As used in the Local Economic Development Act:

A. "arts and cultural district" means a developed district of public and private uses that is created pursuant to the Arts and Cultural District Act;

B. "broadband telecommunications network facilities" means the electronics, equipment, transmission facilities, fiber-optic cables and any other item directly related to a system capable of transmission of internet protocol or other formatted data at current federal communications commission minimum speed standard, all of which will be owned and used by a provider of internet access services;

C. "cultural facility" means a facility that is owned by the state, a county, a municipality or a qualifying entity that serves the public through preserving, educating and promoting the arts and culture of a particular locale, including theaters, museums, libraries, galleries, cultural compounds, educational organizations, performing arts venues and organizations, fine arts organizations, studios and media laboratories and live-work housing facilities;

D. "department" means the economic development department;

E. "economic development project" or "project" means the provision of direct or indirect assistance to a qualifying entity by a local or regional government and includes:

(1) the purchase, lease, grant, construction, reconstruction, improvement or other acquisition or conveyance of land, buildings or other infrastructure;

(2) rights-of-way infrastructure, including trenching and conduit, for the placement of new broadband telecommunications network facilities;

(3) public works improvements essential to the location or expansion of a qualifying entity;

(4) payments for professional services contracts necessary for local or regional governments to implement a plan or project;

(5) the provision of direct loans or grants for land, buildings or infrastructure;

(6) technical assistance to cultural facilities;

(7) loan guarantees securing the cost of land, buildings or infrastructure in an amount not to exceed the revenue that may be derived from an increment of the:

(a) municipal gross receipts tax imposed at a rate not to exceed one-fourth percent and dedicated by the ordinance imposing the increment to a project; or

(b) county gross receipts tax imposed at a rate not to exceed one-eighth percent and dedicated by the ordinance imposing the increment to a project;

(8) grants for public works infrastructure improvements essential to the location or expansion of a qualifying entity; grants or subsidies to cultural facilities;

(9) the purchase of land for a publicly held industrial park or a publicly owned cultural facility; and

(10) the construction of a building for use by a qualifying entity; but does not include the purchase, lease, grant or other acquisition or conveyance of water rights;

F. "governing body" means the city council, city commission or board of trustees of a municipality or the board of county commissioners of a county;

G. "local government" means a municipality or county;

H. "municipality" means an incorporated city, town or village;

I. "person" means an individual, corporation, association, partnership or other legal entity;

J. "qualifying entity" means a corporation, limited liability company, partnership, joint venture, syndicate, association or other person that is one or a combination of two or more of the following:

(1) an industry for the manufacturing, processing or assembling of agricultural or manufactured products;

(2) a commercial enterprise for storing, warehousing, distributing or selling products of agriculture, mining or industry, but, other than as provided in Paragraph (5), (6) or (9) of this subsection, not including any enterprise for sale of goods or commodities at retail or for distribution to the public of electricity, gas, water or telephone or other services commonly classified as public utilities;

(3) a business, including a restaurant or lodging establishment, in which all or part of the activities of the business involves the supplying of services to the general public or to governmental agencies or to a specific industry or customer, but, other than as provided in Paragraph (5) or (9) of this subsection, not including businesses primarily engaged in the sale of goods or commodities at retail;

(4) an Indian nation, tribe or pueblo or a federally chartered tribal corporation;

(5) a telecommunications sales enterprise that makes the majority of its sales to persons outside New Mexico;

(6) a facility for the direct sales by growers of agricultural products, commonly known as farmers' markets;

(7) a business that is the developer of a metropolitan redevelopment project;

(8) a cultural facility; and

(9) a retail business;

K. "regional government" means any combination of municipalities and counties that enter into a joint powers agreement to provide for economic development projects pursuant to a plan adopted by all parties to the joint powers agreement; and

L. "retail business" means a business that is primarily engaged in the sale of goods or commodities at retail and that is located in a municipality with a population, according to the most recent federal decennial census, of:

(1) ten thousand or less; or

(2) more than ten thousand but less than thirty-five thousand if:

(a) the economic development project is not funded or financed with state government revenues; and

(b) the business created through the project will not directly compete with an existing business that is: 1) in the municipality; and 2) engaged in the sale of the same or similar goods or commodities at retail.

History: Laws 1993, ch. 297, § 3; 1998, ch. 90, § 3; 1999, ch. 245, § 1; 2000, ch. 103, § 5; 2007, ch. 160, § 9; 2013, ch. 201, § 1; 2016, ch. 14, § 2; 2017, ch. 6, § 1; 2019, ch. 208, § 1; 2019, ch. 274, § 6.

2019 Multiple Amendments. — Laws 2019, ch. 208, § 1, effective June 14, 2019, and Laws 2019, ch. 274, § 6, effective July 1, 2019, enacted different amendments to this section that can be reconciled. Pursuant to 12-1-8 NMSA 1978, Laws 2019, ch. 274, § 6, as the last act signed by the governor, is set out above and incorporates both amendments. The amendments enacted by Laws 2019, ch. 208, § 1 and Laws 2019, ch. 274, § 6 are described below. To view the session laws in their entirety, see the 2019 session laws on NMOneSource.com.

The nature of the difference between the amendments is that Laws 2019, ch. 208, § 1, revised the definition of "economic development project" as used in the Local Economic Development Act, and excluded the acquisition of water rights from the permissible uses of local economic development act funds, and Laws 2019, ch. 274, § 6, revised the definition of "economic development project" as used in the Local Economic Development Act, and pledged a limited amount of municipal gross receipts revenue and county gross receipts revenue for project loan guarantees.

Laws 2019, ch. 208, § 1, effective June 14, 2019, revised the definition of "economic development project" as used in the Local Economic Development Act, and excluded the acquisition of water rights from the permissible uses of local economic development act funds; and in Subsection E, after "qualifying entity", added "but does not include the purchase, lease, grant or other acquisition or conveyance of water rights".

Laws 2019, ch. 274, § 6, effective July 1, 2019, revised the definition of "economic development project" as used in the Local Economic Development Act, and pledged a limited amount of municipal gross receipts revenue and county gross receipts revenue for project loan guarantees; in Subsection E, added new paragraph designations "(1)" through "(10)", in Paragraph E(7), after "derived from", deleted "the municipal infrastructure" and added "an increment of the", added new subparagraph designations "(a)" and "(b)", in Subparagraph E(7)(a), after "gross receipts tax", added "imposed at a rate not to exceed one-fourth percent and dedicated by the ordinance imposing the increment to a project", and in Subparagraph E(7)(b), after "gross receipts tax", added "imposed at a rate not to exceed one-eighth percent and dedicated by the ordinance imposing the increment to a project".

The 2017 amendment, effective June 16, 2017, added the definition for "broadband telecommunications network facilities" and amended the definition of "economic development project" to include assistance to acquire or convey rights-of-way infrastructure; added a new Subsection B and redesignated the succeeding subsections accordingly; and in Subsection E, after "buildings or other infrastructure", added "rights-of-way infrastructure, including trenching and conduit, for the placement of new broadband telecommunications network facilities".

The 2016 amendment, effective May 18, 2016, amended the definition of "qualifying entity" to include a restaurant or lodging establishment; in Subsection I, in Paragraph (3), after "business", added "including a restaurant or lodging establishment"; in Subsection K, in the introductory sentence, after "population", added "according to the most recent federal decennial census", after "of", added the Paragraph designation "(1)", and after "ten thousand or less", added "or" and added new Paragraph (2).

The 2013 amendment, effective July 1, 2013, added retail business as a qualifying entity; in Subsection (2) of Subsection I, after "(5), (6)", added "or (9)"; added Paragraph (9) of Subsection I; and added Subsection K.

The 2007 amendment, effective July 1, 2007, added Subsections A and B; included technical assistance, grants and subsidies to cultural facilities in the definition of "economic development project"; and included a cultural facility in the definition of "qualifying entity".

The 2000 amendment, effective May 17, 2000, added Subsection G(7).

The 1999 amendment, effective June 18, 1999, inserted "or (6)" in Subsection G(2), and added Subsection G(6).

The 1998 amendment, effective May 20, 1998, added the language in Subsection B beginning "the provision of direct loans or grants" to the end of the subsection, inserted "nation" following "Indian" in Paragraph G(4), and made minor stylistic changes throughout the section.