Annexation, Taxes, Water and Gas.
By Bobbi Shearer
November, 2004
When George Tippin, Steve Sederwall and I took office almost three
years ago, the biggest complaint we heard was the condition of the
roads. Since then, the Road Dept. has worked hard under J. LaMay's
direction and the roads are much better. We've funded more gravel,
started the dust abatement program, and begun chip-sealing the main
roads. But it isn't cheap and you already know that its you who pay for
it.
People were really upset in 2002 about the police department, and the
constant turn-over in officers. We raised the salaries to make them
competitive with other local departments, but you're paying for that
too. Whether we add another police officer, replace broken water mains,
or put gravel on your road, it's a pretty good bet the money is going
to come out of your pocket.
We held a workshop session recently to discuss Village revenue, and
other priorities. The bottom line is that we don't have enough revenue
to provide the services our residents have come to expect and have a
right to expect.
When we talk about Village revenue, the Water Fund and the General Fund
have to be discussed separately. Generally, all water expenses and
water income have to stay in the Water Fund. Pretty much everything
else- Police, City Hall, MVD, Street Dept. comes out of the General
Fund, with a few exceptions such as the Museum Fund.
The General Fund
When we talk about revenue in the General Fund, the first thing that
raises its ugly head is TAXES - Property Taxes and Sales Taxes. In
order to raise revenue, the Village could raise property taxes. We
could raise the gross receipts (sales) tax rate by a percentage or
more. Some of the sales tax revenue would come from tourists and
out-of-towners. But with the sales tax on food going away, the truth is
that most of the increase would come out of the local economy (i.e.
your pocket)..
I haven't voted to raise taxes yet, and I'd rather not start. There's
another way to raise revenue, but it involves another dirty word -
ANNEXATION.
Obviously allowing limited annexation would bring in more property
taxes without raising the property taxes of the people who already live
here. Right now, our Village limits stretch along the South side of
Highway 380, but don't take in the homes and businesses along the North
side of the highway along the same stretch. Annexing the highway
frontage properties would bring in immediate sales tax and property tax
revenues, with almost no impact on the Village.
The Village has also been approached about annexing 300 acres on the
North side of town, although the developer hasn't filed a formal
petition for annexation. We certainly don't want to repeat the mistakes
of the past and annex any subdivision where the utilities aren't up to
code or the roads aren't built. This developer did make a presentation
at the council meeting, and said he wanted to put about 3 0 houses on 8
-10 acre tracts out there. In the 1998 Master Plan, the Village adopted
the policy that "developers should be required to pay 100% of the cost
of providing roadways, utilities etc. for any area requesting
annexation." The Board will absolutely uphold that policy. But I'm
inclined to listen to the developer's plans and consider it. I'm afraid
that if we ignore it and just hope for best, it will become something
far less beneficial to the Village. (Keep in mind the Capitan Estates
could have been four single family lots if the Village had acted
differently)
The Water Fund
Talking about ANNEXATION brings me back to WATER. Do we have enough to
even think about annexing? The Water Board has been researching that
issue, as well as looking at our water rates and system.
One of the first things the Water Board noticed was that the Water Fund
was in trouble, and we may have to raise water rates (your pockets
again). The big problem with the Water Fund is that the former Board
put in a 1.4 million dollar line (the RUS project), while not allowing
new water taps. The payments on that line are $39,318.00 a year.
Without new water taps, that payment costs each existing customer about
$4.00 a month. The system has plenty more aging lines and needed
upgrades. Every major break will take a few more bucks out of your
pocket. If we stay on the course we are on, water rates will go up,
guaranteed.
But the question was- do we have enough water? The Village owns the
right to appropriate about 1100 acre/feet per year of water. We lease
600 acre/feet per year to Ruidoso, use about 300 acre/feet, and leave
200 acre/feet unappropriated. Ruidoso pays us $60,000.00 a year, and
generates far more than that using the rights for their own water
system. We have one good well that produces about 275 gallons per
minute. If anything happened to that well, we'd be without water. We
need to develop another well field, but we can't do it on the current
revenues generated by the system. We need to be smarter about how we
are managing our water system. Even if we don't annex, we should
consider extra-territorial water taps. We could stipulate that those
taps could be disconnected if the Village experienced a shortage or
expected shortage in its water supply. But if we don't change our
policies, it won't be a question or whether we have water, but a
question of whether you can afford it.
I wanted to talk about ZONING, but I'm almost out of room and I have to
talk about NATURAL GAS. Both Cliff Smith and I resigned from the
Capitan Carrizozo Natural Gas Board this month. The Gas Company
locked-in its wholesale gas price a couple of weeks ago, and its about
65% higher than last year. I think gas bills will be about 40% higher.
I resigned because my conscience will not let me continue to sit by
while your gas rates sky-rocket. I believe that if you were able to buy
natural gas from the private company, your rates would be the same or
less than last year. I've tried everything I can think of to turn that
company around, and I've failed at every turn. I don't believe that we
are like David fighting Goliath. I think we're a small company that
can't compete in an extremely competitive market, and again, it's your
money that's being spent.
I'll write about ZONING next month, if you don't impeach me before then.
