2023 New Mexico Statutes › Chapter 3 - Municipalities › Article 60A - Metropolitan Redevelopment › Section 3-60A-23.1 - Tax increment bonds. (Effective July 1, 2024.)

A. For the purpose of financing metropolitan redevelopment projects, in whole or in part, a local government may issue tax increment bonds or tax increment bond anticipation notes that are payable from and secured by revenue from a gross receipts tax increment allocated to the metropolitan redevelopment fund pursuant to Sections 3-60A-21 and 3-60A-23 NMSA 1978. The principal of, premium, if any, and interest on the bonds or notes shall be payable from and secured by a pledge of such revenues, and the local government shall irrevocably pledge all or part of the revenues to the payment of the bonds or notes. The revenues deposited in the metropolitan redevelopment fund or the designated part thereof may thereafter be used only for the payment of the principal of, premium, if any, and interest on the bonds or notes, and a holder of the bonds or notes shall have a first lien against the revenues deposited in the metropolitan redevelopment fund or the designated part thereof for the payment of principal of, premium, if any, and interest on the bonds or notes. To increase the security and marketability of the tax increment bonds or notes, the local government may:
(1) create a lien for the benefit of the bondholders on any public improvements or public works used solely by the metropolitan redevelopment project or portion of a project financed by the bonds or notes, or on the revenues of such improvements or works;
(2) provide that the proceeds from the sale of real and personal property acquired with the proceeds from the sale of bonds or notes issued pursuant to the Tax Increment Law [3-60A-19 to 3-60A-25 NMSA 1978] shall be deposited in the metropolitan redevelopment fund and used for the purposes of repayment of principal of, premium, if any, and interest on the bonds or notes; and
(3) make covenants and do any and all acts not inconsistent with law as may be necessary, convenient or desirable in order to additionally secure the bonds or notes or make the bonds or notes more marketable in the exercise of the discretion of the local government.
B. Bonds and notes issued pursuant to this section shall not constitute an indebtedness within the meaning of any constitutional or statutory debt limitation or restriction, shall not be general obligations of the local government, shall be collectible only from the proper pledged revenues and shall not be subject to the provisions of any other law or charter relating to the authorization, issuance or sale of tax increment bonds or tax increment bond anticipation notes. Bonds and notes issued pursuant to the Tax Increment Law are declared to be issued for an essential public and governmental purpose and, together with interest thereon, shall be exempted from all taxes by the state.
C. The bonds or notes shall be authorized by an ordinance of the local government; shall be in a denomination or denominations, bear a date and mature, in the case of bonds, at a time not exceeding twenty years from their date, and in the case of notes, not exceeding five years from the date of the original note; bear interest at a rate or have appreciated principal value not exceeding the maximum net effective interest rate permitted by the Public Securities Act [6-14-1 through 6-14-3 NMSA 1978]; and be in a form, carry registration privileges, be executed in a manner, be payable at a place within or without the state, be payable at intervals or at maturity and be subject to terms of redemption as the authorizing ordinance or supplemental resolution of the local government may provide.
D. The bonds or notes may be sold in one or more series at, below or above par, at public or private sale, in a manner and for a price as the local government, in its discretion, shall determine; provided that the price at which the bonds or notes are sold shall not result in a net effective interest rate that exceeds the maximum permitted by the Public Securities Act. As an incidental expense of a metropolitan redevelopment project or the portion financed with the bonds or notes, the local government in its discretion may employ financial and legal consultants with regard to the financing of the project.
E. In case any of the public officials of the local government whose signatures appear on any bonds or notes issued pursuant to the Tax Increment Law cease to be public officials before the delivery of the bonds or notes, the signatures shall, nevertheless, be valid and sufficient for all purposes, the same as if the officials had remained in office until delivery. Any provision of law to the contrary notwithstanding, any bonds or notes issued pursuant to the Tax Increment Law shall be fully negotiable.
F. In any suit, action or proceeding involving the validity or enforceability of any bond or note issued pursuant to the Tax Increment Law or the security therefor, any bond or note reciting in substance that it has been issued by the local government in connection with a metropolitan redevelopment project shall be conclusively deemed to have been issued for that purpose and the project shall be conclusively deemed to have been planned, located and carried out in accordance with the provisions of the Metropolitan Redevelopment Code [Chapter 3, Article 60A NMSA 1978].
G. The proceedings under which tax increment bonds or tax increment bond anticipation notes are authorized to be issued and any mortgage, deed of trust, trust indenture or other lien or security device on real and personal property given to secure the same may contain provisions customarily contained in instruments securing bonds and notes and constituting a covenant with the bondholders.
H. A local government may issue bonds or notes pursuant to this section with the proceeds from the bonds or notes to be used as other money is authorized to be used in the Metropolitan Redevelopment Code.
I. Subject to the provisions of Section 6 of this 2023 act, the local government shall have the power to issue renewal notes, to issue bonds to pay notes and, whenever it deems refunding expedient, to refund any bonds by the issuance of new bonds, whether the bonds to be refunded have or have not matured, and to issue bonds partly to refund bonds then outstanding and partly for other purposes in connection with financing metropolitan redevelopment projects, in whole or in part. Refunding bonds issued pursuant to the Tax Increment Law to refund outstanding tax increment bonds shall be payable from a gross receipts tax increment, out of which the bonds to be refunded thereby are payable or from other lawfully available revenues.
J. The proceeds from the sale of any bonds or notes shall be applied only for the purpose for which the bonds or notes were issued, and if, for any reason, any portion of the proceeds are not needed for the purpose for which the bonds or notes were issued, the unneeded portion of the proceeds shall be applied to the payment of the principal of or the interest on the bonds or notes.
K. The cost of financing a metropolitan redevelopment project shall be deemed to include the actual cost of acquiring a site and the cost of the construction of any part of a project, including architects' and engineers' fees, the purchase price of any part of a project that may be acquired by purchase and all expenses in connection with the authorization, sale and issuance of the bonds or notes to finance the acquisition and any related costs incurred by the local government.
L. No action shall be brought questioning the legality of any contract, mortgage, deed of trust, trust indenture or other lien or security device, proceeding or bonds or notes executed in connection with any project authorized by the Metropolitan Redevelopment Code on and after thirty days from the effective date of the ordinance authorizing the issuance of such bonds or notes.
History:
Laws 2000, ch. 103, § 4; 2018, ch. 60, § 23; 2023, ch. 112, § 7.
ANNOTATIONS
The 2023 amendment,
effective July 1, 2024, authorized a local government to issue bonds payable from local option and state gross receipts tax revenues and removed authority to issue bonds payable from property tax revenue; and in Subsection A, in the introductory paragraph, after "secured by", deleted "real property taxes, in whole or in part" and added "revenue from a gross receipts tax increment"; and in Subsection I, added "Subject to the provisions of Section 6 of this 2023 act,", and after "payable from", deleted "real property tax revenues" and added "a gross receipts tax increment".