{"id":1458,"date":"2007-03-23T08:25:00","date_gmt":"2007-03-23T14:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/03\/pay-the-utility-bills-before-you-buy-a-maserati\/"},"modified":"2007-03-23T08:25:00","modified_gmt":"2007-03-23T14:25:00","slug":"pay-the-utility-bills-before-you-buy-a-maserati","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/03\/pay-the-utility-bills-before-you-buy-a-maserati\/","title":{"rendered":"Pay the utility bills before you buy a Maserati"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is the sixth in a series of guest columns debating whether Do\u00f1a Ana County voters should approve a 1\/4 percent gross-receipts tax increase to help fund Spaceport America<\/a>. Public officials and other readers are invited to participate in this debate. To submit a guest column for publication, e-mail me at heath@haussamen.com<\/a>. Baseless personal attacks will not be published.<\/span> <\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

By Tamie Smith<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The idea of travel beyond the boundaries of the Earth \u2013 into outer space \u2013 has always been an exciting concept to many persons. I am one who has dreamed about soaring into space.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

As a child, I recall being in about the 4th grade, and I loved reading \u201cAmazing Stories\u201d by Hugo Gernsback. I think those were the beginning of science fiction tales. As years passed, science fiction posed the real possibility of space travel with captivating tales by well-known authors such as Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein and A.E. van Vogt. Later, the familiar Ray Bradbury and Arthur C. Clarke developed even more plausible stories of men and women in space.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Then, as huge advancements in space exploration bewildered the mind, human beings cruising into space became only a question of technology, time and costs. Technology that will enable (wealthy) Joe and Jane Citizen to take that trip seems pretty well solved. It seems the time might be soon. But the cost for such a joy trip is, sadly (at this time) beyond the reach of the average citizen \u2013 not just the citizens of the less-than-affluent Do\u00f1a Ana County, but also beyond grasp of the majority of citizens in the very affluent Marin County, Calif., touted as being the most affluent in the nation with a per-capita income of $44,962, according to the 2000 census.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The spaceport in Sierra County (not Do\u00f1a Ana County; remember that) is promoted as being a government enterprise \u2013 not a private enterprise \u2013 even though, initially, this project will really accommodate the pleasures of rich folks \u2013 very rich folks. <\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Although the taxpayers were not given an option, they actually have already lent their financial support to the spaceport with the $114.5 million appropriated by the state. Uh, state money comes from each of us, right?<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The state has already used some of that money to lease the land from ranchers \u2013 a rather substantial amount of money up front with an ongoing yearly payment.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

It appears that the citizens of the counties directly involved, as well as all citizens of the State of New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:state>, have already contributed quite nicely to this project. So, should the many less-than-rich folks of Do\u00f1a<\/st1:placename> Ana<\/st1:placename> County<\/st1:placename><\/st1:place> (and Sierra and Otero counties) contribute even more by approving an increase in the regressive gross receipts tax? I think not. <\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Do\u00f1a Ana County has many needs to meet in order to properly serve and protect its residents, and we must prioritize needs and budget our monies carefully, just as one tries to do in managing one\u2019s personal affairs. You don\u2019t (hopefully) buy a Maserati when you have yet to find the money to pay your utility bill. <\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

With or without further contributions, if this is the best place for the spaceport, I believe it will be here. In the meantime, we must solve our flooding problems: levees, dams and other flood-control measures identified by the county as costing $400 million to upgrade and repair. We are already committed to $23 million for a new city<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> hall; downtown revitalization is another $30 million; soon there\u2019ll be a plea for a school bond election. City and county roads are in a dismal state and there are rumblings from the city fathers (and mothers) about a bond issue to fix the city roads.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

From whence will come all these monies? I guess we could just pretend this is really another Marin<\/st1:placename> County<\/st1:placetype><\/st1:place>, and pray for the best.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Smith is a Las Cruces<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> resident.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is the sixth in a series of guest columns debating whether Do\u00f1a Ana County voters should approve a 1\/4 percent gross-receipts tax increase to help fund Spaceport America. Public officials and other readers are invited to participate in this debate. To submit a guest column for publication, e-mail me at heath@haussamen.com. Baseless personal attacks […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1458","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-guest-columns"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1458","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1458"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1458\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}