New Mexico Register / Volume XXXVI,
Issue 1 / January 14, 2025
TITLE 16 OCCUPATIONAL
AND PROFESSIONAL LICENSING
CHAPTER 25 VETERINARY MEDICINE PRACTITIONERS
PART 10 DISBURSEMENTS FROM
THE ANIMAL CARE AND FACILITY FUND
16.25.10.1 ISSUING
AGENCY: New Mexico Board of
Veterinary Medicine.
[16.25.10.1 NMAC-N, 1/14/2025]
16.25.10.2 SCOPE:
These rules apply to all organizations and individuals applying for
disbursements from the animal care and facility fund.
[16.25.10.2 NMAC-N, 1/14/2025]
16.25.10.3 STATUTORY
AUTHORITY: Section 61-14-7.1, NMSA 1978 directs the animal sheltering committee
of the New Mexico board of veterinary medicine to develop criteria for
individuals, nonprofit organizations, animal shelters and euthanasia agencies
to receive monetary assistance for dog and cat spaying and neutering from the animal
care and facility fund; and recommend to the board the disbursements of money
from the animal care and facility fund to eligible individuals, nonprofit
organizations, animal shelters and euthanasia agencies.
[16.25.10.3
NMAC-N, 1/14/2025]
16.25.10.4 DURATION:
Permanent.
[16.25.10.4
NMAC-N, 1/14/2025]
16.25.10.5 EFFECTIVE
DATE: January 14, 2025
[16.25.10.5 NMAC-N, 1/14/2025]
16.25.10.6 OBJECTIVE:
To establish criteria and procedures for the disbursement of funds from the
Animal Care and Facility Fund to eligible recipients for providing spay and
neuter services to dogs and cats.
[16.25.10.6 NMAC-N, 1/14/2025]
16.25.10.7 DEFINITIONS:
A. “Animal Sheltering Committee” is as established
pursuant to Section 61-14-7.1, NMSA 1978
B. “Disbursement” means payment of
monies from the animal care and facility fund pursuant to the requirements in,
Section 77-1B-4, NMSA 1978. Eligible
applicants will receive monies in advance of services provided pursuant to the
terms of the application, except that eligible individual applicants will
receive reimbursement paid directly to providers for services performed.
C. “Eligible applicant” means:
(1) an animal shelter, euthanasia agency,
or non-profit organization in good standing with the Secretary of State in the
state of licensure; or
(2) an individual with a household income
that does not exceed two hundred percent of the federal poverty level
guidelines as published by the U.S. department of health and human services.
D. “Fund” means the animal care
and facility fund established in Subsection (A) of Section 77-1B-4, NMSA 1978, including
the statewide spay and neuter subaccount established in Subsection (D) of
Section 77-1B-4, NMSA 1978.
E. “Monies” means fees, income and money in the animal care
and facility fund, including money in the statewide spay and neuter subaccount.
F. “Qualified service provider”
means a veterinarian or other licensed provider of spay/neuter services to
eligible applicants in New Mexico.
G. “Qualified” means licensed to
provide veterinary services in New Mexico and in good standing with the Board
as well as with the provider’s licensing entity.
[16.25.10.7 NMAC-N, 1/14/2025]
16.25.10.8 DETERMINATION OF
APPLICANT ELIGIBILITY:
A. All organizations or individuals
seeking disbursements from the animal care and facility fund shall submit a
completed application on a form approved by the animal sheltering committee.
B. The application shall include:
(1) the name, business address and
nonprofit tax ID number in the case of organizations with such status;
(2) the name of the qualified service
provider expected to provide spay and neuter services if not the organization
itself; and
(3) such other information as determined
by the board.
C. The animal sheltering committee
shall update application guidelines as necessary.
[16.25.10.8 NMAC-N, 1/14/2025]
16.25.10.9 OBLIGATIONS OF
SUCCESSFUL APPLICANTS:
A. Applicants receiving disbursements
from the animal care and facility fund shall:
(1) maintain all relevant organizational
documents showing that they are in good standing with the Secretary of State;
(2) submit an amended application in the event that their proposed scope of services or
proposed service provider(s) change, which amendment shall be submitted within
60 days of such change;
(3) submit an annual report based on the
date of initial approval, to the board that shall include:
(a) the number of spay and neuter
surgeries that the organization has sponsored or performed during the relevant
period, which is one year from the date of disbursement of money unless
otherwise specified and sanctioned in the application;
(b) the average cost of each spay and neuter surgery performed;
(c) certification that the recipients of
the services performed have household incomes not exceeding two hundred percent
of the federal poverty level guidelines;
(d) any other information as determined
by the Animal Sheltering Committee or the Board.
(4) submit additional reports as required
by the Board.
(5) perform or facilitate the performance
of spay and neuter surgeries for cats and dogs residing in New Mexico.
(6) monies unspent
before the deadline given shall be returned to the NMBVM to be reverted to the
Animal Care and Facility Fund.
[16.25.10.9 NMAC-N, 1/14/2025]
16.25.10.10 SUBMISSIONS FOR
DISBURSEMENT BY INDIVIDUAL APPLICANTS: To
qualify for a disbursement, individual applicants shall provide:
A. the names, addresses and means of
contact for the persons responsible for the dog(s) or
cat(s) receiving the service;
B. a statement that the person or
persons identified above has a household income that does not exceed two
hundred percent of the current federal poverty level guidelines published by
the United States Department of Health and Human Services; and
C. the name and address of a proposed,
qualified service provider to whom the monies will be paid directly.
[16.25.10.10 NMAC-N, 1/14/2025]
16.25.10.11 LOSS OF STATUS
A. An otherwise eligible applicant for
disbursement of money from the animal care and facility fund may be denied
future disbursements for the following reasons:
(1) failure to submit its annual report
as required in Paragraph 3 of Subsection A of 16.25.10.9 NMAC;
(2) failure to remain in good standing
with the Secretary of State where the organization was incorporated; or
(3) failure to comply with the policies,
procedures or other requests from the animal sheltering committee or board.
B. The animal sheltering sommittee shall recommend any loss of status to the board
for consideration at a public meeting. The
board shall provide the organization at issue 20 days’
notice of such determination by certified mail to the service’s business
address on file and may optionally and additionally provide such notice
electronically. The board may deliberate
on any loss of status in closed session pursuant to Paragraph (3) of Subsection
(H) of Section 10-15-1, NMSA 1978, of the Open Meetings Act.
[16.25.10.11 NMAC-N, 1/14/2025]
16.25.10.12 PROCEDURE FOR BOARD
APPROVAL OF DISBURSEMENTS:
A. A majority of a quorum of the Animal
Sheltering Committee shall recommend to the Board disbursements of money from
the fund that comply with this part.
B. A majority of
the Board shall timely approve, amend, or deny the amount to be disbursed as
recommended by the Animal Sheltering Committee, or partial amount, during the
open meeting.
C. The
Board shall provide written notice to the successful applicants, whose
applications have been approved or approved as amended, within 10 days of
approval.
D. Within 10 days of board approval of a
disbursement, the board’s executive director or the director’s designee shall
sign a voucher to submit to the secretary of finance and administration
pursuant to Subsection (E) of Section 77-1B-4, NMSA 1978.
[16.25.10.12 NMAC-N, 1/14/2025]