§ 2-349. General policies.

(a)

Purpose. This division is intended to serve as guidelines for the purpose of considering and, as appropriate, approving the establishment of tax increment development districts and the issuance of bonds of such districts pursuant to the Act. The purpose of this policy is to enable the county to make a reasoned judgment concerning the terms and conditions upon which to approve the formation of a TIDD and to provide procedures for the county to consider TIDD applications. Capitalized terms not otherwise defined herein are as defined in the Act.

(b)

Purpose of public infrastructure. TIDDs should be utilized for the financing of on-site and off-site public infrastructure for economic development or redevelopment that facilitates and supports development and job creation. Public infrastructure financed by a TIDD shall:

(1)

Enhance the sustainability of the local, regional or statewide economy;

(2)

Support the creation of jobs, school sites and facilities and workforce housing; and

(3)

Generate tax revenue for the provision of public improvements.

(c)

Compliance with county policy. Public improvements financed by a TIDD should be in conformance with applicable long-range county policies for development; other ordinances applicable to the affected land including annexation ordinances and any related annexation agreements and all supplements and subsequent enactments relating to these measures. Existing county policies for development, growth management and conservation shall remain in effect and shall not be waived or relaxed upon the creation of a TIDD. The TIDD may use bond proceeds or other TIDD funds to purchase land, including public rights-of-way or other real property to be used for public infrastructure improvements, unless such real property would be required to be dedicated and conveyed to the county by the applicant/landowner upon development of the applicant's/landowner's property.

(d)

Costs and expenses. Unless otherwise agreed by the county, all costs and expenses incurred by the county in connection with the application and formation of a TIDD shall be paid by the applicant/landowner through advance payments as provided in subsections 2-352(b) and 2-353(a) of this division. Costs and expenses incurred by the county in connection with the application and formation of a TIDD shall not be liabilities of the county. Advance payments shall include payments for services rendered by county staff, services rendered by outside consultants who may be retained by the county including, but not limited to, bond counsel and other attorneys, financial advisors, planners, designers, engineers, appraisers, and tax professionals. If the county uses outside consultants as "staff," such as attorneys or engineers, those consultants shall be paid their normal rate for services. The TIDD shall also pay, on an ongoing basis, the administrative fees of the county treasurer related to the collection and distribution of property taxes relating to the TIDD.

(e)

Reimbursement. Subsequent to the approval of an application for formation of a TIDD by the county, and after authorization by the TIDD exercising its sole discretion, all or part of such advance payments may be reimbursed to the applicant/landowner or to the TIDD to the extent permitted by state or federal law, from the proceeds of bonds, tax increment revenues or other legally available revenues of the TIDD. The county may, in its discretion, based on a particular applicant's development plan and financing plan, authorize the TIDD to reimburse up to 100 percent of the applicant's equity contribution based on a demonstration satisfactory to the county that the goals served by the TIDD are not compromised by such reimbursement. Section 20(B) of the Act requires property owners to contribute a minimum of 20 percent of initial infrastructure cost prior to the issuance of gross receipts or property tax increment bonds.

(f)

TIDD board of directors; delegated authority. The TIDD shall be governed by a board of directors comprised of members of the board or, at the sole option of the board, five directors appointed by the board which directors may include one representative of the applicant/landowner, (the "TIDD board"). The board may, in accordance with law, delegate certain responsibilities of governance of the TIDD to a committee as approved by the board. The day-to-day responsibilities of the TIDD may be performed pursuant to an agreement with outside personnel (including a development agreement entered into pursuant to the Act), or county staff. Advisory committees may, at the option of the TIDD board, be utilized. An applicant may request the formation of a single TIDD or multiple TIDDs, which are designed to finance public infrastructure projects to serve separate, but related land uses, and which rely on discrete tax increment financing approaches.

(g)

No impact on county.

(1)

Unless otherwise agreed to by the county, the TIDD shall be self-supporting with regard to operations and maintenance of TIDD financed public infrastructure until the dedication of the infrastructure to the county and acceptance by the county after any applicable warranty period. Following the dedication of TIDD financed public infrastructure to the county and acceptance by the county after the one year warranty period, operations and maintenance of TIDD financed public infrastructure may be payable from the portion of the gross receipts tax increment or property tax increment retained by the county or from other county financing sources. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary which may be contained herein, the amount and structure of debt of a TIDD shall not have any direct or indirect negative material impact on the county's debt ratings with Standard and Poor's Corporation, Moody's Investors Services, Inc., Fitch Investor Services, Inc., or any other nationally recognized bond-rating service then rating the county's outstanding bonds.

(2)

If the provisions set forth in the Tax Increment for Development Act NMSA 1978, § 5-15-1, or this division, impair the ability of the county to meet its principal or interest payment obligations for revenue bonds or general obligation bonds outstanding prior to the effective date for the Tax Increment for Development Act that are secured by the pledge of all or part of the county's revenue, gross receipts tax or property tax, then the amount otherwise payable to the TIDD pursuant to the Tax Increment for Development Act shall be paid instead to the county in an amount sufficient to meet any required payment.

(h)

Special, limited obligations. Bonds of the TIDD shall be payable only from special funds into which are deposited certain gross receipts tax increments and property tax increments dedicated for the purpose of securing TIDD bonds in accordance with the Act. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary which may be contained herein, neither the property, the full faith and credit nor the taxing power of the county shall be pledged to the payment of any TIDD obligation or indebtedness.

(i)

TIDD financings; board approval. The TIDD board shall determine, in accordance with its policies and procedures, the amount, timing and form of financing to be used by a TIDD after review of the financial feasibility study required by subsection 2-351(7) of this division. All bond proceeds generated by the financing must be spent on project costs, which may include the construction, acquisition and renovation of public infrastructure, in accordance with the bond documents and the policies and procedures of the TIDD board. All financings shall be subject to final review and approval by the board, provided, however, that financings which contemplate the issuance of a multiple series of bonds shall be approved at the time of the approval of the first issuance of bonds and the TIDD board shall not be required to receive further approvals from board except when there is a material change affecting the financial stability of the bond such as the amount and timing of issuance in relation to the projected build-out of the TIDD project.

(j)

Procurement. Except as otherwise determined by the board, the TIDD shall construct or finance improvements on such terms and with such persons as the TIDD board determines to be appropriate, in accordance with section 12(B) of the Act, as amended.

(k)

Costs of operation, administration and maintenance. Until the completion of the public infrastructure improvements financed by the TIDD, the expiration of the one year warranty period for such improvements and the dedication of such improvements to the county, all costs incurred by the TIDD during such period for the administration and operation of the TIDD and the operation and maintenance of such public infrastructure improvements shall be the responsibility of the TIDD, the applicant/landowner, applicable homeowners' association, or any combination of the foregoing, as may be acceptable to the applicant/landowner, county and the TIDD.

(Ord. No. 2007-20, § 1, 10-9-07)