Section 7-20E-9 - County gross receipts tax; authority to impose rate; indigent fund requirements.
7-20E-9. County gross receipts tax; authority to impose rate; indigent fund requirements.
A. A majority of the members of the governing body of a county may enact an ordinance imposing an excise tax not to exceed a rate of seven-sixteenths percent of the gross receipts of any person engaging in business in the county for the privilege of engaging in business in the county. An ordinance imposing an excise tax pursuant to this section shall impose the tax in three independent increments of one-eighth percent and one independent increment of one-sixteenth percent, which shall be separately denominated as "the first one-eighth increment", "the second one-eighth increment", "the third one-eighth increment" and "the one-sixteenth increment", respectively, not to exceed an aggregate amount of seven-sixteenths percent.
B. The tax authorized in Subsection A of this section is to be referred to as the "county gross receipts tax".
C. A class A county with a county hospital operated and maintained pursuant to a lease with a state educational institution named in Article 12, Section 11 of the constitution of New Mexico enacting the second one-eighth increment of county gross receipts tax shall provide, each year that the tax is in effect, not less than one million dollars ($1,000,000) in funds, and that amount shall be dedicated to the support of indigent patients who are residents of that county. Funds for indigent care shall be made available each month of each year the tax is in effect in an amount not less than eighty-three thousand three hundred thirty-three dollars thirty-three cents ($83,333.33). The interest from the investment of county funds for indigent care may be used for other assistance to indigent persons, not to exceed twenty thousand dollars ($20,000) for all other assistance in any year.
D. A county, except a class A county with a county hospital operated and maintained pursuant to a lease with a state educational institution named in Article 12, Section 11 of the constitution of New Mexico, imposing the second one-eighth increment of county gross receipts tax shall be required to dedicate the entire amount of revenue produced by the imposition of the second one-eighth increment for the support of indigent patients who are residents of that county. The revenue produced by the imposition of the third one-eighth increment and the one-sixteenth increment may be used for general purposes. Any county that has imposed the second one-eighth increment or the third one-eighth increment, or both, on January 1, 1996 for support of indigent patients in the county or after January 1, 1996 imposes the second one-eighth increment or imposes the third one-eighth increment and dedicates one-half of that increment for county indigent patient purposes shall deposit the revenue dedicated for county indigent purposes that is transferred to the county after the distribution pursuant to Subsection C of Section 7-1-6.13 and Subsection C of Section 7-20E-7 NMSA 1978 in the county indigent hospital claims fund and such revenues shall be expended pursuant to the Indigent Hospital and County Health Care Act [27-5-1 NMSA 1978].