A. The “land grant-merced assistance fund” is created in the state treasury and shall be administered by the department of finance and administration. The fund consists of gifts, grants, donations, appropriations to the fund and distributions to the fund made pursuant to the Tax Administration Act [N.M. Stat. Ann. Chapter 7, Article 1].

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B. On or before September 1, 2023 and on or before September 1 of each subsequent year, the state auditor shall provide a list to the land grant council of the land grants-mercedes that are in compliance with the Audit Act N.M. Stat. Ann. § 12-6-1 to 12-6-15 and the category of compliance required for each land grant-merced pursuant to Subsection B of Section 12-6-3 N.M. Stat. Ann..

C. Within thirty days of the receipt of the list of Audit-Act-compliant land grants- mercedes and their Audit Act compliance levels provided by the state auditor pursuant to Subsection B of this section, the land grant council shall determine the land grants- mercedes on the list that are assistance-qualified pursuant to Paragraph (1) of Subsection F of this section and their distribution categories pursuant to Subsection D of this section and provide a list of those determinations to the department of finance and administration and the state treasurer.

D. An assistance-qualified land grant-merced with an annual revenue, calculated on a cash basis of accounting, exclusive of capital outlay funds or federal or private grants disbursed directly by an administrating agency or previous year distributions from the land grant-merced assistance fund, shall receive an annual distribution amount starting in fiscal year 2024 and continuing in each subsequent fiscal year in accordance with the following:

(1)     less than fifty thousand dollars ($50,000), the assistance-qualified land grant-merced shall receive a full distribution;

(2)     at least fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) but not more than two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000), the assistance-qualified land grant-merced shall receive seventy-five percent of a full distribution;

(3)     at least two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000) but not more than five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000), the assistance-qualified land grant-merced shall receive fifty percent of a full distribution; and

(4)     five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) or more, the assistance-qualified land grant-merced shall receive twenty-five percent of a full distribution.

E. Within thirty days of receiving the list of assistance-qualified land grants- mercedes pursuant to Subsection C of this section, the state treasurer shall distribute to each assistance-qualified land grant-merced the amount determined pursuant to Subsections C and D of this section. If the balance in the fund as of the preceding June 30 exceeds the sum of certified amounts distributed, the difference shall revert to the general fund.

F. As used in this section:

(1)     “assistance-qualified land grant-merced” means a land grant-merced that has supplied an account of its previous fiscal year revenue calculated in the same manner used for an annual calculation pursuant to Subsection D of this section to the land grant council, is in compliance with Chapter 49, Article 1 or 4 NMSA 1978, including having an elected board of trustees, and is in compliance with the Audit Act;

and (2)     “full distribution” means an amount equal to the annual amount of money in the land grant-merced assistance fund at the start of a fiscal year divided by the total number of assistance-qualified land grants-mercedes as determined by the land grant council pursuant to Subsection C of this section for that fiscal year.