Opinion ID: 1145452
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Authority to Contract

Text: The Association's claim that the Commission had no authority to contract with BOR also must fail. The Association argues that the Commission may not contract with the BOR for water rights, but that individual municipalities can under Section 3-27-5(A) if they pass ordinances authorizing the contract. Absent an ordinance, the Association argues, none of the individual member-municipalities had the capacity to contract with the BOR. The Association, however, ignores the Joint Powers Agreements Act, NMSA 1978, Sections 11-1-1 to -7 (Repl. Pamp. 1983 & Cum.Supp. 1991), which allows more than one municipality or county to enter into an agreement with the United States government. Section 11-1-3 makes no mention of having to pass an ordinance, but instead requires only that a public agency, defined in Section 11-1-2(A), be authorized to do so. See Section 11-1-3. None of the individual members of the Commission passed ordinances to enter into the Joint Powers Agreement, but each member passed a resolution that authorized them to sign the contracts with the BOR in their capacity as members of the Commission for the acquisition of a water supply. The district court held that each member of the Commission had the authority under the Joint Powers Agreements Act to form the Commission and contract with the BOR for water rights. Section 11-1-3 provides that two or more public agencies by agreement may jointly exercise any power common to the contracting parties.... The district court found that their common authority existed under NMSA 1978, Section 72-14-28(E) (Repl. Pamp. 1985), which authorizes the political subdivisions of this state ... and similar organizations, organized under the laws of New Mexico to contract with the United States concerning water projects. We agree.