Section 7-1-6.26 - County government road fund; distribution. - New Mexico Statutes

7-1-6.26. County government road fund; distribution.

A.     For the purposes of this section, "distributable amount" means the amount in the county government road fund as of the last day of any month for which a distribution is required to be made pursuant to this section in excess of the balance in that fund as of the last day of the preceding month after reduction for any required distributions for the preceding month.   

B.     The secretary of highway and transportation shall determine and certify on or before July 1, 1987 and on or before July 1 of each subsequent year the total miles of public roads maintained by each county pursuant to Section 66-6-23 NMSA 1978. For the purposes of this subsection, if the certified mileage of public roads maintained by a county is less than four hundred miles, the state treasurer shall increase the number of miles of public roads maintained by that county by fifty percent and revise the total miles of public roads maintained by all counties accordingly. Except as provided otherwise in Subsection D of this section, each county shall receive an amount equal to its proportionate share of miles of public roads maintained, as the number of miles for the county may have been revised pursuant to this subsection, to the total miles of public roads maintained by all counties, as that total may have been revised pursuant to this subsection, times fifty percent of the distributable amount in the county government road fund.   

C.     Except as provided otherwise in Subsection D of this section, each county shall receive a share of fifty percent of the distributable amount in the county government road fund as determined in this subsection. The amount for each county shall be the greater of:   

(1)     twenty-one cents ($.21) multiplied by the county's population as shown by the most recent federal decennial census; or   

(2)     the proportionate share that the taxable gallons of gasoline reported for that county for the preceding fiscal year bear to the total taxable gallons of gasoline for all counties in the preceding fiscal year, as determined by the department, multiplied by fifty percent of the distributable amount in the county government road fund.   

If the sum of the amounts to be distributed pursuant to Paragraphs (1) and (2) of this subsection exceeds fifty percent of the distributable amount in the county government road fund, the excess shall be eliminated by multiplying the amount determined in Paragraphs (1) and (2) of this subsection for each county by a fraction, the numerator of which is fifty percent of the distributable amount in the county government road fund, and the denominator of which is the sum of amounts determined for all counties in Paragraphs (1) and (2) of this subsection.   

D.     If the distribution for a class A county or for an H class county determined pursuant to Subsections B and C of this section exceeds an amount equal to one-twelfth of the product of the total taxable gallons of gasoline reported for the county for the preceding fiscal year times one cent ($.01), the distribution for that county shall be reduced to an amount equal to one-twelfth of the product of the total taxable gallons of gasoline reported for the county for the preceding fiscal year times one cent ($.01). Any amount of the reduction shall be shared among the counties whose distribution has not been reduced pursuant to this subsection in the ratio of the amounts computed in Subsections B and C of this section.   

E.     If a county has not made the required mileage certification pursuant to Section 67-3-28.3 NMSA 1978 by May 1, 1988, and by April 1 of every year thereafter, of the year for which distribution is being made, the secretary of highway and transportation shall estimate the mileage maintained by those counties for the purpose of making distribution to all counties, and the amount calculated to be distributed each month to those counties not certifying mileage shall be reduced by one-third each month for that fiscal year and that amount not distributed to those counties shall be distributed equally to all counties that have certified mileages.   

F.     Distributions made to counties pursuant to this section shall be deposited in the county road fund to be used for the construction, reconstruction, resurfacing or other improvement or maintenance of the public roads and bridges in the county, including right-of-way and materials acquisition. Money distributed pursuant to this section may be used by the county to provide matching funds for projects subject to cooperative agreements entered into with the state highway and transportation department pursuant to Section 67-3-28 NMSA 1978.