A. An amount equal to the liquor excise tax revenues distributed to the local DWI grant fund for the fiscal year less five million six hundred thousand dollars ($5,600,000) shall be available for distribution in accordance with the formula in Subsection B of this section to each county for council-approved DWI programs, services or activities; provided that each county shall receive a minimum distribution of at least one-half percent of the money available for distribution.

B. Each county shall be eligible for a DWI program distribution in an amount derived by multiplying the total amount of money available for distribution by a percentage that is the average of the following two percentages:

(1) a percentage equal to a fraction, the numerator of which is the retail trade gross receipts in the county and the denominator of which is the total retail trade gross receipts in the state; and

(2) a percentage equal to a fraction, the numerator of which is the number of alcohol-related injury crashes in the county and the denominator of which is the total alcohol-related injury crashes in the state.

C. A county shall be eligible to receive the distribution determined pursuant to Subsection B of this section if the board of county commissioners has submitted to the council a request to use the distribution for the operation of one or more DWI programs, services or activities in the county and the request has been approved by the council. The request shall also comply with local DWI grant program rules and guidelines.

D. No later than April 1 each year, each board of county commissioners seeking approval for the DWI program distribution pursuant to this section shall make application to the division for review and approval by the council for one or more local DWI programs, services or activities in the county. Application shall be made on a form and in a manner determined by the division. The council shall approve the programs eligible for a distribution no later than July 1 of each year. The division shall make the annual distribution to each county in quarterly installments on or before each September 10, December 10, March 10 and June 10, beginning in September 2004. The amount available for distribution quarterly to each county shall be the amount determined by applying the formula in Subsection B of this section to the amount of liquor excise tax revenues in the local DWI grant fund at the end of the month prior to the quarterly installment due date and after one million three hundred twenty-five thousand dollars ($1,325,000) has been set aside for the DWI grant program and after the appropriations and distributions pursuant to Subsections D and E of Section 11-6A-3 NMSA 1978.

E. If a county does not have a council-approved DWI program, service or activity or does not need the full amount of the available distribution, the unused money shall revert to the local DWI grant fund and may be used by the council for the local DWI grant program.

F. As used in this section:

(1) "alcohol-related injury crashes" means the average annual number of alcohol-related injury crashes during the period from January 1, 2000 through December 31, 2002, as determined by the traffic safety bureau of the state highway and transportation department; and

(2) "retail trade gross receipts" means the total reported gross receipts attributable to taxpayers reporting under the retail trade industry sector of the state for the most recent fiscal year as determined by the taxation and revenue department.

History: Laws 1997, ch. 182, § 2; 2000, ch. 83, § 3; 2001, ch. 112, § 3; 2003, ch. 213, § 3.

The 2003 amendment, effective July 1, 2003, substituted "five million six hundred thousand dollars ($5,600,000)" for "four million eight hundred thousand dollars ($4,800,000)" near the middle of Subsection A; added "The request shall also comply with local DWI grant program rules and guidelines." at the end of Subsection C; in Subsection D, substituted "April" for "August" in the first sentence, substituted "July" for "September" in the third sentence, substituted "September" for "October", "December" for "January", "March" for "April", "June" for "July" and "September 2004" for "October 1997" in the fourth sentence, and in the fifth sentence substituted "one million three hundred twenty-five thousand dollars ($1,325,000)" for "five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000)" near the end and substituted "D and E" for "C" following "Subsections" near the end; in Paragraph F(1) substituted "2000" for "1993" following "January 1" and substituted "2002" for "1995" following "December 31" near the middle.

The 2001 amendment, effective July 1, 2001, substituted "four million eight hundred thousand dollars ($4,800,000)" for "four million dollars ($4,000,000) in fiscal year 2002 and two million dollars ($2,000,000) in each fiscal year thereafter" in Subsection A, and deleted "in fiscal year 2002" following "DWI grant program and" in Subsection D.

The 2000 amendment, effective July 1, 2001, substituted "four million dollars ($4,000,000) in fiscal year 2002 and two million dollars ($2,000,000) in each fiscal year thereafter" for "two million dollars ($2,000,000)" in Subsection A; in Subsection D substituted "a distribution" for "funds" in the third sentence, inserted "local DWI grant" preceding "fund" in the fourth sentence, and inserted "and, in fiscal year 2002, after the appropriation and distribution pursuant to Subsection C of Section 11-6A-3 NMSA 1978" at the end.