Property tax rebate measure finds no support among county commissioners
FARMINGTON — A measure that would have led the San Juan County Commission to take the first step toward adopting an ordinance that would have allowed some low-income property tax owners in the county to file for a rebate was quickly defeated during the Jan. 31 commission meeting.
Commissioners were required by state law to hold a public hearing on the matter, as they are during every odd-number year, which they did before voting on the issue. No members of the public showed up to voice their thoughts on the proposed tax rebate.
Members of the commission had little to say about the matter, with only a few of them posing questions to deputy county manager Jim Cox, who presented the measure. Cox noted that the rebate would provide $175 to individual taxpayers and $350 to married couples, but only those who own property and make less than $24,000 a year would be eligible for the rebate.
The rebate does not apply to renters or anyone who is still paying a mortgage.
Under state law, any county adopting such a measure would be required to reimburse the state for its portion of the rebated amount, thus costing the county an amount in addition to the tax revenue it would be sacrificing.
Cox noted that only two counties in the state, Santa Fe and Los Alamos counties, have adopted measures allowing their taxpayers to file for the rebates. He cited figures from the New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department that showed that the potential financial impact on San Juan County would be somewhere between $500,000 and $4.2 million a year.
Cox apologized for that wide disparity in estimates, but he said there was no meaningful way to narrow the parameters.
“It really, truly is an estimate — we aren’t sure,” he said.
The measure being addressed during the meeting only would have cleared the way for commissioners to announce their intention to adopt a measure making the rebates a reality. A vote on whether to adopt the rebates could have been placed on the Feb. 21 commission agenda.
Commissioner GloJean Todacheene asked how the rebate process would work, and Cox told her qualifying taxpayers could apply for the rebate on their state tax return. At the end of the tax season, Cox said, the New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department would send San Juan County a bill for the amount of money it owed the department because of the rebates, and the county would have 30 days to pay that bill.
That high degree of uncertainty over how much the county would have owed to the state may have contributed to the decision by commissioners to reject the idea. After Commissioner Terri Fortner moved to have the commission not accept the proposal, the motion quickly was seconded, then voted down unanimously.
Mike Easterling can be reached at 505-564-4610 or measterling@daily-times.com. Support local journalism with a digital subscription: http://bit.ly/2I6TU0e.
This article originally appeared on Farmington Daily Times: Measure would have allowed low-income property owners to seek rebate
