Spaceport authority supports delay in collection of tax

The New Mexico Spaceport Authority is backing up Doña Ana County’s assertion that collection of a 1/4 percent gross receipts tax to help fund construction of Spaceport America should be delayed until at least July because voters in Sierra and Otero counties haven’t yet decided whether to implement the tax.

County commissioners voted earlier this month to delay the tax until at least July because, though commissioners in Sierra and Otero counties have said they plan to schedule elections on possible gross receipts tax increases to help fund the spaceport, neither has done it. Approval from another county is critical because no tax money can be spent, under state law, until at least two governments approve an increase and form a tax district.

But the state’s Taxation and Revenue Department says Doña Ana County’s vote to delay the tax isn’t valid because it can only be delayed by amending or repealing the ordinance that allowed the April tax election. There’s not time to do that before the tax takes effect on Jan. 1.

Commissioners have met in closed session to discuss the possibility of a lawsuit to try to delay the tax. The concern in Doña Ana County is that collection of tax money could begin on Jan. 1 for a district that never forms, if another county doesn’t also approve a tax increase. Then what would happen with the money that had been collected?

In a guest column published today in the Las Cruces Sun-News, spaceport authority chairwoman Kelly O’Donnell wrote that the group is backing Doña Ana County’s attempt, writing that, “given unforeseen delays on scheduling the referendum in Sierra and Otero counties, many citizens have rightfully questioned whether the tax collection should begin before these referendums.”

She said the authority is working with both counties to prepare for tax-increase votes, but said the group supports the county’s resolution to delay collection of the tax until one of the other counties approves a tax increase.

The spaceport authority “is working to assure fairness in the process for the people of Doña Ana County, as is the Doña Ana County Commission, by examining options,” O’Donnell wrote. “We encourage state lawmakers to consider how to handle the situation when they meet again in January, and to delay implementing the tax until July 1, 2008, or after a time when a tax district is formed.”

As things stand, however, collection of the tax will begin before the Legislature convenes on Jan. 15.

O’Donnell wrote that the spaceport promises rewards for the area, and the authority remains committed to making it a reality, but “there is only one way for the (authority) to do this, and that is the right way, which may not always be the fastest way.”