Revenue sharing at heart of dispute
By Erica Cordova
Albuquerque Journal (New Mexico)
Copyright 2006 Albuquerque Journal
Members of the Santa Fe County Commission fired back at city emergency personnel on Tuesday for threatening to campaign against the county’s proposed 1/4 cent gross receipts tax increase that commissioners voted unanimously to place on the Nov. 7 general election ballot.
“It’s a sad day when we have the city taking on the county fire department and saying, ‘Hey we are going to sabotage your election efforts,’ '' Commissioner Paul Campos said. “It’s a sad day when you are not concerned about the fact that this money is going to save lives and if this tax is defeated and lives are lost ... who is going to take responsibility for it?”
The commission voted Tuesday to place the item on the ballot after hearing from county and city emergency personnel.
The emergency tax, if passed, would generate about $9 million in revenue per year for the county fire department and emergency services.
But the City of Santa Fe Firefighters Association and many emergency personnel have said they oppose the idea of the county placing the proposal on the ballot unless some of the revenue is shared with the city fire department.
Shaun Northness, president of the union, told commissioners that his 96-member group would campaign to let city residents know the gross receipts tax would mainly benefit the county’s emergency services.
“We will make an effort to inform the city through the (newspaper) and also fliers and maybe even at the polls just what the tax involves,” Northness said. “It doesn’t benefit the city.”
Northness said he is worried that city residents will get the impression that they are voting for a tax increase that will benefit the city. He said the city’s fire department responds to 20 percent of the county fire department’s emergency calls. For that reason, the county should share some of the revenue, Northness said.
Santa Fe County Fire Chief Stan Holden told commissioners that the county is in dire need of more firefighters to make the department and its emergency services more efficient.
There are 26 firefighters to cover the county’s 2,000 square miles, while there are 140 firefighters to cover the city’s 45 square miles, Holden said.
If the tax increase is passed, Holden said, the county fire department would hire an additional 48 paramedics/firefighters. He also said a portion of the funds would go to the county fire department’s volunteer recruitment and retention program.
“Volunteers are the backbone of emergency services in Santa Fe County,” Holden said, noting the county has largely depended on its 300 volunteers to respond to emergencies.
County officials argue that even if the new revenue is not shared with the city, it would allow the county to hire enough manpower to respond to its own emergencies, which would benefit the city.
“They (city firefighters) make an argument that they have to provide services into the county. Yes, because the county doesn’t have the available service to provide the county residents,” Holden said.
Holden has proposed that the county give $2.5 million of the $9 million the tax increase is expected to raise annually to the city fire department.
Holden said the fire department would be entitled to a portion of the money because the tax would fund the Regional Communication Center, which is operated jointly by the city and the county for 911 emergency response.
After hearing what the union had to say about its plan to campaign against the tax increase, Holden said he’s frustrated.
“When the city fire department appears before a governing body and county commission and makes an argument of what is in their best interest instead of what is in the best interest of the county taxpayer, it’s very concerning,” Holden said. “It seems to be a ‘me first’ attitude, and that is not what public safety is about.”
Commissioner Virginia Vigil, along with Campos and commissioners Mike Anaya and Harry Montoya, voiced their concerns about the city asking the county not to place the tax on the ballot unless it gets a share.
Campos has previously noted that in 2002, the county agreed to share revenues from a voterapproved gross receipts tax for water improvements and other projects under a threat that city officials would work to defeat the tax at the polls unless the city got a cut.
Vigil said she did not like the union’s promise to oppose the county’s tax increase proposal.
“I’m really taken aback that the position of the city fire department is, ‘You give us our share or we are going to fight you,’ '' Vigil said. “That is totally unprofessional ... and totally unnecessary.”
Early in the hearing, Mayor David Coss told the commission that the city and county should jointly organize a study session to discuss the proposal. “I’m not for or against it,” Coss said, noting that the proposal has generated a lot of discussion among city councilors. Last month, the city voted in favor of approving its first property tax increase, a 0.592 mill increase that will generate about $1.5 million per year in additional revenue to hire more than a dozen new firefighters and provide raises and hiring bonuses for the police department. City paramedics/firefighters have said that $700,000 from those funds would go directly to the fire department to add to its personnel. But the department will still be short of staff, they said. “We are a couple of (fire) stations down,” Santa Fe Fire Chief Chris Rivera told the commission.