A Tax Increase? Already? Councilors Float Tax Hike To Bail City Out Of Budget And APD Mess; Keller Noncommittal; Wants Everything "On The Table" Plus: Finding New Money Without Boosting Taxes

Councilors Sanchez & Jones

A tax increase? Already? ABQ's City Council, reawakened after eight years of slumbering while the city was mismanaged into a deficit, presided over the ruination of the police department and an economic recession that goes on and on, now says the way to solve the city's problems is not to reform the wrongheaded ways that got us here but to paper it over by increasing taxes.

Specifically, Councilors Ken Sanchez, a Democrat, and Republican Trudy Jones are proposing a hike of 3/8ths of a cent in the regressive gross receipts tax ($55 million a year) that would take it very close to 8 percent, putting it at 7.875 percent. They want to use the money to resolve the city deficit and to hire more APD officers.

As former Mayor Jim Baca pointed out this is a regressive tax that would mostly hit the many low income households in the city. He urges Mayor Keller to veto it should it reach his desk.

We would add that a nearly 8 percent GRT is a red flag for professionals like doctors, lawyers and small business owners wanting to set up shop here.

So where is Mayor Keller as shrapnel flies from this mini-bombshell? Not very visible, at least not yet.

Remember, Keller is the former State Auditor who revealed millions in wasteful spending and fraud--a record that paved his way to being elected mayor last November. So it's natural to ask: Where is the Council's and administration's in-depth audit of the city before the tax bandwagon gathers speed? Where are the reforms to improve performance?

The past waste and mismanagement right in front of us is epic--the ART project, the $60 million in APD lawsuit settlements, the APD overtime debacle, just to name a few. And then there are the many creepy-crawlers still under the City Hall carpets that we don't yet know about. Heck, a controversial tax hike might invite Republican State Auditor Wayne Johnson, who succeeded Keller, to take a peek at the city's books.

KELLER CORNER

Mayor Keller 

Keller's only comment on the tax increase was to have his office say "all options" should be "on the table." It looks as if he is watching the wind to see if this trial balloon gets ballast. But a major campaign pledge of the Mayor's was to get voter approval of any public safety tax. And since Sanchez is saying the bulk of the money from any tax hike would go to public safety, it's hard not to get busted if that pledge is not kept.

Keller needs millions to hire more officers for the severely understaffed APD and if he doesn't show results in his first year, he may start going under water politically. That makes the tax hike look like the easy way out.

But after eight years of bungling it's hard to justify funding Mayor Berry's administration without deconstructing it.

--There is not at least a million or more in annual savings available by downsizing outside legal contracts?

--Business registration permits have been at $35 for over 8 years. Time for a increase?

--The Mayor's office can't lead the way and provide a quick symbolic $100,000 in savings? Ditto for the council?

--We can't put the economic development department under the mayor's office?

--How about finally dealing with APD overtime?

--How about raising some money by putting more traffic cops on the Wild West, anything goes freeways?

That's just little stuff. And the list goes on and on.

FINDING THE MONEY

Even with reforms and savings it's clear that there is going to have to be new revenue to plug the deficit--in the area of $40 million--and finance APD staffing. That money is staring the mayor and the council in the face. It's the $18 million a year flowing in from a 1/8th of a cent gross receipts tax increase approved two years ago for capital projects at the BioPark. Redirect 75 percent of that tax--with voter approval--to the public safety emergency and you get $13 million annually.

But that would take spending political capital. The BioPark protectors will vigorously defend their tax that came while the crime wave was building but which was downplayed by the business community and the media in an effort to avoid pinning responsibility on their favored Mayor Richard Berry. The true scope of the problem became known publicly only after the stats came out following the tax vote.

Raising taxes so soon after the last election as a faux means of solving the leadership problem the city faces is only going to further advance the current and correct stereotype that this city council is out of touch and unable or unwilling to produce real results. If Keller agrees to it before at least enacting true reforms and savings, it could be a sign that the new administration is not so serious after all and is going to govern by auto-pilot for the next four years.

TAX HIKE POLITICS

ABQ City Council

A Republican supporting a tax increase? NE Heights "conservative" R and tax co-sponsor Councilor Trudy Jones is not expected to seek re-election in two years. If she were staying she would not sign on to it.

Republican Councilor Brad Winter is also serving his final term and faces no political consequences if he supports the hike other than looking like a hypocrite. We'll see.

NE Heights GOP Councilor Don Harris is freshly re-elected but his somewhat conservative district is not going to swallow a tax increase without objection. Maybe he sells it as essential to break the back of the crime wave?

The council is divided 6 to 3 with Dems in the majority so the D's could pass a hike without any R support. But westside Councilor Cynthia Borrego represents a swing district. A vote to raise taxes as her first major decision would have possible opponents crawling out of the woodwork.

Dem Councilor Klarissa Peña represents a Valley district that is one of the poorest of the nine. Does she want to burden that low-income constituency with a higher tax on everyday expenses?

SE Heights Dem Councilor Pat Davis is running for the ABQ congressional seat. His liberal district might look favorably upon the proposal but if Davis votes yes, what does that say about what he would do in DC when it comes to taxes for working class families?

Dem Councilor Ike Benton suffered a recent loss when he proposed an increase in the gasoline tax to finance road repairs.  He would likely be a "yes" vote for the hike. Councilor Diane Gibson, freshly re-elected, may go for it because of the high crime in her NE district.

So it appears there are three firm votes for the increase: Sanchez, Jones and Benton. Much now is going to depend on how Keller plays his hand from the 11th floor.

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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2018