for "shall" following "revenue-producing project" in Subsection G; inserted "revenue" near the end of Subsection H; added present Subsection M and redesignated former Subsections M to Q as present Subsections P to R; and added Subsection Q(8).

The 2001 amendment, effective April 5, 2001, inserted "any increment of" and "and county capital outlay gross receipts tax" three times each in near the end of Subsection B; added Subsection L; redesignated Subsections L to P as M to Q; inserted "the county education gross receipts tax, a county capital outlay gross receipts tax" to the list in current Subsection O; inserted Subsection P(2); inserted current Subsection P(3); and redesignated former Subsections P(2) to (6) as P(4) to (8).

This section was also amended by Laws 2001, ch. 172, § 3. The section was set out as amended by Laws 2001, ch. 328 § 2. See 12-1-8 NMSA 1978.

The 2000 amendment, effective March 6, 2000, inserted "or county health" preceding "facility" in the first and last sentences of Subsection J.

The 1999 amendment, effective April 6, 1999, rewrote the second undesignated paragraph following Subsection B(10); substituted "the Fire Protection Fund Law" for "Sections 59A-53-1 through 59A-53-17 NMSA 1978" and "prevents" for "shall prevent" in Subsection H; substituted "the Law Enforcement Protection Fund Act" for "Sections 29-13-1 through 29-13-9 NMSA 1978" in Subsection I; substituted "public regulation" for "New Mexico public utility regulation" in Subsection M; and made minor stylistic changes.

The 1998 amendment, effective May 20, 1998, in Subsection B(4), substituted "plants, water utilities or other water, wastewater or related facilities" for "plants, or water utilities"; added Subsection B(10); in the undesignated paragraph immediately following Subsection B(10), inserted "and the third one-eighth of one percent increment" and "and the county infrastructure gross receipts tax" in the first sentence, in the second sentence, deleted "county gross receipts tax" following "If the" and inserted "or the third one-eighth of one percent increment" and "or the county infrastructure gross receipts tax"; added the undesignated paragraph immediately preceding Subsection C; added Subsection K and redesignated the following subsections accordingly; in Subsection N, inserted "a county infrastructure gross receipts tax"; added Subsection O(1), redesignating the following paragraphs accordingly and in Subsection O(4) substituted "and the third one-eighth of one percent increments for "increment" and in Subsection O(6), inserted "county or regional" and "county or regional juvenile detention facilities"; and made minor stylistic changes throughout the section.

The 1997 amendment, effective July 1, 1997, substituted "Subsections B through J of this section" for "Subsections B through I of this section" at the end of Subsection A, deleted "but are not limited to" following "improvements may include" near the end of Subsection B(5), added Subsection J and redesignated former Subsections J to N as Subsections K to O, substituted "the gasoline tax or the county hospital emergency gross receipts tax" for "or the gasoline tax" in Subsection M, and made minor stylistic changes in Subsections B, G and H.

The 1996 amendment, effective March 6, 1996, inserted "or a class A county as described in Section 4-36-10 NMSA 1978" near the beginning of the first sentence in Subsection K.

The 1995 amendment, effective April 5, 1995, substituted "Subsections B through I" for "Subsection B through F" in the last sentence in Subsection A; inserted "for any of the purposes authorized in this section or specific purposes or for any area of county government services" in the first sentence of the second paragraph in Subsection B; added Subsections H, I and N and redesignated former Subsections H through K as Subsections J through M; inserted the language beginning "or, for bonds to be issued" at the end of the first sentence in Subsection J, substituted "public utility commission" for "public service commission" throughout Subsection K; and in Subsection M, deleted "Subsection E of" preceding "Section 7-1-6.13" in Paragraph (1), deleted "Subsection A of" preceding "Section 7-1-6.13" in Paragraph (2), and deleted "Subsection B of" preceding "Section 7-1-6.13" in Paragraph (3).

1993 amendments. — Laws 1993, ch. 282, § 14, effective June 18, 1993, substituting "or" for "and" preceding "rehabilitating" in the first sentence of Subsection G, and "New Mexico public utility commission" for "New Mexico public service commission" in the first and last sentences of Subsection I, was approved April 7, 1993. However, Laws 1993, ch. 308, § 2, effective April 8, 1993, substituting "or" for "and" at the end of Subsection B(8) and preceding "rehabilitating" in the first sentence of Subsection G, and inserting "or a class B county as defined in Section 4-36-8 NMSA 1978" in the first sentence of Subsection I, was approved April 8, 1993. The section was set out as amended by Laws 1993, ch. 308, § 2. See 12-1-8 NMSA 1978.

Obligations paid by special funds. — Revenues derived from the county's share of the gross receipts and gasoline taxes are within the special fund doctrine, since the legislature has expressly authorized the use of such funds for the issuance of revenue bonds. Bolton v. Board of Cnty. Comm'rs, 1994-NMCA-167, 119 N.M. 355, 890 P.2d 808, cert. denied, 119 N.M. 311, 889 P.2d 1233 (1995).