A. A majority of the members of the governing body of a county that desires to become a member of a regional spaceport district pursuant to the Regional Spaceport District Act [5-16-1 to 5-16-13 NMSA 1978] shall impose by ordinance an excise tax at a rate not to exceed one-half percent of the gross receipts of a person engaging in business in the district area of the county for the privilege of engaging in business. A tax imposed pursuant to this section may be imposed by one or more ordinances, each imposing any number of tax rate increments, but an increment shall not be less than one-sixteenth percent of the gross receipts of a person engaging in business in the district area of the county, and the aggregate of all rates shall not exceed one-half percent of the gross receipts of a person engaging in business in the district area of the county. The tax may be referred to as the "county regional spaceport gross receipts tax".

B. A governing body, at the time of enacting an ordinance imposing the tax authorized in Subsection A of this section, shall dedicate a minimum of seventy-five percent of the proceeds of the revenue to the regional spaceport district for the financing, planning, designing and engineering and construction of a spaceport or for projects or services of the district pursuant to the Regional Spaceport District Act and may dedicate no more than twenty-five percent of the revenue for spaceport-related projects as approved by resolution of the governing body of the county.

C. An ordinance imposing a county regional spaceport gross receipts tax shall not go into effect until after an election is held and a majority of the voters of the district area of the county voting in the election votes in favor of imposing the tax. The governing body shall adopt an ordinance calling for an election within seventy-five days of the date the resolution is adopted on the question of imposing the tax. The question shall be submitted to the voters of the district area of the county as a separate question at a general election or at a special election called for that purpose by the governing body. A special election shall be called, conducted and canvassed substantially in the same manner as provided by law for general elections. If a majority of the voters voting on the question approves the ordinance imposing the county regional spaceport gross receipts tax, the ordinance shall become effective in accordance with the provisions of the County Local Option Gross Receipts Taxes Act. If the question of imposing the county regional spaceport gross receipts tax fails, the governing body shall not again propose the imposition of an increment of the tax for a period of one year from the date of the election.

D. The governing body of a county imposing a county regional spaceport gross receipts tax shall transfer a minimum of seventy-five percent of all proceeds from the tax to the regional spaceport district of which it is a member for the purposes in accordance with the provisions of the Regional Spaceport District Act. The governing body of a county imposing a county regional spaceport gross receipts tax may retain no more than twenty-five percent of the county regional spaceport gross receipts tax for spaceport-related projects as approved by the resolution of the governing body of the county.

E. As used in this section, "district area of the county" means that portion of a county that is outside the boundaries of a municipality and that is within the boundaries of a regional spaceport district of which the county is a member; provided that if no municipality within the county has imposed a municipal regional spaceport gross receipts tax, "district area of the county" may mean the area within the boundaries of the county that is within the boundaries of a regional spaceport district of which the county is a member.

History: Laws 2006, ch. 15, § 15.

Cross references. — For the Election Code, see 1-1-1 NMSA 1978.

Effective dates. — Laws 2006, ch. 15 contained no effective date provision, but, pursuant to N.M. Const., art. IV, § 23, was effective May 17, 2006, 90 days after adjournment of the legislature.