In 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 project unless the acquisition is approved by the local school board of the school district in which a project is located and the board of county commissioners, the local school board and the person proposing the project negotiate and determine the amount of an annual in-lieu tax payment to be made to the school district by the person proposing the project, for the period that the county owns and leases the project, and provided such approval shall not be unreasonably withheld;

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; and

C. 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.

History: 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.

Cross references. — For requirements respecting leases, see 4-59-7 NMSA 1978.

For refunding bonds, see 4-59-8 NMSA 1978.

For use of proceeds of bonds, see 4-59-9 NMSA 1978.

For finances of counties, municipalities and school districts generally, see 6-6-7 NMSA 1978 et seq.

For the Border Development Act, see 58-27-1 NMSA 1978 et seq.

The 2003 amendment, effective June 20, 2003, substituted "however, that:" for "the" at the end of Subsection A; added Subsection A(1) and added designation Subsection A(2).

The 2001 amendment, effective June 15, 2001, added the language beginning "provided, the county shall not acquire" in Subsection A.

1997 amendments. — Identical amendments to this section were enacted by Laws 1997, ch. 216, § 5 and Laws 1997, ch. 226, § 5, both effective June 20, 1997, which deleted "provided, however, any project located within fifteen miles of a municipality shall be subject to prior approval of the governing body of the largest municipality within the same county and within the fifteen mile zone" from the end of Subsection A and substituted "as provided in the County Industrial Revenue Bond Act" for "as hereinafter provided" at the end of the first sentence in Subsection C. The section was set out as amended by Laws 1997, ch. 226, § 5. See 12-1-8 NMSA 1978.