A. In the event the county commissioners of a county, other than a class A county, desire to provide the mill levy authorized in Paragraph (2) of Subsection A of Section 4-48B-12 NMSA 1978, the county commissioners shall submit to the qualified electors of the county the question of levying those taxes not to exceed four dollars twenty-five cents ($4.25) on each one thousand dollars ($1,000) of net taxable value of property allocated to the county for a period of time not less than four years nor more than eight years.

B. In the event the county commissioners of a class A county desire to provide the mill levy authorized in Paragraph (1) of Subsection A of Section 4-48B-12 NMSA 1978, the county commissioners shall submit to the qualified electors of the county the question of levying those taxes not to exceed six dollars fifty cents ($6.50) on each one thousand dollars ($1,000) of net taxable value of property allocated to the county for a period of time of not less than four years nor more than eight years.

C. The question may be submitted to the electors and voted upon as a separate question at any general election or at any special election called for that purpose by the county commissioners. The election upon the question of a mill levy shall be called, held, conducted and canvassed in substantially the same manner as now or hereafter may be provided by law for general elections.

D. In the event the mill levy submitted under Subsection A or B of this section is voted upon favorably by the electors of the county, the mill levy shall become effective and be made for the ensuing fiscal year and those future years, not less than three nor more than seven, as stated in the question voted upon; provided that the question of continuing the mill levy shall thereafter be submitted to the electors at the general election immediately prior to the expiration of the period of assessment previously approved. The county commissioners shall decrease the rate of any mill levy imposed under the Hospital Funding Act if required by operation of the rate limitation provisions of Section 7-37-7.1 NMSA 1978. Subject to the provisions of Subsection D of Section 4-48B-12 NMSA 1978, the county commissioners may direct that the mill levy be decreased or not be made for any year if, in their judgment, sufficient funds for operation and maintenance of the hospital and transfer to the county-supported medicaid fund, if applicable, are available or will be obtained from other sources and if, relative to a county hospital operated by a state educational institution named in Article 12, Section 11 of the constitution of New Mexico, a decision to decrease the mill levy is agreed to by the state educational institution.

E. In the event that the mill levy approved by the electors is less than the maximum mill levy authorized for the county by Subsection A of Section 4-48B-12 NMSA 1978 and the county commissioners desire to increase the amount of the approved mill levy, the county commissioners shall submit, in accordance with Subsection C of this section, to the qualified electors of the county the questions of levying those additional taxes for a period of time consistent with the expiration of the mill levy previously approved; provided that the additional taxes, when added to the mill levy previously approved, may not exceed the mill levy maximum for the county provided in Subsection A of Section 4-48B-12 NMSA 1978. In the event that the mill levy increase is voted upon favorably by the electors of the county, the increase shall become effective for the years stated in the question voted upon. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed as requiring an election to restore the mill levy to an amount no higher than the mill levy approved by the electors after a reduction in the mill levy made pursuant to Subsection D of this section.

History: 1941 Comp., § 15-5013, enacted by Laws 1953, ch. 174, § 2; 1953 Comp., § 15-48-13; Laws 1955, ch. 224, § 2; 1959, ch. 307, § 2; 1966, ch. 6, § 3; 1967, ch. 129, § 1; 1969, ch. 87, § 2; 1978, ch. 168, § 3; 1981, ch. 37, § 57; 1978 Comp., § 4-48-14, recompiled as § 4-48B-15 by Laws 1981, ch. 83, § 15; 1986, ch. 3, § 2; 1991, ch. 212, § 14.

Cross references. — For classification of counties, see 4-44-1 NMSA 1978.

The 1991 amendment, effective July 1, 1991, in the third sentence in Subsection D, added "Subject to the provisions of Subsection D of Section 4-48B-12 NMSA 1978" at the beginning and inserted "and transfer to the county-supported medicaid fund, if applicable" near the middle.

Holding special election on date for election on constitutional amendments. — If the county commissioners call, hold, conduct and canvass the special election in the manner provided by this section, the particular day for holding the said special election could be any day designated by the county commissioners. The fact that it was held on the same day as the election on the constitutional amendments would not be important so long as it was a special election designated for the purpose of voting on the issue of the special tax levy. 1955 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 55-6236.

Qualifications of electors. — There is no limitation in this particular provision of the statute which would require the electors to have paid property taxes or by veterans who are property owners. 1956 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 56-6492 (rendered under prior law).

Special levy cannot be placed on the tax rolls prior to a vote by the people, since the authority for placing such a tax on the roll is an election. Until this election is had there can be no levy. 1955 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 55-6220.

Levy for operation and maintenance of hospital leased to private corporation. — A tax could not be levied to maintain and operate a hospital that had been leased to a private corporation. 1958 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 58-225.

Funds from levy for one hospital not to be used for another. — Funds generated by a mill levy approved specifically for the operation of one hospital may not be used to construct another hospital. 1981 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 81-30.