By Carter Bundy
As if you needed another reason to live in the
It’s also the most exciting place in
Now, the tragic illness of Pete Domenici has also turned
If the governor sticks to his guns, though, it’s all wide open. Mayor Martin Chávez has joined Don Wiviott in the battle to take on Heather Wilson or Steve Pearce, and other Dems are thinking of jumping in. CD1 and CD2 are about to become as crowded as the unemployment line on
Heath, who absolutely dominated news coverage of the events of the week by breaking nearly every angle on the story, has covered the Senate permutations and House races beautifully. I’ll go into more detail as the field shapes up, but for now, I can’t lay it out any better than Heath has.
Budget battleground
There’s another battle that isn’t getting the same great coverage: tax increment financing (TIF). But it’s as likely to affect your wallet and the services you expect as much as any election.
In 2008, there’s going to be no more important place in the West than
This week, the Bernalillo County Commission took a major step toward endangering the county’s tax base when it green-lighted TIF for
Let me be clear: I think each of the five commissioners means well, and I don’t think there’s anything corrupt about their decisions. Of course, the fact that developers are spending literally millions of dollars on lobbyists, lawyers, consultants, PR folks and legislative strategists, just for our little ol’ ‘burque, should tell you how much is at stake.
Subsidy stand-off summary
Big props to Commissioner Deanna Archuleta, who bravely did everything she could to make TIF more fiscally responsible. Most of her amendments failed 4-1, leading her to vote against the overall bill.
Commissioner Teresa Cordova seemed to grasp the potential for TIF abuse and sponsored a successful amendment to reduce county exposure, but disappointingly still voted to move forward.
Commissioner Alan Armijo has always been a guy who stands in support of social programs, but, along with Cordova, seems to have greater faith than I that the developers will agree to development agreements that put the taxpayer and services first.
Commissioner Tim Cummins, to his credit, supported the Cordova amendment, but otherwise was gung-ho about the subsidization of developers, as was Commissioner Michael Brasher.
I hope for nothing more than to have my fears proven wrong; Commissioners Archuleta, Cordova and
According to Cummins, traditional development is funded about 60 percent by taxpayers and 40 percent by developers. What makes the current system acceptable is that the taxpayers’ general fund and capital dollars are restored by new tax revenues generated in the new developments. The developers pay their share and still make a big profit. Good for them.
Maybe we’ll grow so much no one will notice. Does that make it smart policy?
If Norquist and Nader can join forces…
A few months ago, arch-tax hawk Grover Norquist and uber-liberal Ralph Nader teamed up to push for greater government transparency.
This week’s actions merely set the framework for developers to pocket up to 75 percent of new tax revenue. The final details will be hammered out in development agreements that follow each developer’s applications. Both tax hawks and social program advocates need to be involved.
Politics makes strange bedfellows, but this alliance makes perfect sense. If our general fund is depleted to fatten the bottom lines of
Let’s set aside the electoral battles on this one. Progressives and traditional conservatives alike need to be involved in these development agreements. Make sure that whoever wins November’s big electoral battles represents a state still on the rise, not in bankruptcy. Nothing would be finer.
Bundy is the political and legislative director for AFSCME in