Section 4-59-4 - Additional powers conferred on countiesIn addition to any other powers that it may now have, each county shall have the following powers:
A. to acquire, whether by construction, purchase, gift or lease, one or more projects, which shall be located within this state and shall be located within the county outside the boundaries of any incorporated municipality; provided, however, that: (1) a class A county with a population of more than three hundred thousand may acquire projects located anywhere in the county; and(2) a county shall not acquire any electricity generation facility, transmission facility or energy storage facility project unless the school districts within the county in which the project is located receive annual in-lieu tax payments; provided that the annual in-lieu tax payments required by this paragraph shall be: (a) payable to the school districts for the period the county owns and leases the project;(b) in an aggregate amount equal to the amount received by the county multiplied by the percentage determined by dividing the average of all of the mills imposed by the school districts in the county, including the operating, capital improvement, building improvement, education technology and bond mills imposed by the school districts in the county plus state debt service mills as of the date of issuance of the bonds by the average of the mills imposed by all entities levying taxes on property in the county as of such date;(c) divided among the school districts located within the county, and if there is more than one school district in such county, the in-lieu payment shall be allocated as follows: 1) fifty percent allocated equally among all school districts in which the project is located; 2) forty percent allocated to the school districts within the county in proportion to the area of each school district within the county; and3) ten percent allocated to the school districts in proportion to the average of each school district's student membership pursuant to the Public School Code [Chapter 22 NMSA 1978, except Article 5A] reported on the second and third reporting dates for the most recent school year for which data is available as of the date of issuance of the bonds; and(d) for each individual school district located within the county, no less than the amount due to the school district in the tax year immediately preceding the issuance of the bonds from the property included in a project, had such project not been created;B. to sell or lease or otherwise dispose of any or all of its projects upon such terms and conditions as the commission may deem advisable and as shall not conflict with the provisions of the County Industrial Revenue Bond Act; andC. to issue revenue bonds for the purpose of defraying the cost of acquiring, by construction and purchase or either, any project and to secure the payment of such bonds, all as provided in the County Industrial Revenue Bond Act. No county shall have the power to operate any project as a business or in any manner except as lessor thereof.1953 Comp., § 15-60-4, enacted by Laws 1975, ch. 286, § 4; 1979, ch. 389, § 2; 1997, ch. 216, § 5; 1997, ch. 226, § 5; 2001, ch. 284, § 2; 2003, ch. 221, § 3.Amended by 2024, c. 67,s. 4, eff. 7/1/2024.Amended by 2023, c. 180,s. 2, eff. 4/5/2023.Amended by 2021, c. 91,s. 3, eff. 4/6/2021.Amended by 2020, c. 14,s. 5, eff. 7/1/2020.