As used in the College District Tax Act:

A. "board" means the governing board of the college district;

B. "college" means a two-year, public post-secondary educational institution organized pursuant to the provisions of the Community College Act, Chapter 21, Article 14 NMSA 1978, the Technical and Vocational Institute Act [Chapter 21, Article 16 NMSA 1978] or the Off-Campus Instruction Act [21-14A-1 to 21-14A-10 NMSA 1978];

C. "college district" means a district in which a college is located or is proposed to be located, the exterior boundaries of which are determined pursuant to the statutory provisions under which the college is organized;

D. "debt" means an obligation payable from ad valorem property tax revenues or the general fund of a college district and that may be secured by the full faith and credit of a college district and a pledge of its taxing powers;

E. "education technology equipment" means tools used in the educational process that constitute learning and administrative resources and may include:

(1) closed-circuit television systems; educational television and radio broadcasting; cable television, satellite, copper and fiber-optic transmission; computer, network connection devices; digital communications equipment, including voice, video and data; servers; switches; portable media such as discs and drives to contain data for electronic storage and playback; and purchase or lease of software licenses or other technologies and services, maintenance, equipment and computer infrastructure information, techniques and tools used to implement technology in colleges and related facilities;

(2) improvements, alterations and modifications to, or expansions of, existing buildings or personal property necessary or advisable to house or otherwise accommodate any of the tools listed in Paragraph (1) of this subsection; and

(3) expenditures for technical support and training expenses of college district employees who administer education technology projects funded by a lease-purchase arrangement and may include training by contractors; and

F. "lease-purchase arrangement" means a financing arrangement constituting debt of a college district pursuant to which periodic lease payments composed of principal and interest components are to be paid to the holder of the lease-purchase arrangement and pursuant to which the owner of the education technology equipment may retain title to or a security interest in the equipment and may agree to release the security interest or transfer title to the equipment to the college district for nominal consideration after payment of the final periodic lease payment. "Lease-purchase arrangement" also means any debt of the college district incurred for the purpose of acquiring educational technology equipment whether designated as a general obligation lease, note or other instrument evidencing a debt of the college district.

History: Laws 1995, ch. 224, § 8; 2019, ch. 252, § 1.

The 2019 amendment, effective April 4, 2019, defined "debt", "education technology equipment", and "lease-purchase arrangement" for purposes of the College District Tax Act; in Subsection B, after "Technical and Vocational Institute Act", deleted "Chapter 21, Article 17 NMSA 1978"; and added Subsections D through F.