2019 New Mexico Statutes
Chapter 6 - Public Finances
Article 6 - Local Government Finances
Section 6-6-1 - Definitions.

"Local public body" means every political subdivision of the state that expends public money from whatever source derived, including counties, county institutions, boards, bureaus or commissions; incorporated cities, towns or villages; drainage, conservancy, irrigation or other districts; charitable institutions for which an appropriation is made by the legislature; and every office or officer of any of the above. "Local public body" does not include a mutual domestic water consumers association, a land grant, an incorporated municipality or a special district with an annual revenue, exclusive of capital outlay funds, federal or private grants or capital outlay funds disbursed directly by an administrating agency, of less than fifty thousand dollars ($50,000), nor county, municipal, consolidated, union or rural school districts and their officers or irrigation districts organized under Sections 73-10-1 through 73-10-47 NMSA 1978.

History: 1953 Comp., § 11-2-56, enacted by Laws 1957, ch. 250, § 1; 1961, ch. 207, § 1; 2009, ch. 283, § 1; 2017, ch. 146, § 1.

Compiler's notes. — Senate Bill 222, enacted by the Fifty-Third Legislature, First Session, 2017, was vetoed by the governor on March 15, 2017. Pursuant to the First Judicial District Court's decision in State ex rel. New Mexico Legislative Council v. Honorable Susana Martinez, Governor of the State of New Mexico et al., D-101-CV-2017-01550, and affirmed by S.Ct. Order No. S-1-SC-36731, on April 25, 2018, which held that Article IV, Section 22 of the New Mexico Constitution requires that objections must accompany a returned bill, Senate Bill 222 was chaptered into law by the Secretary of State.

The 2017 amendment, effective July 1, 2017, raised the threshold for being exempt from the definition of "local public body"; in the first sentence, after "including", deleted "but not limited to"; and in the second sentence, after "of less", changed "then" to "than", and deleted "ten thousand dollars ($10,000)" and added "fifty thousand dollars ($50,000)".

The 2009 amendment, effective July 1, 2010, in the second sentence, between "does not include" and "county, municipal", added new language and changed the statutory reference from Sections 75-23-1 through 75-23-45 NMSA 1978 to Sections 73-10-1 through 73-10-47 NMSA 1978.

DFA control over expenditures. — The articles on financial control (Section 6-5-1 NMSA 1978 et seq.) and local government finances (Section 6-6-1 NMSA 1978 et seq.) make it clear that the legislature intended the department of finance and administration to have significant control over the expenditure of public monies. Joseph E. Montoya & Assocs. v. State, 1985-NMSC-074, 103 N.M. 224, 704 P.2d 1100.

Validity of 6-6-1 to 6-6-6 NMSA 1978. — Sections 6-6-1 to 6-6-6 NMSA 1978 constitute an independent statute, the meaning of which is reasonably clear from an examination of the statute itself, and it does not constitute "blind legislation" prohibited by the constitution. 1958 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 58-85.

The middle Rio Grande conservancy district is a "local public body" as defined by this section. 1960 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 60-209.