N.M. Stat. § 7-35-2 (2026)

As used in the Property Tax Code:

   A. "abandoned real property" means real property:

       (1)   that is part of a subdivision where the subdivision has a minimum of five
thousand lots in delinquency on the department's delinquent property tax list as
prepared by the appropriate county treasurer pursuant to Section 7-38-61 NMSA 1978
as of January 1, 2019;

       (2)    of which the subdivided lots are vacant;

       (3)    that is part of a subdivision plotted on or before 1980;

        (4)   the property taxes, penalties and interest of which are delinquent for at
least ten years; and

      (5)     that does not include property with existing homes, businesses or other
habitable structures;

   B. "department" or "division" means the taxation and revenue department, the
secretary of taxation and revenue or any employee of the department exercising
authority lawfully delegated to that employee by the secretary;

   C. "director" means the secretary;

   D. "livestock" means cattle, buffalo, horses, mules, sheep, goats, swine, ratites and
other domestic animals useful to humans;

   E. "manufactured home" means a manufactured home as that term is defined in
Section 66-1-4.11 NMSA 1978;

   F. "net taxable value" means the value of property upon which the tax is imposed
and is determined by deducting from taxable value the amount of any exemption
authorized by the Property Tax Code;

   G. "nonresidential property" means property that is not residential property;

   H. "owner" means the person in whom is vested any title to property;
   I. "person" means an individual or any other legal entity;

   J. "property" means tangible property, real or personal;

    K. "residential property" means property consisting of one or more dwellings
together with appurtenant structures, the land underlying both the dwellings and the
appurtenant structures and a quantity of land reasonably necessary for parking and
other uses that facilitate the use of the dwellings and appurtenant structures. As used in
this subsection, "dwellings" includes both manufactured homes and other structures
when used primarily for permanent human habitation, but the term does not include
structures when used primarily for temporary or transient human habitation such as
hotels, motels and similar structures;

    L. "secretary" means the secretary of taxation and revenue and, except for
purposes of Section 7-35-6 NMSA 1978 and Paragraphs (1) and (2) of Subsection B of
Section 9-11-6.2 NMSA 1978, also includes the deputy secretary or a division director
or deputy division director delegated by the secretary;

   M. "tax" means the property tax imposed under the Property Tax Code;

    N. "taxable value" means the value of property determined by applying the tax ratio
to the value of the property determined for property taxation purposes;

    O. "tax rate" means the rate of the tax expressed in terms of dollars per thousand
dollars of net taxable value of property;

   P. "tax ratio" means the percentage established under the Property Tax Code that is
applied to the value of property determined for property taxation purposes in order to
derive taxable value; and

   Q. "tax year" means the calendar year.

History: 1953 Comp., § 72-28-2, enacted by Laws 1973, ch. 258, § 2; 1977, ch. 249, §
60; 1981, ch. 37, § 60; 1985, ch. 109, § 1; 1986, ch. 20, § 104; 1991, ch. 166, § 1; 1993,
ch. 39, § 1; 1994, ch. 9, § 1; 1994, ch. 9, § 2; 2018, ch. 50, § 1.

                                    ANNOTATIONS

The 2018 amendment, effective May 16, 2018, defined "abandoned real property" as
used in the Property Tax Code; added a new Subsection A and redesignated former
Subsections A through P as Subsections B through Q, respectively; in Subsection D,
after "useful to", changed "man" to "humans"; and in Subsection L, after "Subsection B
of Section", deleted "7-38-90" and added "9-11-6.2".

The second 1994 amendment, effective January 1, 2001, in Subsection C, inserted
"buffalo" and "ratites", and deleted "excluding ratites" at the end.
The first 1994 amendment, effective February 15, 1994, in Subsection C, inserted
"buffalo", deleted "ratites" following "swine" and added "excluding ratites" at the end.

The 1993 amendment, effective June 18, 1993, inserted "ratites" in Subsection C.

The 1991 amendment, effective June 14, 1991, deleted "or, when delegated authority
by the secretary, the director of the property tax division of the department" at the end of
Subsection B; added Subsection D; redesignated former Subsections D to O as
Subsections E to P; deleted "as defined in Section 66-1-4 NMSA 1978" following
"manufactured homes" near the beginning of Subsection J; and added the language
beginning "and, except for" at the end of Subsection K.

The property tax division's conclusion that elk are not livestock is a reasonable
interpretation of this section. Had the legislature intended for the word "livestock" to
be given identical treatment under the Livestock Code and the Property Tax Code, it
would have been a simple matter for it to have given the term identical definitions.
Jicarilla Apache Nation v. Rodarte, 2004-NMSC-035, 136 N.M. 630, 103 P.3d 554.

Vendor is an "owner". — Because a vendor holds legal title and because the Property
Tax Code defines "owner" as the holder of any title, the vendor under a real estate
contract is an "owner" under the code. Southwest Land Inv., Inc. v. Hubbart, 1993-
NMSC-072, 116 N.M. 742, 867 P.2d 412.

Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. — Oil and gas royalty as real or personal
property, 56 A.L.R.4th 539.