Three Hits and A Dismal Mess Of A Miss
At last Wednesday’s (September 17, 2008) Edgewood Town Council meeting there were at least three hits. There may have been more, but I left before the meeting concluded and the agenda did not foretell the distinct possibility of other great or decent occurrences during the meeting. On to the three hits:
- Councilor Abrams asked for and received a promise from the mayor that the mayor would move post-haste to appoint a renewable energy committee/commission. This promise after some prodding from others. See All Aboard … An Energy Board
- Councilor Hill gained the support of the mayor to investigate and possibly strangle the impact fees the town passes on to Santa Fe County. Both Councilor Hill and Mayor Stearley are to address this issue with Santa Fe County authorities. While at it, they may as well attempt to obtain the 1/4 cent gross receipts tax the county promised to look at forgiving
- Mayor Stearley finally and wisely broached the subject of hiring a consulting firm to help in the establishment of wastewater user fees. The fees must cover operating and maintenance costs plus any principal and interest payments to retire the debt incurred for the treatment plant.
Ah, the mess and the miss? The reader, if attentive and a regular reader, will remember that this article North To Taxland and responses to it, reported on the North Central Regional Transit District’s transportation service. The article provided further links, among other information, regarding details of a referendum to be placed on the ballot during the forthcoming general election in November. The article posed the possibility that the district’s operation in the southern portion of the county can offer little to the bulk of Edgewood area citizens. Additionally, the article pointed out the likelihood that fully one-half of the proposed tax would accrue to the Railrunner system and Edgewood does not have representation on the district board.
In addition to my article regarding the district, Lee Ross of the Mountain View Telegraph (the Telegraph) wrote an article which appears here Santa Fe County To Vote On Transit Tax Additionally, an editorial regarding the district appears in the same issue of the paper. Mayor Stearley is quoted in the article as stating, in essence, that he does not hold a position for or against (emphasis added by me) the 1/8 cent gross receipts tax and indicated that joining the district would not be useful because most of the issues would be limited to Santa Fe.
Following the above, this is provided as the mayor’s further quote, “It might be good to have representation, although the issues they’re dealing with do not affect us,“ he said. “I wouldn’t want to go up and spend time at a meeting when I’m not really involved in most of the issues that they’d be dealing with … surely they (the RTD) will do the best they can for Edgewood with or without our presence … I trust them to do right by us.”
The Telegraph editorial takes the position that it could not hurt and might benefit Edgewood to have a member on the board. I agree with the Telegraph editorial and would go further to state that not only would it be beneficial, it is a necessary and altogether proper element of Edgewood town government to be a part of a body that spends money that is taken from this community. Which calls to mind, two other boards that spend a great deal of money taken from Edgewood.
The Regional Emergency Communications Center (RECC)Â
“The RECC is governed by the Santa Fe Regional Emergency Communications Center Board of Directors. The Board of Directors consists of the City Manager and County Manager, City Police Chief and County Sheriff, City Fire Chief and County Fire Chief, and an At-Large Civilian.”
Notice that Edgewood has no representation on the board, although Edgewood has been paying the tax since the tax was first enacted. In fact, the Town of Edgewood is obligated to pay from $70,000 up to $100,000 in addition to the tax paid. For those who may have lost sight of what a ¼ cent gross receipts tax in Edgewood amounted to a short while ago, it was (until Wal-Mart opened) approximately $190,000 per year. Now that Wal-Mart is in operation this tax will rise to at least $300,000 and possibly $380,000 or more.
The second such ¼ cent gross receipts tax, commonly referred to as The Water/Wastewater Tax, is also removed from the Town of Edgewood. This tax became effective on January 1, 2003 and is supposed to run 10 years from that date. Monies from this county-wide tax is “managed” by the Regional Planning Authority . Fully, one-half of this tax is utilized by the County of Santa Fe and the City of Santa Fe for their Buckman Rio Grande Water Diversion Project and/or alternate Rio Grade water diversion project/s. Once again, Edgewood has no representation on this board; nor has it received any monies from the fund, although it has been estimated that $950,000 has accrued to the fund from Edgewood. The same estimate can be used for future accrual of this tax as was used for the future accrual of the RECC tax. There is no question that Edgewood sorely needs money from this fund. It would seem to anyone with a modicum of common sense, that the proper thing for Santa Fe County to do would be to see to it that they partner with Edgewood for public facilities needed by both entities in the Edgewood community. And, it would seem, that Edgewood’s governing body would not rest until something is done in the furtherance of such a partnership. If our elected state representatives and senators need to be lobbied to accomplish this change then, so be it. But, if the mayor and some councilors of Edgewood do not wish to pursue this effort with more zeal than it takes just to attend meetings, then perhaps an occasional glance in the mirror might shame them into looking for another line of work. Say, wine-tasting or golf.
This situation with Santa Fe County AND Santa Fe City is embarrassing, disrespectful on their part and it cannot be allowed to continue. It does not show good governance to make statements such as, “I trust them to do right by us,” when a simple examination of the record will show that Santa Fe County and Santa Fe City has never done right by us in the main.
Texans have their Alamo … we in the Estancia Basin have our Estancia Basin water that almost left the basin for Santa Fe City. Remember? Or, should it be, “Remember the Water Jug?” We barely missed another giant sucking sound from the straw in their (Santa Fe City’s) mouth and the rumbling sound from their giant maw may return. So, it is possible, that in consort with Santa Fe County, they will suck more taxes from our midst.
2 Responses “Three Hits and A Dismal Mess Of A Miss”
What a source of information! Mr. Ring seems to have outdone himself again! With his knowledge of the tax abuses perpetrated by the county on all of South Santa Fe County, it is a shame that he can’t be our representative in the “City Different”. No tax relief seems to be forthcoming from the “North” and unlike our esteemed Mayor I fail to perceive any reason to trust that we can be treated fairly by any Santa Fe County-related entity that has its hands in our pockets!
While somewhat radical, I believe the answer is for us to form our own county. Until such time as this can be achieved, don’t support ANY new taxes, especially tranportation-related. “SLIP THE GRIP”!
Hey!! Found your blog on yahoo – thanks for the article but i still don’t get it.