The Doña Ana County Board of Commissioners will again discuss a proposed 1/4 percent gross receipts tax increase to help fund Spaceport America at its meeting Tuesday.
On a 4-1 vote with Oscar Vasquez Butler dissenting, the commission voted in October to let voters decide whether to approve the tax increase. An election will most likely be held on April 3.
On Tuesday, commissioners must formally vote to give notice of a public hearing on the proposed tax increase. Assuming the measure passes, the hearing will be held before the commission in January.
Following that hearing, commissioners will cast the final vote on whether to hold the election, but they’ve already made their intention to do that clear.
At Tuesday’s meeting, expect
Commissioner Bill McCamley, since the October vote, has visited the governing bodies of municipalities and school districts in the county and other groups to try to convince them that building the spaceport is an investment in economic development that will create jobs and bring more tax revenue into the county that can be spent on improving infrastructure and other issues.
I’ve been to a couple of McCamley’s presentations and spoken with him and others about presentations I missed. For the most part, he has received positive responses, though there are definitely some who side with