ARTICLE I
GENERAL PROVISIONS AND POWERS; CONSTRUCTION

1.01 Municipal Corporation; Purpose.

A. Municipal Corporation. The municipal corporation now existing and known as the City of Rio Rancho shall remain and continue to be a municipal corporation with the same name and boundaries as existed prior to the effective date of this Charter. The boundaries of the City may be extended as provided by law.

B. Purpose. The purpose of this Charter is to provide for maximum self-government and the greatest possible exercise of home rule powers. In no case shall the City have any less powers than a non-charter municipality in the State of New Mexico.

1.02 Powers of the City.

A. Acceptance of Devolution of Powers. By enacting this Charter, pursuant to the provisions of Article X, Section 6 of the New Mexico Constitution, and pursuant to the Municipal Charter Act, the City of Rio Rancho does accept the full and complete devolution of home rule powers granted in the Constitution and laws of the State of New Mexico to all municipalities which adopt a charter. Accordingly, the City shall have all powers possible for a home rule municipality to possess under the Constitution and laws of the State of New Mexico, including but not limited to all implied powers and all powers necessary to implement all express powers of the City, as if each and every one of the City’s implied powers were fully, completely, and expressly enumerated in this Charter.

B. Charter as Limitation on Powers. As the New Mexico Constitution and Municipal Charter Act devolve full home rule powers directly on municipalities which enact a charter, this Charter shall be construed as a limitation on powers and not as a grant of powers. The fact that this Charter shall enumerate for convenience or reference some of the powers of the City shall not change the nature of the Charter from a limitation on powers to a grant of powers, or give rise to any inference that the City lacks any power which is not specifically enumerated. If a power of the City is not affirmatively stated herein, no presumption or inference shall be created that the City lacks such a power.

C. Liberal Construction. The powers of the City under this Charter shall be construed liberally in favor of the City, and shall be interpreted to favor maximum local self government.

D. Powers of General Law Municipal Corporations. The City shall be entitled to exercise any and all powers granted by law or the Constitution to municipal corporations, except to the extent that there may be a conflict with this Charter; in which case the Charter shall operate to limit the City’s ability to exercise such a power.

E. The Governing Body shall be empowered to enact ordinances establishing impact fees and which may, in addition, address such other land use matters as the Governing Body deems appropriate.

F. The Governing Body shall be empowered to adopt ordinances for the purpose of protecting the environment of the City of Rio Rancho.

G. The Governing Body shall be empowered to adopt, by ordinance, policies of procurement for the City.

1.03 Intergovernmental Relations.

Intergovernmental Relations. In addition to those powers granted pursuant to the New Mexico Joint Powers Agreement Act, the City may exercise any of its powers or perform any of its functions and may participate in the financing thereof, jointly or in cooperation, by contract or otherwise, with any one or more states, or any state civil division or agency, or any Native American government or any of its agencies, or the United States or any of its agencies.

(Section 1.03 amended at Special Election, March 5, 1996, as Proposition 1)

1.04 State and Municipal Laws.

A. All City ordinances, resolutions, orders and regulations which are in force when this Charter becomes fully effective are repealed only to the extent that they are inconsistent with or interfere with the effective operation of this Charter.

B. To the extent that the Constitution and laws of the State of New Mexico permit, all laws relating to or affecting the City or its agencies, officers or employees, which are in force when this Charter becomes fully effective, are superseded to the extent that they are inconsistent or interfere with the effective operation of this Charter.

C. In addition to the provisions of Subsections A and B of this section, and pursuant to Section 3-15-13 NMSA 1978, any provision of the Municipal Code or any other state law relating to municipalities shall apply to the City only to the extent that such a state statute is not inconsistent with the provisions of this Charter. To the extent that any state statute relating to municipalities is consistent with this Charter, the City may avail itself of the rights, privileges and powers conferred by such a statute, regardless of whether such a statute vests powers in home rule municipalities, non-home rule municipalities, or both.

1.05 Rights and Property.

A. All rights and property which were vested in the City prior to the effective date of this Charter shall remain so vested under the Charter. No existing right or liability and no pending litigation shall be affected by adoption of this Charter. No action or proceeding, civil or criminal, pending at the time that this Charter takes effect, shall be affected or abated by operation of this Charter.

B. All contracts and franchises entered into by the City or for its benefit, prior to the effective date of this Charter, shall remain in full force and effect. Public improvements for which legislative action has been taken under laws, ordinances or resolutions existing at the time this Charter takes effect, may be carried to completion in a manner which is in as full compliance with this Charter as is possible in accordance with the provisions of existing laws, ordinances and resolutions.

1.06 Construction.

A. Headings. Section and subsection headings are included for convenience only. Such headings shall not be utilized for the purpose of determining the meaning of the Charter.

B. Terms. Unless the context otherwise requires: the singular shall include the plural; the plural shall include the singular; male shall include female; female shall include male; “may,” “can,” and “should” shall be permissive; “must,” “shall,” and “will” shall be mandatory; “or” shall be disjunctive; and “and” shall be conjunctive.

C. Severability. The provisions of this Charter are severable. If any provision of this Charter is held invalid, the other provisions of the Charter shall not be affected thereby. If the application of the Charter or any of its provisions to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the application of the Charter and its provisions to other persons or circumstances shall not be affected thereby.

1.07 Charter Review and Amendment.

A. Charter Review. The Governing Body shall provide, by ordinance, for a process of periodic review of the Charter. The purpose of the review is to evaluate, propose or recommend amendments. Provisions shall be made for a review to occur within five years after the effective date of this Charter, and not less than once every six years thereafter.

(Section 1.07.A. amended at the Special Election on March 7, 2006 as Proposition 18; Section 1.07.A. amended at the Special Election on March 1, 2016 as Proposition 36)

B. Charter Amendment. Amendments to this Charter must be submitted to the qualified electors by the Governing Body or by the following procedure:

(1) Notice of intent to circulate a petition proposing any amendments to this Charter must be signed by five qualified voters and filed with the city clerk.

(2) The proposed amendment to this Charter shall be filed with the city clerk concurrently with the filing of the Notice of Intent.

(3) The number of qualified voters required to sign the petition in order to have the proposed amendment placed on the ballot shall be 15 percent of the number of registered voters at the regular municipal election immediately preceding the filing of the Notice of Intent.

(4) The city clerk must approve the form of any petition submitted under this section prior to obtaining any signatures on the petition. If a particular proposed petition is not submitted to the city clerk prior to circulation, or if such a proposed petition is not approved as to form by the city clerk, then the city clerk shall not accept the petition for filing.

(5) The city clerk shall indicate in writing on a proposed petition that it is approved as to form if:

(a) the petition contains a heading which states that the petition is for the purpose of charter amendment;

(b) the heading sets forth in full the text of the proposed charter amendment;

(c) the petition contains a place for the person signing the petition to write the date, name (printed), address, and signature;

(d) the petition contains a statement that any person knowingly providing, or causing to be provided, any false information on a petition, forging a signature or signing a petition when that person knows he or she is not a qualified elector in the City of Rio Rancho, is guilty of a fourth degree felony; and

(e) each page of the petition for signatures contains the requirements as specified in subsections (a) through (d).

(6) Following circulation, the petition must be filed with the city clerk. No petition, or any part thereof, may be filed more than sixty days after the Notice of Intent is filed.

(7) Following certification of the petition by the city clerk, the Governing Body shall adopt an election resolution. The election shall be held not later than the next regular municipal election or at any other date as specified in the election resolution.

(8) At such election, the ballot shall contain the text of the proposed amendment and below the same phrases: “FOR AMENDMENT” and “AGAINST AMENDMENT”.

(9) If a majority of the votes cast are against the amendment, it shall be of no effect. If a majority of the votes cast are in favor of the amendment, it shall become effective ten days following its adoption or at any other date specified in the amendment.

(Section 1.07.B. amended at the Special Election on March 5, 1996 as Proposition 2; Section 1.07.B. amended at the Special Election on March 1, 2016 as Proposition 37)