Budgeting and Appropriations | Annual budget; fiscal year begins July 1. Unusually, both the governor and a legislative agency (Legislative Finance Committee) propose comprehensive state budgets to the Legislature. |
Bonding or Pay-as-You-Go | Combination of bonding and pay-as-you-go financing (see N.M. Const. art. IX, §6; N.M. Stat. Ann. §§67-3-59.1 et seq. and §67-3-72). |
State-Level Funding Provided for DOT Budgets | FY 2011 (approved): $402.4 million |
Allocation of Federal Transportation Funds to the DOT | Federal transportation funds are allocated to NMDOT in several ways, including direct flow from the U.S. DOT with no state legislative involvement; legislative appropriation at the agency level; appropriation at the category level; appropriation to specific projects; and through approval of the NMDOT transportation plan. |
Allocation of State Transportation Funds to the DOT | State transportation funds are allocated to NMDOT in the same ways as federal funds. |
Traditional State Funding and Finance for Highways | Fuel taxes; additional sales taxes on gasoline or diesel; motor vehicle/rental car sales taxes; vehicle registration/license/title fees; truck weight fees; interest income; general obligation bonds; revenue bonds. More than 95 percent of NMDOT's operating budget is dedicated to highways. |
State Funding and Finance for Other Modes | Transit, rail, aviation, ports and bridges: Funded by the same sources as highways through the multimodal State Road Fund, which can be used for state transportation projects generally. Additional sources of funds for aviation: Aircraft registration fees; aviation fuel tax. |
Innovative Transportation Funding and Finance | GARVEE bonds; state infrastructure bank (federally capitalized); design-build (N.M. Stat. Ann. §13-1-119.1 specifically excludes highway and road projects from design-build authorization; used as a component of one project in 2002); weight-distance tax; traffic camera fees (collected by local governments); impact fees; tapered matching; advance construction. |
Dedicated/Restricted State Funds and Revenues | Fuel tax receipts go to the State Road Fund, the State Aviation Fund, the Motorboat Fuel Tax Fund, local governments, qualified tribes and the general fund (N.M. Stat. Ann. §§7-1-6.7 et seq.). The State Road Fund consists of transportation-related revenues including from the fuel tax, special fuel tax, motor carrier use and trip tax, and vehicle registration fees. State statute dedicates the fund to maintenance, construction and improvement of state transportation projects; federal allotments under federal-aid road laws; and debt payments for state transportation revenue bonds (N.M. Stat. Ann. §67-3-65-1). The Highway Infrastructure Fund is dedicated to state highway projects (N.M. Stat. Ann. §67-3-59.2) and use of the State Aviation Fund is restricted to aviation-related purposes (N.M. Stat. Ann. §64-1-15). |
DOT Authorized to Retain Surplus Funds | Funds are reverted to next fiscal year appropriations. |
Legislative Approval Required to Move Funds Between Projects | Yes. Legislative approval is obtained through budget adjustment requests to the Legislature. |
Transportation Funding Allocations through Local Aid | NMDOT distributes aid by formula. The NMDOT-administered Local Governments Road Fund receives a portion of transportation-related revenues, including the fuel tax (N.M. Stat. Ann. §7-1- 6.28 and §7-1-6.39). NMDOT has discretion over some allocations to localities in financial hardship. Otherwise, the fund is distributed by percentage to the cooperative agreements program, the municipal arterial program, school bus routes and the county arterial program. Funds for the county arterial program are further allocated by a statutory formula based on road mileage. Preference for the cooperative agreements program, the municipal arterial program and school bus routes must be given to local entities that provide at least 25 percent of the project cost; distribution of an entitlement amount from the county arterial program requires a county to contribute at least 25 percent of the entitlement (N.M. Stat. Ann. §67-3-28.2 and §67-3-32). A portion of fuel tax revenues is also distributed directly to local entities (N.M. Stat. Ann. §7-1-6.9 and §7-1-6.27). |