A. For the purposes of this section, "distributable amount" means the amount in the county government road fund as of the last day of any month for which a distribution is required to be made pursuant to this section in excess of the balance in that fund as of the last day of the preceding month after reduction for any required distributions for the preceding month.

B. The secretary of transportation shall determine and certify on or before July 1 of each year the total miles of public roads maintained by each county pursuant to Section 66-6-23 NMSA 1978. For the purposes of this subsection, if the certified mileage of public roads maintained by a county is less than four hundred miles, the state treasurer shall increase the number of miles of public roads maintained by that county by fifty percent and revise the total miles of public roads maintained by all counties accordingly. Except as provided otherwise in Subsection D of this section, each county shall receive an amount equal to its proportionate share of miles of public roads maintained, as the number of miles for the county may have been revised pursuant to this subsection, to the total miles of public roads maintained by all counties, as that total may have been revised pursuant to this subsection, times fifty percent of the distributable amount in the county government road fund.

C. Except as provided otherwise in Subsection D of this section, each county shall receive a share of fifty percent of the distributable amount in the county government road fund as determined in this subsection. The amount for each county shall be the greater of:

(1) twenty-one cents ($.21) multiplied by the county's population as shown by the most recent federal decennial census; or

(2) the proportionate share that the taxable gallons of gasoline reported for that county for the preceding fiscal year bear to the total taxable gallons of gasoline for all counties in the preceding fiscal year, as determined by the department, multiplied by fifty percent of the distributable amount in the county government road fund.

If the sum of the amounts to be distributed pursuant to Paragraphs (1) and (2) of this subsection exceeds fifty percent of the distributable amount in the county government road fund, the excess shall be eliminated by multiplying the amount determined in Paragraphs (1) and (2) of this subsection for each county by a fraction, the numerator of which is fifty percent of the distributable amount in the county government road fund, and the denominator of which is the sum of amounts determined for all counties in Paragraphs (1) and (2) of this subsection.

D. If the distribution for a class A county or for an H class county determined pursuant to Subsections B and C of this section exceeds an amount equal to one-twelfth of the product of the total taxable gallons of gasoline reported for the county for the preceding fiscal year times one cent ($.01), the distribution for that county shall be reduced to an amount equal to one-twelfth of the product of the total taxable gallons of gasoline reported for the county for the preceding fiscal year times one cent ($.01). Any amount of the reduction shall be shared among the counties whose distribution has not been reduced pursuant to this subsection in the ratio of the amounts computed in Subsections B and C of this section.

E. If a county has not made the required mileage certification pursuant to Section 67-3-28.3 NMSA 1978 by April 1 of every year of the year for which distribution is being made, the secretary of transportation shall estimate the mileage maintained by those counties for the purpose of making distribution to all counties, and the amount calculated to be distributed each month to those counties not certifying mileage shall be reduced by one-third each month for that fiscal year and that amount not distributed to those counties shall be distributed equally to all counties that have certified mileages.

F. Distributions made to counties pursuant to this section shall be deposited in the county road fund to be used for the construction, reconstruction, resurfacing or other improvement or maintenance of the public roads and bridges in the county, including right-of-way and materials acquisition. Money distributed pursuant to this section may be used by the county to provide matching funds for projects subject to cooperative agreements entered into with the department of transportation pursuant to Section 67-3-28 NMSA 1978.

History: Laws 1987, ch. 347, § 11; 1988, ch. 106, § 1; 1989, ch. 352, § 2; 1990, ch. 85, § 3; 1992, ch. 55, § 5; 1999, ch. 212, § 2; 2017, ch. 63, § 11.

The 2017 amendment, effective June 16, 2017, made technical corrections; in Subsection B, after "The secretary of", deleted "highway and", after "certify on or before", deleted "July 1, 1987 and on or before", and after "July 1 of each", deleted "subsequent"; in Subsection E, after "NMSA 1978", deleted "by May 1, 1998, and", after "of every year", deleted "thereafter", and after "the secretary of", deleted "highway and"; and in Subsection F, after "entered into with the", deleted "state highway and" and added "department of", and after "transportation", deleted "department".

The 1999 amendment, effective August 1, 1999, added Subsection F.

The 1992 amendment, effective July 1, 1992, substituted "Subsections B and C" for "Subsections A and B" near the beginning of the first sentence of Subsection D and "that" for "which" near the end of Subsection E.

The 1990 amendment, effective July 1, 1990, deleted former Subsection A which read "The state treasurer shall distribute the distributable amount for August, 1987 and each subsequent month to the respective county road funds in accordance with the provisions of this section"; redesignated former Subsections B to F as Subsections A to E; deleted "less the distributable amount to the county government training program, pursuant to Section 7-1-6.19 NMSA 1978, which is equal to five-tenths of one percent of the amount in the county government road fund" at the end of Subsection A; in Subsection C, substituted "Subsection D" for "Subsection E" in the first sentence and rewrote the second paragraph of Paragraph (2); and, in Subsection D, substituted "Subsections A and B" for "Subsections B and C" in the first sentence and added the second sentence.

The 1989 amendment, effective June 16, 1989, in Subsection B, inserted the language at the end beginning "less the distributable amount".