N.M. Stat. § 4-62-1 (2026)

limitation on time of issuance.
   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.

    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.

    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.

     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.

   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.

    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.

   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.

    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.

   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.

    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.

   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.

    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).