A. With the approval of the higher education department and the state board of finance, pursuant to a resolution of the board of regents, a university that has imposed an athletic facility surcharge may issue athletic facility revenue bonds to pay for some or all of the costs of designing, purchasing, constructing, remodeling, renovating, rehabilitating, improving, equipping or furnishing a university athletic facility that has a seating capacity of twelve thousand or more.

B. The bonds shall bear interest at a rate or rates as authorized in the Public Securities Act [6-14-1 to 6-14-3 NMSA 1978], and the first interest payment may be for any period authorized in the Public Securities Act.

C. The bonds shall be secured by athletic facility revenues and athletic facility surcharge receipts.

D. The university shall establish an "athletic facility bonding fund" for deposit of all athletic facility revenues and athletic facility surcharge proceeds. Money in the fund may be used to pay:

(1) payments of principal, interest or prior redemption premiums due in connection with, and any other charges pertaining to, the bonds, including payments into any sinking fund or reserve fund required by the bond resolution;

(2) costs of operating a university athletic facility during the life of the bonds, provided that no such costs shall be paid if there are current payments due pursuant to Paragraph (1) of this subsection;

(3) costs of constructing, renovating, equipping, maintaining or improving a university athletic facility, provided that no such costs shall be paid if there are current payments due pursuant to Paragraph (1) of this subsection; or

(4) costs of collecting or administering the athletic facility surcharge, provided that no such costs shall be paid if there are current payments due pursuant to Paragraph (1) of this subsection.

E. Bonds issued pursuant to the University Athletic Facility Funding Act shall be payable solely from the athletic facility bonding fund and do not create an obligation or indebtedness of the state within the meaning of any constitutional provision. A breach of any contractual obligation incurred pursuant to that act shall not impose a pecuniary liability or a charge upon the general credit or taxing power of the state, and the bonds are not general obligations for which the state's full faith and credit is pledged.

F. The state does hereby pledge that the athletic facility bonding fund shall be used only for the purposes specified in this section and pledged first to pay the debt service on the bonds. The state further pledges that any law authorizing the imposition of the athletic facility surcharge and the dedication of revenues to the fund shall not be amended or repealed or otherwise modified so as to impair the bonds to which the fund is dedicated as provided in this section. The university shall not repeal, amend or otherwise modify the bond resolution or the resolution imposing the athletic facility surcharge in such a manner that adversely affects or impairs the athletic facility surcharge or any bonds secured by a pledge of the athletic facility revenues and athletic facility surcharge receipts unless the bonds have been paid in full or provisions have been made for full payment.

History: Laws 2007, ch. 117, § 4.

Emergency clauses. — Laws 2007, ch. 117, § 12 contained an emergency clause and was approved March 30, 2007.