SPACEPORT BOARD & TAXES

HB 396 amends New Mexico law to regulate how counties impose and use a special tax to fund spaceport development. It requires that any county spaceport gross receipts tax (capped at 0.5% of business revenue) must be approved by voters through a separate election and can only be collected until related bonds are fully paid. The bill mandates that at least 75% of all tax revenue must be dedicated solely to paying the principal and interest on these bonds, with no more than 25% available for other spaceport projects approved by the county. This directly affects counties seeking to form regional spaceport districts and their governing bodies, which must now follow strict revenue allocation rules under amended sections 5-16-5, 5-16-7, and 7-20E-25 NMSA 1978.