LOS ALAMOS — Los Alamos County hopes to enjoy a $61 million windfall over the next decade or so.

The new money has already started, at least until March 4, when a continuing resolution arranged at the end of the last Congress runs out. Unlike most of the rest of the federal government, which was constrained to the previous year's spending levels by the stopgap appropriation, Los Alamos and the nuclear weapons complex were given an exception to begin receiving their budget increases as the new fiscal year began.

The "plus-up," as the exception is called, amounted to $640 million and was related to the Senate's ratification of the New Start arms-control treaty with Russia. Before the treaty was approved, another $185 billion was committed for nuclear weapons and related defense activities over the next decade.

Steven Lynne, Los Alamos County administrative services director and chief financial officer, said this week that about $40.6 million from fiscal year 2010 gross-receipts taxes, typically 75 percent to 80 percent of total gross-receipts tax revenues, were associated with the laboratory.

Because the lab is not required under state confidentiality laws to disclose how much it pays, the county infers a gross-receipts tax figure from the monthly state reports by taking the largest number from the largest sector and calling it "LANL."

"It's a rough estimate," Lynne said. "It's an adequate surrogate for what we're trying to do."

Just as the county's income relies heavily on federal funds, new spending at the lab is increasingly concentrated in one very large project, a nuclear facility that is estimated to cost somewhere between $3.7 billion and $5.8 billion between now and 2022.

Designing that final piece of the Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Replacement facility, and the weapons modernization and plutonium processing programs that go along with it, will help drive LANL's budget up 26 percent this year, from $1.49 billion to $1.87 billion. According to the Department of Energy's budget plans, always subject to the will of Congress, that new level will be sustained plus or minus a little over the next five years.

The lab has other income as well, but CMRR is the primary source of new funds.

In a long-range financial plan prepared last year, Lynne projected a baseline estimate that saw the portion of revenues related to LANL go up by $100 million over the next 12 years, but in an update prepared in December, the adjusted baseline including CMRR came down to $61 million.

"There are a lot of positive indicators," Lynne said. "There is more positive potential than we've seen in awhile, but I would really stress 'indicators' and 'potential.' "

The projections are based on LANL's spending history, DOE's spending estimates and consultation with the laboratory, but timing and spending decisions can make a big difference in the outcome. Over the years, the laboratory has also become more sophisticated about ways to save money on GRT.

With the uncertainties in mind, county officials can choose a range of mitigating measures for protection against unexpected changes.

In the four years since LANL has been operated by a for-profit partnership, the county has already enjoyed a significant boost in revenue from gross-receipts taxes, which the former nonprofit manager, the University of California, did not have to pay.

Those additional revenues from lab-related gross-receipts taxes came in just in time to help cover a number of infrastructure projects, including a $28 million upgrade of Diamond Drive, one of the main north-south arteries in town. The Trinity Drive downtown thoroughfare and N.M. 4, which runs through the residential community of White Rock, also need upgrades. At the same time, the county is involved in a number of construction projects, including a replacement for its Municipal Building.

"I don't know what we would have done if we had not gotten some of that money," said Jim Hall, a county councilor. "If additional money comes in, I'm going to advocate for replacing the infrastructure we need to replace."

Meanwhile, as a member of the council's State Legislative Committee, he noted that the county will not be making any capital outlay requests to the Legislature this year.

"We recognize that we're relatively better off than many local communities," he said. "If there's any pie in the state budget at all, I think other communities have fewer resources to address their needs at this time."

Los Alamos is the wealthiest county in New Mexico, based on 2008 Bureau of Economic Analysis figures, with a $58,698 per capita income. Santa Fe was second at $44,927, while the state average was $33,389.

During the recession, Los Alamos was hardly touched by unemployment. According to the latest state government statistics, Los Alamos County's seasonally unadjusted unemployment for November was just 3.6 percent, compared to a New Mexico figure of 8.6 percent. Santa Fe County by comparison was 7 percent for the same period.

Contact Roger Snodgrass at roger.sno@gmail.com.