A. Any district organized under the provisions of the Water and Sanitation District Act may elect by resolution adopted by its board of directors to become subject to the jurisdiction of the public regulation commission and to the terms and provisions of the Public Utility Act [Chapter 62, Article 1 to 6 and 8 to 13 NMSA 1978]; provided, however, that in no event shall Sections 62-9-1 through 62-9-7 NMSA 1978 apply to any district making such an election.

B. If the board has not elected to become subject to the jurisdiction of the public regulation commission:

(1) at least thirty days after publication of a notice of the board's intention to adjust rates, tolls, fees or charges, the board shall conduct a public hearing on the proposed resolution, at which time, after hearing proponents and opponents, the board may reject, amend or adopt the resolution adjusting the rates, tolls, fees or charges;

(2) within thirty days after publication of the resolution adjusting rates, tolls, fees or charges, the new rates, tolls, fees or charges may be appealed by a taxpaying elector to the district court of the county in which the district is located; and

(3) the district court shall consider the petition to overturn the adjustments, based on the record of the board hearing in which the resolution was adopted, under the court's rules governing review by a district court of administrative decisions or orders.

C. If the board of any district located in a class A county with a population according to the 2000 federal decennial census of more than one hundred twenty-five thousand and less than one hundred thirty-five thousand has not elected to become subject to the jurisdiction of the public regulation commission:

(1) at least thirty days after publication of a notice of the board's intention to adjust rates, tolls, fees or charges, the board shall conduct a public hearing on the proposed resolution;

(2) at the expense of the board, the board shall appoint a hearing officer to conduct the public hearing to be chosen from a list of hearing officers provided by the commission, and shall engage a court reporter to record the hearing and produce a verbatim written record of the hearing;

(3) the board's hearing officer shall:

(a) hear proponents and opponents of the proposal;

(b) issue a decision rejecting, amending or adopting the resolution adjusting the rates, tolls, fees or charges; and

(c) within thirty days following the hearing, file the decision with the board;

(4) within seven days of receipt of the decision, the board shall mail a copy of the decision to each proponent and opponent who appeared at the hearing or who requested a written copy of the decision, and the board shall post the decision on the district's web site;

(5) the board shall pay all expenses of the public hearing and may charge a reasonable fee for production of copies of the record; provided that any citizen has the right to obtain a copy of the record on payment of the fee;

(6) within twenty days following the board's mailing of the decision of the hearing officer, the decision may be appealed to the board by a taxpaying elector;

(7) within thirty days of receipt of an appeal of the hearing officer's decision, the board shall, based on a review of the record of the first public hearing, reject, approve or amend the decision of the hearing officer and shall mail a copy of the board's decision within seven days to each proponent and opponent who appeared at the hearing or who requested a written copy of the decision, and the board shall post the decision on the district's web site;

(8) within thirty days following mailing of the board's decision, a taxpaying elector may appeal the decision of the board to the district court of the county in which the district is located; and

(9) the district court shall consider the petition to overturn the adjustments, based on the record certified by the court reporter of the public hearing and the decision of the board, under the court's rules governing review by a district court of administrative decisions or orders.

History: 1978 Comp., § 73-21-55, enacted by Laws 1985, ch. 166, § 3; 1993, ch. 282, § 43; 2005, ch. 167, § 6; 2009, ch. 241, § 19.

Cross references. — For the public regulation commission, see N.M. Const. Article XI, § 1 and 8-8-3 NMSA 1978.

The 2009 amendment, effective June 19, 2009, deleted former Subsection A, which provided that no district is subject to the jurisdiction of the public regulation commission or the Public Utility Act except as provided in Subsections B and C of this section; deleted Subsection B, which provided that if the board had not elected to become subject to the jurisdiction of the public regulation commission, the board must file any rates, tolls and charges proposed by the board and subject to review by the commission upon petition by taxpaying electors or the district; and added Subsections B and C.

The 2005 amendment, effective June 17, 2005, changed references to "New Mexico public utility commission" to "public regulation commission" and changed the reference to "taxpayer-electors" to "taxpaying electors of the district" in Subsection C.

The 1993 amendment, effective June 18, 1993, substituted "the Water and Sanitation District Act" for "Sections 73-21-1 through 73-21-54 NMSA 1978" and substituted "New Mexico public utility commission" for "New Mexico public service commission" in Subsections A, B, and C; and substituted "through 62-9-7 NMSA 1978" for "through 62-9-6 NMSA 1978" in Subsection B.