Election planned for street repairs

By Mike Marino
Cibola County Bureau

GRANTS — It has been said the only things in life that are certain are death and taxes. In Grants that isn't always the case, at least when it comes to taxes.

The city plans to hold an election on Sept. 11 to allow residents of Grants to vote on a tax increase to help pay for what many consider much needed road repairs in the city limits. Just a few years ago a similar tax vote was voted down by locals.

It appears that most agree that the roads in the city need repair and upgrades, but many agree to disagree on how to pay for it. The proposed increase would go from the current 7.3 percent to 7.6 percent. Unlike the current Lodgers Tax which affects only visitors and tourists to the area, the new proposed sales tax would impact those same visitors as well as local residents.

The proposed increase would include the tax rate for retail products but not for consumer services, such as car insurance for which no taxes are charged. The hospitality industry, hotels and motels for example have to charge tax lodgers and the city tax. Currently when renting a motel room in Grants the visitor pays a total of approximately 12.5 percent. If the proposed tax is approved by voters the hospitality businesses in town will have to tack on the additional .3 percent to the bill.

The big question regarding the proposed tax hike is which streets are included for the money that will be allocated for improvements. The roads in question are First Street, Roosevelt Avenue and Lobo Canyon Road. The debate centers on whether these are city streets or state roads and who is responsible for improvements and upgrades. John Rhoderick from the Engineering Department of Code Enforcement said some are shared responsibilities.

"Technically State Road 547 starts at the intersection of Lobo Canyon Road and Roosevelt Avenue and goes north and east. There is a break as near as we can tell between First Street and there, which is Roosevelt Avenue that goes by the police station. Everything shows that is a city street. All of Roosevelt appears to be a city street."

First Street from Santa Fe Avenue to Roosevelt has a distinction in that it is shared.

"First Street from Santa Fe Avenue to it's intersection with Roosevelt is a state highway as is the portion of New Mexico 547 at Lobo Canyon Road, and we have a memorandum of understanding to maintain those facilities. We keep them clean, we're responsible for signs, paint and stuff like that. In other words, improvements within reason. Major reconstruction is a joint project which is where we're at on the First Street issue," Rhoderick said.