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New Mexico State Land Office

The State Land Office is dedicated to generating revenue to support public institutions while ensuring the long-term health and productivity of the land. Over the last three years, the Land Office has raised more than $1.7 billion for public schools, universities, hospitals and other important institutions, saving the average household about $800 in taxes each year.

In addition to managing the State Trust Lands, the New Mexico State Land Office (NMSLO) operates an oil and gas royalty program, which has more than 8,000 oil and gas leases on Trust Lands.  These leases have generated over $1.5 billion in royalties between January 2011 and November 2014.  Monthly royalty payments are processed by the NMSLO and transferred to the Land Grant Permanent Fund. Part of this royalty program is an Advance Royalty Payments Program that is designed to ensure timely payment of state royalties due from large remitters. State royalty remitters with an average monthly payment of $25,000 or more are required to maintain an amount on deposit with the NMSLO equal to that average monthly payment. The deposit amounts are reviewed and adjusted annually.

Revenues from nonrenewable use of Trust Lands, such as royalties from oil and natural gas extraction, and proceeds from land sales are deposited into the Land Grant Permanent Fund.  Revenues from renewable resources, such as grazing, rights of way, interest on earnings and bonuses paid to acquire oil and gas leases, are distributed directly to the beneficiaries, minus the NMSLO’s operating budget, through the Land Maintenance Fund.