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The Doña Ana County Commission voted to increase the Hold Harmless GRT Tax by 3/8th’s of 1 percent, bringing the gross receipts tax in Las Cruces to a total of 8.31%.
The Commission passed the gross receipts tax increase by a vote of 4-1. Commissioner Ben Rawson was the only one to vote against the increase.
“This 3/8th’s of a percent increase is the largest increase in the history of Doña Ana County,” Rawson said. “And that’s the biggest reason why I voted against it. I don’t think that it’s the right thing to do for the residents. It makes the tax rate inside the city of Las Cruces to be 8.31% effective July 1 here in just a couple months. It makes our tax rate here in Las Cruces 8/31%, higher than the city of El Paso. We’ll be high than the city of Albuquerque, we’ll even be higher than the city of Santa Fe, and that’s not the right direction to be going.”
County Manager Julia Brown declined to comment after the tax increase passed, but at a previous work session she recommended the increase as the best way to fund critical projects in the county.
“Obviously any increase in taxes is not something that we want to recommend,” Brown said. “But, we have a number of items that have been deferred for years by the commission, and deferring those things has not made the need for the expense go away, and the delay of time has resulted in those item’s costing more. I believe we are at a point, where we can no longer delay putting these things in place.”
The increase will add an additional 37.5 cents to the taxes paid on a $100 dollar purchase. Russell Allen, President of the Greater Las Cruces Chamber of Commerce says the increase will make the city less competitive with neighboring El Paso whose sales tax is 8.25%, and would rather see the County push to expand business.
“We believe if they worked close with the business community,” Allen said. “That we could through business, economic growth can build those revenues the way they need to be. Cause clearly, 5, 6, years ago the revenues were more in this aspect then they are today because business is not good. So, we’re working hard to try to do what we can to increase business. Because if we grow, everybody grows.”
Commissioner Billy Garret says that they need money in order to fund initiatives like increasing economic development, and that this new revenue will help to alleviate some of the strains on the County’s budget.
“What this does is add some capacity to deal with really pressing issues,” Garrett said. “One of the capacities we need to deal with is the ability to improve some of our efficiencies, and some of our management systems within the County. I think we are going to be able to save some money over time. But it takes time, and it takes money to be able to get those efficiencies in place.”
The 3/8th’s of 1 percent tax increase will go into effect on July 1st.
