Tribal Infrastructure Fund

The Tribal Infrastructure Fund was created by the Tribal Infrastructure Act in 2005. This act recognizes that many of New Mexico’s tribal communities lack basic infrastructure, including, but not limited to water and wastewater systems, roads, and electrical power lines.

Through this competitive funding, all federally recognized tribes, nations and pueblos within New Mexico have an opportunity to submit a robust project proposal for their community. At each funding cycle, the project proposal is evaluated and based on scoring, is awarded funds through the 13-person Tribal Infrastructure Board, which is administratively attached to the New Mexico Indian Affairs Department.

Pursuant to the Laws of 2010, HB162 – Severance Bonds for Tribal Infrastructure, the State Board of Finance division shall allocate four and one half percent (4.5%) of the estimated senior severance tax bonding capacity each year for tribal infrastructure projects, and the state board of finance will issue severance tax bonds in the annually allocated amount for use by the Tribal Infrastructure Board to fund qualified tribal infrastructure projects.