A. If a governing body proposes to acquire a building or other real property through a lease purchase arrangement, it shall comply with the requirements of this section and the provisions of the Open Meetings Act [Chapter 10, Article 15 NMSA 1978].

B. At a regular meeting or at a special meeting called for the purpose of considering the acquisition of a building or other real property through a lease purchase arrangement, a governing body shall:

(1) make a determination of the necessity for acquiring the building or other real property through a lease purchase arrangement;

(2) determine the estimated cost of the buildings or other real property needed;

(3) review a summary of the terms of the proposed lease purchase arrangement;

(4) identify the source of funds for the lease purchase payments;

(5) if obtaining all or part of the funds needed requires or anticipates the imposition of a property tax, determine the estimated rate of the tax and what, if any, the percentage increase in property taxes will be for real property owners in the school district; and

(6) if the governing body determines that the lease purchase arrangement is in the best interest of the school district or charter school, forward a copy of the arrangement to the department pursuant to Section 22-26A-4 NMSA 1978.

C. After receiving department approval of the lease purchase arrangement, the governing body may adopt a final resolution approving the lease purchase of the building or other real property.

D. If a local school board finds that obtaining all or part of the funds needed for a lease purchase arrangement requires the imposition of a property tax, the board may adopt a resolution to be presented to the voters pursuant to Section 22-26A-8 NMSA 1978.

E. If the governing body of a charter school finds that obtaining all or part of the necessary funds requires the imposition of a property tax, the local school board of the school district in which the charter school is located may adopt a resolution to be presented to the voters, pursuant to Section 22-26A-8 NMSA 1978; provided that the governing body of the charter school has notified the local school board that the charter school has been approved to enter into a lease purchase arrangement and has identified revenue from the proposed tax as a necessary source of funds. The local school board:

(1) shall include the tax revenue needed by the charter school in the resolution if the school's charter has been renewed at least once; and

(2) may include the tax revenue needed by the charter school in the resolution if the charter school is a locally chartered charter school prior to its first renewal term.

F. If a local school board adopts a resolution that includes tax revenue for a charter school, and, if the tax is approved in an election pursuant to Sections 22-26A-8 through 22-26A-12 NMSA 1978, the local school board shall distribute an amount of the tax revenue, as established in its resolution, to the charter school to be used in the lease purchase arrangement.

G. The local school board shall not adopt a resolution for or approve a lease purchase arrangement for a term that exceeds thirty years.

History: Laws 2007, ch. 173, § 6; 2009, ch. 132, § 6; 2015, ch. 106, § 4.

The 2015 amendment, effective July 1, 2015, amended the Public School Lease Purchase Act to authorize a local school board to adopt a resolution to be presented to the voters for approval of the imposition of a property tax to acquire a building or other real property through a lease purchase arrangement; in Subsection A, after "If a", deleted "local school board" and added "governing body"; in the introductory sentence of Subsection B, after "purchase arrangement, a", deleted "local school board" and added "governing body"; in Paragraph (6) of Subsection B, after "if the", deleted "board" and added "governing body", and after "the school district", added "or charter school"; in Subsection C, after "purchase arrangement, the", deleted "local school board" and added "governing body"; in Subsection D, after "If", deleted "the" and added "a", after "funds needed for", deleted "the" and added "a", after "the board may", deleted "also", and after "22-26A-8 NMSA 1978", deleted "provided that"; added the designation Subsection E and a new introductory paragraph of Subsection E, making former Paragraph (1) of Subsection D into Paragraph (1) of Subsection E; deleted the language in Paragraph (1) of Subsection E and deleted the subparagraph designation of Subparagraph E(1)(a) and added the language from former Subparagraph (a) to Paragraph (1) of Subsection E; in Paragraph (1) of Subsection E, after "resolution if the", deleted "charter school is a locally chartered or sate-chartered charter school whose" and added "school's"; redesignated former Subparagraph D(1)(b) as Paragraph (2) of Subsection E; in Paragraph (2) of Subsection E, after "may", deleted "in its discretion", and after "term.", deleted "and"; deleted "if the tax revenue for a charter school is included in the resolution" from former Paragraph (2) of Subsection D and redesignated the remaining language as Subsection F; in Subsection F, added "If a local school board adopts a resolution that includes tax revenue for a charter school"; and redesignated former Subsection E as Subsection G.

The 2009 amendment, effective June 19, 2009, in Subsection A, at the end of the sentence, added "and the provisions of the Open Meetings Act"; in Subsection D, after "provided that:", deleted language that required the local school board to consider requests by a charter school for funds needed for a lease purchase agreement entered into by the charter school; added Paragraph (1) of Subsection D; in Paragraph (2) of Subsection D, at the beginning of the sentence, added "if the tax revenue for a charter school is included in the resolution and"; and in Subsection E, changed "twenty" to "thirty".