By Russell Max Simon
Albuquerque Journal (New Mexico)
Copyright 2006 Albuquerque Journal
Members of the Santa Fe City Council’s Public Works Committee on Monday voted to formally object to a proposed countywide tax increase scheduled to go to voters on the Nov. 7 general election ballot.
Santa Fe County Commissioners intend to use the estimated $9 million in revenue that would be generated by the one-quarter-cent gross receipts tax for emergency fire services. Santa Fe city firefighters have pledged to campaign against the tax if county officials do not commit to sharing more of the money.
Santa Fe Mayor David Coss and Fire Chief Chris Rivera said the tax proposal is unfair because it would tax city residents but would not go to benefit city services.
One county proposal calls for the county to give $2.5 million of the $9 million to fund the city’s share of the Regional Communication Center for emergency services, but county commissioners have not committed to that idea.
The resolution endorsed by the committee, while objecting to the tax, states that if the tax is approved,
the county should commit to funding “at a minimum” the city’s share of the communication center.
According to an analysis by the League of Women Voters, roughly $7.2 million of the tax’s revenue
would come from money spent at businesses within the city limits, while only $1.8 million would come from businesses outside the city limits.
“Sharing this tax is the right thing to do,” said Santa Fe City Councilor Patti Bushee, who chairs the Public Works Committee.
County Commissioner Paul Campos, at a commission meeting two weeks ago, said it was “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.’”
“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,” Campos said during the commission meeting.
The resolution approved Monday was only one of several - all sponsored by City Councilor Miguel Chavez - that highlight continuing disagreement between city and county officials.
Another resolution, also approved unanimously by the committee, directs Santa Fe City Manager Asenath Kepler “to pursue whatever methods are available for recovering the city’s costs from Santa Fe County for providing fire and emergency medical services to residents and businesses located outside the city limits.”
Chavez said he has been working for six years to arrive at an agreement on how to recover the costs, which city officials have estimated could total $1 million a year.
Another Chavez-sponsored resolution considered - though not approved - Monday called for the City Council to withdraw from the Extraterritorial Zoning Authority, the joint city/county board that reviews land use in the 5-mile boundary surrounding the city limits.
State statute gives the city the authority to review land use in the area, but Chavez has maintained for months that the structure of the EZA is inherently flawed because of its makeup: three county commissioners and two city councilors sit on the authority.
“There continues to be an imbalance and inequality in voting presence... This imbalance prevents the governing body from effective control over land use issues and this has led to unmanaged growth and disorderly development in the urban area,” the resolution states.
City Councilor Chris Calvert asked Chavez to make the language in the resolution less “inflammatory,” while Bushee said the resolution was more likely to gain council support if it didn’t sound so much like “finger pointing.” The committee voted to send the resolution to more committee meetings before consideration by the City Council.