A. A municipality, for the purpose of maintaining, enlarging, extending, constructing and repairing sewer facilities and for paying the interest and principal on revenue bonds issued for the acquisition, condemnation or construction of sewer facilities, may levy by general ordinance a just and reasonable service charge upon a front-foot, volume-of-sewage, number-of-outlets or other equitable basis on:

(1) an improved or unimproved lot or land that adjoins a street in which a sewage collection system exists or that is accessible to such a sewage collection system; and

(2) premises and improvements otherwise situated but connected to the sewage collection system.

B. Any charge authorized in Subsection A of this section is a lien co-equal with a similar water lien and superior to all other liens except general property taxes upon the property so charged and is a personal liability of the owner of the property so charged. The lien shall be enforced as provided in Sections 3-36-1 through 3-36-7 NMSA 1978.

History: 1953 Comp., § 14-25-2, enacted by Laws 1965, ch. 300; 1967, ch. 146, § 6; 1977, ch. 324, § 1; 1994, ch. 99, § 2.

Cross references. — For Eminent Domain Code, see 42A-1-1 to 42A-1-33 NMSA 1978.

The 1994 amendment, effective May 18, 1994, in Subsection A, substituted "sewer" for "sewage" twice, inserted "acquisition, condemnation or" near the beginning of the subsection, and made stylistic changes; and, in Subsection B, substituted "3-36-1 through 3-36-7 NMSA" for "14-35-1 through 14-35-6 NMSA 1953" and made stylistic changes.

Standards for setting rates. — Where the municipality owns and operates a water and sewer system, the rates charged by it must be fair, reasonable and just, uniform and nondiscriminatory. The city has the power to set reasonable rates in excess of actual expenditures in furnishing municipally owned utility services, if such rates compare favorably with those received by private utility companies. Apodaca v. Wilson, 1974-NMSC-071, 86 N.M. 516, 525 P.2d 876.

Application of revenues. — This section and 3-27-4 NMSA 1978 do not limit or prohibit the application of the revenues from the sewer or water system operated by a home-rule city to other municipal purposes. The only limitation, as in the case of any legislative action or function by the city, is that it exercise its authority in a reasonable manner and act pursuant to constitutional authority. Apodaca v. Wilson, 1974-NMSC-071, 86 N.M. 516, 525 P.2d 876.

Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. — 56 Am. Jur. 2d Municipal Corporations, Counties, and Other Political Subdivisions § 574.

63 C.J.S. Municipal Corporations § 1356.