Font ResizeMESILLA - For more than 50 years, Mesilla's low property taxes have been a source of pride for its residents and town officials, and envy for residents of other communities.
The portion of the property tax rate the town has received to pay for infrastructure improvements and other operations of municipal government has not changed from the 69.6 cents set by town officials when Mesilla was incorporated as a town in 1958. Of course, other portions of the tax, as set by the school district, state and Do-a Ana County, have risen as the cost of living has climbed.
Faced with the realities created by a global recession, which has caused gross receipts taxes to sharply decline in Mesilla, town officials are ready to begin thinking about the unthinkable - increasing property taxes.
"We need to decide what we want to do to bring revenues into the town," Mayor Nora Barraza said. "We need to be creative to build up revenues. Everything has to be on the table for consideration."
In years past, previous Mesilla boards of trustees balked at even talking about a property tax increase. It was something that just wasn't going to happen, and some former trustees likened a property tax hike to committing political suicide.
They didn't want to the be the board that pushed for Mesilla's first-ever property tax increase.
But three years of struggles to balance the budget for town government, where work weeks had to be shortened and some employee faced layoffs, have Barraza and trustees
"We need to invest in our community. It's our obligation," Trustee Linda Flores said.
Barraza said she wants to conduct work sessions, sooner rather than later, to begin sorting through the details. She did not immediately have a specific date in mind, but said she would like to see it happen within the next two to three months.
"We will have a municipal election coming up next March (2012), and that could be a good time to put it out as a referendum to the voters," Barraza said.
Just how much of a property tax increase might be proposed would also be determined through the work sessions. Barraza said she would like to have Do-a Ana County Assessor Andy Segovia - a former appointed member of Mesilla's Planning, Zoning and Historical Appropriateness Commission - attend some of the work sessions to present information that could be used in figuring out an equitable property tax increase.
"I would be more than willing to help them in any way I can," Segovia said. "There's a lot of information that can be shared. It has the potential to become very complicated, ...but, yes, there is room to consider their requested mil rate."
Segovia said Mesilla's residential property tax rate of 69.6 cents per $1,000 of property valuation compares to the city of Sunland Park's $2.82 and the city of Las Cruces' $6.15. Emphasizing that it was only for illustrative purposes, Segovia estimated that if Mesilla increased the portion of its property tax that goes directly to town government from 69.6 cents to $2, town government tax revenues could almost triple.
Mesilla resident Chris Alexander said he isn't surprised that town officials are willing to consider a property tax increase, but he has serious concerns about the proposal.
"It's going to drive out 80 percent of the Mesilleros, a lot of the families that have lived here for generations," Alexander said. "People have to be able to afford to pay their taxes. For a lot of these families to take a tax increase, a lot of them who have traditionally come from poor families, this could force them to sell out.
"What we really need instead is a tax initiative that freezes taxes back to what they were 25 years ago."
Nelly Delgado, whose family has lived in Mesilla for more than 60 years, said a property tax increase could be hard for many residents to accept.
"There's a lot of families, a lot of people living here who are retired and on fixed incomes," Delgado said. "A lot of them probably wouldn't be able to afford a tax increase."
Steve Ramirez can be reached at (575) 541-5452.
Property tax rates
•Mesilla officials are considering increasing the town's property tax rate that goes to pay for infrastructure and municipal government services.
•Mesilla's current residential property tax rate, of 69.6 cents per $1,000 of property valuation, is the lowest of any municipality in Do-a Ana County.
•Conversely, Mesilla's sales tax rate is 7.625 percent, the maximum it can charge by state law.
•According to the Do-a Ana County Assessor's Office, the city of Las Cruces has a residential property tax rate of $6.15.5, and the city of Sunland Park has a tax rate of $2.82.
•Mesilla trustees intend to conduct work sessions soon explore the possibility of a property tax increase. No specific dates have been announced.
•For a property tax increase to be imposed in Mesilla, it would require voter approval of a referendum.
