Section 5-17-4 - Public hearing required. - New Mexico Statutes

5-17-4. Public hearing required.

A.     After receiving a petition and a service plan, the governing body shall set a date within ninety days for a public hearing on the petition and service plan of the proposed infrastructure development zone.  The governing body, at the petitioners' expense, shall provide written notice of the date, time and location of the hearing to the petitioners, each resident or property owner of record within the boundaries of the proposed infrastructure development zone and the governing body of any existing county, municipality, school district or other political subdivision that has levied an ad valorem tax within the next preceding tax year and that has boundaries within a radius of three miles of the proposed infrastructure development zone boundaries, which governmental units shall be interested parties for the purposes of Subsection C of this section.  Notice shall also be given to any person who has requested that notice be given for any petition filed pursuant to the Infrastructure Development Zone Act [5-17-1 NMSA 1978].  The governing body shall make publication of the date, time, location and purpose of the hearing, the first of which shall be at least twenty days prior to the hearing date.  The notice shall also include:

(1)     a general description of the land contained within the boundaries of the proposed infrastructure development zone;

(2)     information outlining methods and procedures for excluding territory from the proposed infrastructure development zone; and

(3)     places, including web sites, where interested persons may obtain a copy of the petition and the service plan.

B.     Not more than thirty days nor less than twenty days prior to the hearing held pursuant to this section, the petitioners for the organization of the proposed infrastructure development zone shall send notification by certified mail of the hearing to the property owners within the proposed infrastructure development zone as listed on the records of the county clerk on the date requested unless the petitioners represent one hundred percent of the property owners.  The notification shall indicate that it is a notice of a hearing for the organization of an infrastructure development zone and shall indicate the date, time, location and purpose of the hearing, a general description of the type of services that are included in the service plan, the maximum mill levy, if any, or stating that there is no maximum that may be imposed by the proposed infrastructure development zone, and procedures for the filing of a request for exclusion pursuant to Section 6 [5-17-6 NMSA 1978] of the Infrastructure Development Zone Act.  The mailing of the notification by certified mail to all addresses within the proposed infrastructure development zone shall constitute a good-faith effort to comply with this subsection, and failure to notify all property owners by certified mail shall not provide grounds for a challenge to the hearing being held.

C.     The hearing held by the governing body shall be open to the public, and a record of the proceedings shall be made at the expense of the petitioners.  All interested parties shall be afforded an opportunity to be heard under such rules of procedure as may be established by the governing body.  Any testimony or evidence that in the discretion of the governing body is relevant to the organization of the proposed infrastructure development zone shall be considered.