Rio Grande Sun from Espanola, New Mexico • 1

iff i 3i Brashar Favors Tax Reappraisal -i 1 "I am completely In favor of county-wide, equitable reappraisal Schools under present state law are limited to bonds they can School growth is dependent Upon the available tax base or assessed valuation. "Every aspect of county growth is dependent upon our assessed valuation. If county residents want growth," they'll have to be willing to pay their fair 1 Si I Pf I I ir i i i 'kumd it 1 THIS HOLvJ Io ASSESSED AT JUST .100. Volume XI Number 10 A far. raft lsSi ESPANOLA, NEW MEXICO, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 17, A GOOD BUY.

NEWS FROM TH 1966 iv.ri Inequities Are Found In Rio Arriba Tax Assessments HEART OF THE PUEBLO ,,,10) County-Wide Practices Violate Constitution By MILT LOEWE I SUN Editor Article VIII, Section 1 of the state constitution says that "taxes levied ttpon tangible property shall be in proportion to the value thereof and taxes shall be equal and uniform upon subjects of taxation of the same class." This provision, is more honored in the breach than in the main in Rio Arriba county; a r.vwt'- wmmm k. COUNTY RECORDS INDICATE THAT TUIjS HOUSE F0R THIS ESANOLA lowing: Heard plans by Alan Stamm, developer of Vallev Estates, to open a new sub-division In San Pedro, and a plea by Stamm to provide water and sewer lines for the project or at least to the edge of the city limits adjoining the subdivision. Stamm said he had asked the city engineer if he would also do the engineering work on his subdivision, but Mayor Eppie Vigil, opposed the' idea, claiming that he felt it would be a conflict of interests. Stamm had also requested that Turney act as mediator in determining city's share in cost of such engineering work. The council authorized Turney to study the feasibility of extending the water and sewer lines to the edge of the city limits.

Raised the salaries of Joe Suazo of the street department and seven sanitation department employes $50 per month. Approved recommendations of Police Committee Chairman Jim Martinez for a new employment application form for police job applicants. As head of the finance committee, Martinez also obtained approval of the council for an anti-litter ordinance and specification for two new police cars. He said that the compound for city vehicles i behind People's Dept. Store has now been completed and that the city could now advertise for bids on a gas pump, tank and gasoline for the compound.

Agreed to give Keith Megill, director of the Valley Youth Center, $250 for salaries to personnel employed in his. various pro-grama. Opened bids on the purchase of used city equipment and agreed to sell to Celso Martinez a used Thermofax copying machine for $65 and to Mrs. Eugenia B. Martinez of the Spanish Assembly of God Church a used (Continued on Page 8) 1 "lii is ilia G.

K. (Bud) Brashar official misconduct if "know- ingly receives and accepts a false or imperfect of one's taxable property of which he may have knowledge or which may be called to his attention by any person." The law also provides penalties for property owners who fail to assess their proper'v, reeardless of whether or not they are notified to do so by the county assessor. County assessors have the authority, under state law, to assess owners of property omitted from the tax rolls, up to 10 years back. ri The falirue of assessors in Rio Arriba to enforce the law, aided and abetted by the commission-. el's, has over the years, resulted in a relatively small percentage of county property owners reporting the actual value of their property.

No Enforcement Lack of enforcement has also resulted in many parcels of property being omitted from the tax rolls altogether. There is no oues'ioning the fact that a complete, independent tax rearmraisal program is needed in Rio Arriba county, and that such a program would sharply Increase the county's tax valuation by simply applying the same tax yardstick to every individual property. Title iirsti1sf maon fno avamhIa would be taxed three times as much as a home valued at In many cases, the opposite situation exists in the county to- day, where one can find houses valued at $30,000 assessed as low as houses valued at $10,000. For years, Rio Arriba's county commissioners have' failed to enter a program of tax reappraisal for purely political reasons, fearing that such a move would be unpopular, Last year, the state legislature provided the opportunity for the county to join with others in a statewide tax reappraisal program to be carriftd out by independent, private firms. Hot Potato The county commission again refused to consider such a po- I litlcal "hot potato" although 16 other counties in the state did so, due to- the financial induce- ments Involved.

The Act provided that the state would pay 50 per cent of the cost of such county appraisals and would also loan to the counties funds to pay the remaining costs of such an apprais- I al. The act further provided, that, upon completion of the appraisal, each county could deduct 1.7 mills from the amount due the state under the new tax asscss- (Continued on Page 8) TIIIS SHOULD BE A GOOD BUY WITH AN ASSESSMENT OF $400. Turney Firm Gets City Blessing To Advance City Paving Plans Tracking Hunters COUNTRY Eighteen Pages 10 Cents i i ii i 'I li jr. if i 1 ASES'FD AT Earl, rn-'t eve-'n-cv? with two bucks in Jicarilla Apache Inst weekend. F.

of Fain'iew came hon from a Mesa de las Vie-jas Nov. 11, with a 10- pcht hu k. Mcurdv High proved his skill wi 'i nm on two different Th? first weekend of the he bagged a 9 buck and last Saturday a 7--oint hiiok. Both were killed on te Jicarilla Apache Reservation. Joe M.

Sanchez, brought back a buck from the Lindrith area last Saturday. Angus Evans, according to re- recently. So has State Police Captain Martin Vigil. 0 Officials of( banks, ItBa agencies and schools 'franKly state that assessments for land, improvements and personal property are, for the most part, ridiculously low. In Rio Arriba county there is widespread evidence that many farms, residences and businesses FIRST OF A SERIES This is the first in a series of articles on tax assesmnts in Rio Arriba county.

The SUN is indebted to Jess Kornegay, director of the State Tax Oomm'ss'on, fr ass'jminjy a m.mVr of his staff to aMst this newspaper in doing the necessary field-work for reparation of this series. We are also inbted to Korneircy and other members of h's stiff for their advice and counsel. are assessed at far less then they should be. Assessor's Responsibility State law places direct responsibility for proper tax assessments upon the county assessor, while ultimate responsibility rests with the State Tax Commission, the State Department of Finance and the courts. The law al requires every SUt'S' Bl'f Turney said he had contacted a number of New Mexico contractors who would be very willing to bid on a paving project in Espanola "as their work program has suffered a very severe setback in recent months." Turney concluded by stating that in a survey he had made of several cities, "it was the general feeling that paving had a direct effect upon the health and welfare of a community." His written report was accompanied by clippings of recent articles from Time Magazine and the Wall Street Journal which indicated that Jpleas by the federal government to states and municipalities to curtail sDend-ing programs as an anti-inflation move have largely been ignored.

Other actions by the Council Monday night included the fol- McCurdy Plav Saturday NWit "Somethin; for Nothing" by Walter Blake is the title of the McCurdy Junior Cass- play to be held at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 19. in the school gym. The play, under the direction of Miss Jeanne Lord of the McCurdy faculty is a thres-act com-edv. Mflmhprs of the cast are Douglas Hocking, Cheri Matthews, Olea Velasco, Linda Esther Elsie Maes-tas, Tom Gould, MaHha Garcia, David Leeson, Stefani Yates, Georgia Smith and Leon Pull- NEW TA POST OFFICE Bids will be opened December 15; on construction of a new lflCO-square foot post office at Tierra Amarilla, according to Tony Manzanares, post master.

Manzanares said prospective bidders may obtain specifications and further information from him. The city council by a 7-0 vote voted Monday night to authorize the engineering firm of W. R. Turney; and Associates to proceed with wdrk on a new paving district, at least through the protest 'hearing stage. (Dr.

R. Ziegler was absent) Council action followed presentation of a report by Turney of a survey he had made in regard to current bond interest rates and paving costs; His report stated that interest rates have remained fairly stable over the past 18 -months, ranging frdftj five to six per cent during1 this period. Construction costs, however, according to Turney, have now risen over 5.1 per cent compared to one year ago, and there are indications that costs will continue to rise. Bv DAVE RARICK Following are the names of some huitors who have been successful so far this season. Harold Schcutzel got a 9-poitit-er Sunday, Nov.

-13, at La Mesa de las Vieias. According to Schcutzel, "the poor buck died of muzzle blast." Mrs. of Espanola linr Mrs. B. V.

Stuart nf Taos both cot 6-nointers in I he Chama Canvon last week. Dr. Ronald Mauro of and Ozzie Reeves s'ruck it lucky the first weekend of hunting, season bringing back some venison. Tom Bradley, La Mesilla, found Tres Piedras to be a good place to get an average size buck last' weekend. Dr.EL.LIndsIeyi.and son, if' I i i-4 property owner to render a statement ofis property for tax purposes to the county assessor each year.

The report, covering real and personal property owned as of December 31, must be presented to the county assessor between January 1 and March. 1 of the following year. The law requires each property owner to report the actual value of his real and personal property. The tax assessment in Rio Arriba county Is based upon one-third of the actual value of the declared property. An additional tax is imposed supon each school district within the county based upon the district's outstanding bonded Indebtedness.

The county budget is based upon a percentage of the county's assessed valuation of the proceeding year. Unequal tax assessments, based upon less than actual market value of real and personal property, means less funds available to provide for essential county services and school needs. Non Performance Rio Arriba's tax Inequities are due to the failure of a long line of county assesors to perform the duties required of them bylaw. Article 72-2-17 of the state statutes provides that an assessor may be removed from office for III fA EAGLES TO BE HONORED Two Scouts w.ll receive their awards of Eagle Rank, highest in Scouting, at a District Court of Honor to be held at 7:30 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 20, at the Espanola High School gym.

The boys are Jackie Block, (right) son of Mrs. i i Httra dnn nf Mr. and AT SPECIAL COUNTY MEETING Shown. above, seated; around table, are members of the local government division of Iho Stats Dept. 'of Finance who lent advice to county commissioners at Tiem Amarilb Tuesday Left to right.

Division Chief Luis Fernandez; Ray Lara and Harold Valencia. Behind them, left to right, are Senator-Elect Horace DeVargas, Joe Bouvet of the state auditor's office and County Clerk Cipriano Padilla. (Sunfoto) i iia jjJOCK ana -iamiumai Mrs. Jose M. Montoya.

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