A. At a public hearing conducted pursuant to the Tax Increment for Development Act, the governing body shall hear all relevant evidence and testimony and make findings. A record of the hearing shall be kept and may consist of a transcription by a court reporter, an electronic recording or minutes taken by a designated person. The record shall be preserved in the official records of the governing body and shall be open to public inspection pursuant to the Inspection of Public Records Act [Chapter 14, Article 2 NMSA 1978].

B. Testimony at a hearing is not required to be given under oath.

C. At the conclusion of a hearing, the governing body shall determine whether the tax increment development district should be formed based upon the interests, convenience or necessity of the owners, the residents of the proposed tax increment development district and the residents of the municipality or county in which the proposed tax increment development district is to be located. The governing body shall make the following findings before adopting a resolution to approve the formation of a district:

(1) the tax increment development plan reasonably protects the interests of the governing body in meeting its goals to support:

(a) job creation;

(b) workforce housing;

(c) public school facility creation and improvement, including the creation and improvement of facilities for charter schools; and

(d) underdeveloped area or historical area redevelopment;

(2) the tax increment development plan demonstrates elements of innovative planning techniques, including mixed-use transit-oriented development, traditional neighborhood design or sustainable development techniques, that are deemed by the governing body to benefit community development;

(3) the tax increment development plan incorporates sustainable development considerations; and

(4) the tax increment development plan conforms to general or long-term planning of the governing body.

D. If the governing body determines that the district should be formed, it shall:

(1) adopt a resolution ordering that the tax increment development district be formed;

(2) order that a formation determination among the owners of real property within the proposed district be conducted or declare that the formation determination is waived pursuant to Subsection B of Section 5-15-8 NMSA 1978; and

(3) set the matter for an election or declare that an election is canceled pursuant to Subsection I of Section 5-15-8 NMSA 1978.

History: Laws 2006, ch. 75, § 7; 2019, ch. 212, § 200.

The 2019 amendment, effective April 3, 2019, provided that a formation determination be ordered when a governing body determines that a tax increment development district should be formed; in Subsection D, added paragraph designations "(1)" and "(3)" and new paragraph D(2), and in Paragraph D(3), after "declare that an election is", deleted "waived, as provided in the Tax Increment for Development Act" and added "canceled pursuant to Subsection I of Section 5-15-8 NMSA 1978".