2023 New Mexico Statutes › Chapter 73 - Special Districts › Article 20 - Soil and Water and Watershed Conservation Districts › Section 73-20-46 - District assessments.

A. In the event a district is unable to meet or bear the expense of the duties imposed upon it by the Soil and Water Conservation District Act, the supervisors may adopt a resolution that, to be effective, shall be approved by referendum in the district and that shall provide for an annual levy in a stated amount not exceeding five dollars ($5.00) on each one thousand dollars ($1,000) of net taxable value, as that term is defined in the Property Tax Code [Articles 35 to 38 of Chapter 7 NMSA 1978], of real property within the district, except that real property within incorporated cities and towns in the district may be excluded. The referendum held to approve or reject the resolution of the supervisors shall be conducted pursuant to the Local Election Act [Chapter 1, Article 22 NMSA 1978]. After the initial authorization is approved by referendum, the supervisors shall adopt a resolution in each following year authorizing the levy.
B. A resolution authorized under Subsection A of this section shall not be effective, and neither a referendum nor a levy is authorized, unless the resolution is submitted to and approved in writing by the commission.
C. In the event a resolution of the supervisors is adopted and approved in accordance with the provisions of Subsection A of this section, the supervisors of the district shall certify by the fifteenth of July of each year to the county assessor of each county in which there is situate land subject to the district assessment:
(1) a copy of the resolution of the supervisors;
(2) the results of any referendum held in the year the certification is made; and
(3) a list of landowners of the district and a description of the land owned by each that is subject to assessment.
D. A county assessor shall indicate the information on the tax schedules, compute the assessment and present the district assessment by regular tax bill.
E. The district assessment shall be collected by the county treasurer of each county in which taxable district land is situate in the same manner and at the same time that county ad valorem taxes are levied. The conditions, penalties and rates of interest applicable to county ad valorem taxation apply to the levy and collection of district assessments. A county treasurer shall be entitled to a collection fee equal to the actual costs of collection or four percent of the money collected from the levy of the district assessment, whichever is the lesser.
F. District funds, regardless of origin, shall be transferred to and held by the supervisors and shall be expended for district obligations and functions. The supervisors shall prepare an annual budget and submit it for approval to the commission and to the local government division of the department of finance and administration. All district funds shall be expended in accordance with the approved budgets.
G. In the event the supervisors of a district determine that there are or will be sufficient funds available for the operation of the district for any year for which an assessment is to be levied, they shall, by resolution, direct the assessor of each county in which taxable district land is situate, by July 15 of each year, to decrease the district assessment or to delete the district assessment reflected on the tax schedules.
H. Any levy authorized by the Soil and Water Conservation District Act, and any loan or other indebtedness authorized by that act that will require a levy, shall be based exclusively on or levied exclusively on the real property in the district, except that real property within incorporated cities and towns may be excluded.
History:
1953 Comp., § 45-5-61, enacted by Laws 1965, ch. 137, § 20; 1969, ch. 164, § 1; 1977, ch. 254, § 73; 1986, ch. 32, § 39; 1989, ch. 21, § 1; 1989, ch. 273, § 1; 1999, ch. 42, § 1; 2003, ch. 88, § 18; 2009, ch. 204, § 2; 2018, ch. 79, § 169.
ANNOTATIONS
Cross references.
— For county assessor,
see
Chapter 4, Article 39 NMSA 1978.
For county treasurer,
see
Chapter 4, Article 43 NMSA 1978.
For local government division of the department of finance and administration,
see
9-6-3 NMSA 1978.
For referendums creating soil and water conservation districts,
see
73-20-34 NMSA 1978.
For the New Mexico finance authority,
see
6-21-4 NMSA 1978.
The 2018 amendment,
effective July 1, 2018, raised the maximum amount of an annual levy that may be imposed by supervisors of soil and water conservation districts, subject to approval by referendum, and removed the limit on the duration of the levy, provided that a referendum held to approve or reject the proposed levy shall be conducted pursuant to the Local Election Act; in Subsection A, after "shall provide for an annual levy", deleted "for a stated period of up to ten years", after "amount not exceeding", deleted "one dollar ($1.00)" and added "five dollars ($5.00)", after "supervisors shall be conducted", deleted "with appropriate ballot and in substantially the same manner as a referendum adopting and approving the creation of a proposed district" and added "pursuant to the Local Election Act", and after "each following year authorizing the levy.", deleted the remainder of the subsection, which related to extending an assessment beyond the period of time authorized in the referendum.
The 2009 amendment,
effective June 19, 2009, in Subsection A, after "not exceeding one dollar ($1.00)", deleted "or any lower maximum amount required by operation of the rate limitation provisions of Section 7-37-7.1 NMSA 1978 upon the assessment authorized by this section".
The 2003 amendment,
effective June 20, 2003, deleted "district" following "resolution of the" near the end of Paragraph C(1); in Subsection F, deleted "assessment" following "District" at the beginning, deleted "district" preceding "supervisors" near the beginning and deleted "The supervisors shall prepare an annual budget and submit it for approval to the commission and to the local government division of the department of finance and administration." near the middle, inserted "the approved" following "in accordance with" near the end and deleted "approved by the commission and by the local government division of the department of finance and administration" at the end; and deleted "Owners of nonagricultural land may petition the district board of supervisors to delete their real property from the tax schedules, insofar as the district assessment is concerned; provided that these lands will not benefit from the operation of the district or the project for which the loan or levy is to be made." at the end of Subsection H.
The 1999 amendment,
effective March 16, 1999, inserted "including the New Mexico finance authority" in the last sentence of Subsection A; in Subsection B, deleted "soil and water conservation" following "writing by the" and deleted "created under Section 73-20-28 NMSA 1978" following "commission"; substituted "excluded" for "included" at the end of the first sentence in Subsection H; and made minor stylistic changes.
The 1989 amendment,
effective June 16, 1989, which, in Subsection A, substituted "the supervisors may adopt a resolution which, to be effective, must be approved by referendum in the district, and which shall provide for annual levy for a stated period of up to ten years in a stated amount" for "the supervisors, by resolution, and the district by adoption of referendum, may levy an assessment" and substituted the last four sentences for "provided, however, an assessment shall not be levied unless, by July 15 of each year the resolution of the supervisors has been adopted and approved by a majority of the district landowners voting at the referendum"; added present Subsection B and redesignated subsequent subsections accordingly; and in Subsection C, substituted "approved in accordance with the provisions of Subsection A of this section" for "approved by the voters of the district at referendum" and present Paragraph (2) for the former paragraph, which read "the results of the referendum; and".
The 1986 amendment,
in Subsection A, substituted the language following "not exceeding" in the first sentence for "one mill per dollar of total taxable valuation of real property, except that real property within incorporated cities and towns in the district may be excluded" and inserted "by July 15 of each year" in the second sentence; in Subsection B, inserted "by the fifteenth of July of each year" in the introductory paragraph; in Subsections C, F, and G, substituted "tax schedules" for "tax rolls"; and, in Subsection F, substituted "by July 15 of each year" for "prior to that year's county ad valorem assessment".
Sale of personal property of district.
— Unless the provisions of Section 13-6-2 NMSA 1978 are complied with, personal property of a soil conservation district (now soil and water conservation district) cannot be sold, regardless of how or from whom acquired, without first obtaining approval of the state board of finance. 1963 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 63-125.
Future levy.
— Supervisors of district could adopt resolution calling for future assessment of a one mill tax to be levied in the event district was unable to repay money borrowed from interstate stream commission. 1972 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 72-54.
Ten-year limit applies to mill levies passed prior to the 2018 amendment.
— Prior to the 2018 amendment to 73-20-46(A) NMSA 1978, this provision limited annual mill levies to one dollar per each thousand dollars of net taxable value for a period stated in the referendum of up to ten years, but in 2018, the New Mexico legislature amended this provision to increase the maximum annual amount of annual mill levies from one dollar to five dollars per each one thousand dollars of net taxable value and removed the language limiting mill levies to a stated period of up to ten years, and in 2019, clarified, by the enactment of 73-20-46.1 NMSA 1978, that a levy approved by the voters of a district and authorized by the commission pursuant to 73-20-46 NMSA 1978 prior to July 1, 2018 shall continue to be assessed pursuant to the laws in effect at the time the levy was initially approved. Hence, mill levies approved and existing prior to July 1, 2018 remain limited to a stated period of up to ten years.
Recent Amendments to the Soil and Water Conservation District Act
(12/4/20), Att'y Gen. Adv. Ltr. 2020-11.
New or increased mill levy's effect on mill levies in effect prior to July 1, 2018.
— Prior to the 2018 amendment to 73-20-46(A) NMSA 1978, this provision limited annual mill levies to one dollar per each thousand dollars of net taxable value for a period stated in the referendum of up to ten years, but in 2018, the New Mexico legislature amended this provision to increase the maximum annual amount of annual mill levies from one dollar to five dollars per each one thousand dollars of net taxable value and removed the language limiting mill levies to a stated period of up to ten years, and in 2019, the legislature clarified, by the enactment of 73-20-46.1 NMSA 1978, that a levy approved by the voters of a district and authorized by the commission pursuant to this section prior to July 1, 2018 shall continue to be assessed pursuant to the laws in effect at the time the levy was initially approved. Hence, soil and water conservation districts holding a mill levy that existed prior to July 1, 2018 would retain that same mill levy if the district held a subsequent referendum and failed to approve a new mill levy or an increase in its old levy. Similarly, the successful passage of a new or increased mill levy would not affect the ten-year limit on an existing mill levy, and an increase in the amount of an older mill levy that existed prior to July 1, 2018 would remain subject to the ten-year limit after it was increased and could only be increased up to one dollar on each thousand dollars of net taxable value.
Recent Amendments to the Soil and Water Conservation District Act
(12/4/20), Att'y Gen. Adv. Ltr. 2020-11.
Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. —
45 Am. Jur. 2d Irrigation §§ 70 to 72.
94 C.J.S. Waters §§ 332 to 337.