A. There is created in the state treasury the "local governments road fund" to be administered by the department. All income received from investment of the fund shall be credited to the fund. No money in the fund shall be used by the department to administer any program, and except as provided in Subsection E of this section, no entity receiving a distribution pursuant to a program requiring matching funds shall use another distribution made pursuant to this section to meet the match required.

B. The department may use up to five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) annually from the local governments road fund, to purchase at fair market value, for municipalities, counties and land grants-mercedes that can demonstrate financial hardship as determined by the department, automotive, major road and miscellaneous equipment that would otherwise be sold at auction by the department as unusable for department purposes. The department shall adopt rules setting the procedure to carry out the purposes of this subsection.

C. Except for the amounts in Subsections B and E of this section, money in the local governments road fund shall be distributed in the following amounts for the specified purposes:

(1) forty-two percent for the cooperative agreements program, to be used solely for the cooperative agreements entered into pursuant to Section 67-3-28 NMSA 1978 and in accordance with the match authorized pursuant to Section 67-3-32 NMSA 1978; provided, however, that distribution amounts made pursuant to this paragraph in each year shall be based on the following allocations:

(a) thirty-three percent for agreements entered into with counties;

(b) forty-nine percent for agreements entered into with municipalities;

(c) fourteen percent for agreements entered into with school districts; and

(d) four percent for agreements entered into with other entities;

(2) sixteen percent for the municipal arterial program, to be used solely for the necessary project development, construction, reconstruction, improvement, maintenance, repair and right-of-way and material acquisition of and for those streets that are principal extensions of rural state highways and of other streets not on the state highway system but that qualify under the designated criteria established by the department. In entering into agreements with municipalities to provide funds for any project qualifying for the municipal arterial program, the department shall give preference to municipalities that contribute an amount equal to at least twenty-five percent of the project cost, including a contribution made through funding received pursuant to Subsection E of this section;

(3) sixteen percent for school bus routes, to be used solely for cooperative agreements entered into pursuant to Section 67-3-28 NMSA 1978 and in accordance with the match authorized pursuant to Section 67-3-32 NMSA 1978 for acquiring rights of way and constructing, maintaining, repairing, improving and paving school bus routes and public school parking lots; and

(4) twenty-six percent for the county arterial program, to be used for project development, construction, reconstruction, improvement, maintenance, repair and right-of-way and material acquisition of and for county roads for which individual counties have prioritized road projects. Prior to entering into any agreements for projects with the counties for the following fiscal year, in June of each year the department shall determine and certify the amount to which each county is entitled pursuant to the following schedule:

Road Mileage Category Based on

Number of Miles Maintained

by a County: Entitlement to County:

400 miles or under $250 for each mile

401 to 800 miles $100,000 plus $200 for each mile over 400 miles

801 to 1,200 miles $180,000 plus $150 for each mile over 800 miles

1,201 to 1,600 miles $240,000 plus $100 for each mile over 1,200 miles

Over 1,600 miles $300,000 plus $50 for each mile over 1,600 miles.

If in any year there is an insufficient amount in the fund of the county arterial program to certify the total amount to which all counties are entitled, the department shall decrease the entitlement amount due to each county in the same proportion as the insufficiency is to the total entitlements to all counties. Distribution of an entitlement amount and an agreement entered into with a county for any of the purposes for which the money may be spent requires an amount from the county equal to at least twenty-five percent of the entitlement. The county contribution may be made through funds received pursuant to Subsection E of this section. Any uncommitted or unencumbered balance remaining in the county arterial program fund at the end of a fiscal year shall be transferred to the cooperative agreements program specified in Paragraph (1) of this subsection for additional funding of that program in the next fiscal year.

D. The department may transfer funds from the state road fund to the local governments road fund to facilitate cash flow for the funding of these local governments road projects. The administrator of the local governments road fund shall reimburse the state road fund in a timely manner for any such transfers.

E. The department may distribute up to one million dollars ($1,000,000) per calendar year of the money in the local governments road fund to municipalities and counties that can demonstrate financial hardship, for use as all or a portion of the municipality's or county's matching fund requirements pursuant to this section. In order to qualify for matching funds under this subsection, a county or municipality shall provide the department with a financial hardship qualification certificate issued by the department of finance and administration.

History: Laws 1986, ch. 20, § 125; 1989, ch. 117, § 2; 1993, ch. 277, § 2; 1993, ch. 312, § 1; 1995, ch. 6, § 14; 2009, ch. 167, § 1; 2019, ch. 150, § 1.

The 2019 amendment, effective July 1, 2019, authorized the department of transportation to use funds from the local governments road fund to purchase automotive, major road and miscellaneous equipment for land grants-mercedes; and in Subsection B, deleted "No more than" and added "The department may use up to", after "local governments road fund", deleted "shall be used by the department", and after "counties", added "and land grants-mercedes".

The 2009 amendment, effective June 19, 2009, in Subsection A, in the third sentence, after "administer any program, and", added "except as provided in Subsection E of this section"; in Subsection C, after "amounts in Subsections B", added "and E"; in Paragraph (2) of Subsection C, at the end of the last sentence, added "including a contribution made through funding received pursuant to Subsection E of this section"; in Paragraph (4) of Subsection C, in the fourth sentence, at the beginning of the sentence, added "The county contribution may be made through funds received pursuant to Subsection E of this section"; and added Subsection E.

The 1995 amendment, effective July 1, 1995, inserted "cooperative agreements entered into pursuant to Section 67-3-28 NMSA 1978 and in accordance with the match authorized pursuant to Section 67-3-32 NMSA 1978 for" in Paragraph C(3) and made minor stylistic changes.

1993 amendments. — Laws 1993, ch. 277, § 2, effective June 18, 1993, deleting "state highway" before "department" in the first and second sentences of Subsection A, the first sentence of Subsection B(2), the second sentence of Subsection B(4), and the first sentence of the second undesignated paragraph of Subsection B; deleting "for construction, maintenance, repair, improvement and paving of public highways and streets and public school parking lots" after "67-3-32 NMSA 1978" near the middle of the introductory language of Subsection B(1); substituting "project development, construction, reconstruction, improvement, maintenance, repair and right-of-way and material acquisition of and for those" for "construction or reconstruction of those" in the first sentence of Subsection B(2); substituting "department" for "state highway commission" in the second sentence of Subsection B(2) and the first sentence of Subsection C; making stylistic changes in both sentences of Subsection B(2); inserting "acquiring rights of way and constructing" in Subsection B(3); substituting "project development, construction, reconstruction, improvement, maintenance, repair, right-of-way and material acquisition of and for" for "construction, reconstruction, improvement and maintenance of" in the first sentence and "1201" for "1200" near the end, in Subsection B(4); and substituting "this subsection" for "Subsection B of this section" in the last sentence of Subsection B, was approved April 7, 1993. However, Laws 1993, ch. 312, § 1, effective June 18, 1993, also amending this section by making the same changes as Laws 1993, ch. 277, except for the stylistic changes in former Subsection B and, in addition, adding present Subsection B, redesignating former Subsections B and C as present Subsections C, and adding "Except for the amount in Subsection B of this section" to the beginning of the first Subsection C, was approved April 8, 1993. This section was set out as amended by Laws 1993, ch. 312, § 1. See 12-1-8 NMSA 1978.

The 1989 amendment, effective March 28, 1989, deleted a semicolon preceding "created" in the catchline; in Subsection B(1) substituted "maintenance, repair, improvement and paving of public highways and streets and public school parking lots" for "and improvement of public highways and streets" in the introductory paragraph; and in Subsection B(3) substituted "improving and paving school bus routes and public school parking lots" for "and improving school bus routes".