TAOS — The town of Taos and Taos County governments have agreed to terms that would end litigation over a controversial annexation while providing money to fund a long-awaited airport expansion project.
“Basically the lawsuit is over and the airport will move forward,” said Dan Barrone, who is both Taos mayor and a Taos County commissioner.
This week’s agreement on the airport and other town/county issues comes after a year of acrimony between the two governments that culminated in a March municipal election that brought three new faces and a new attitude to Town Hall: Barrone was elected, as were Councilors Fritz Hahn and Judi Cantú; incumbent mayor Darren Córdova and councilor Rudy Abeyta were voted out of office.
Last March, the previous Town Council, under Córdova’s leadership, voted to annex the airport and six miles of highway through El Prado. The town insisted it did not have the cash to pay its share of a runway expansion. Officials said they needed to annex the property to collect tax revenue from the $24 million project to cover the town’s $1.2 million match.
County officials and El Prado residents voiced strong opposition to the annexation. The county offered to give the town tax revenue generated at the airport to avoid the annexation, but town officials insisted they could not trust the county. The county filed two lawsuits opposing the annexation, and a Taos judge voided the annexation last December. The town hired an outside attorney to take the case to the Court of Appeals and has spent at least $10,000 so far in legal fees.
After a joint meeting April 10, town and county elected officials and staff agreed to settlement terms meant to put the issue to rest. Under the deal:
• The town will dismiss the appeal.
• The county will provide up to $375,000 for the town to use as its match for the federal grant.
• The annexation will be voided.
The county approved the terms as written. The Town Council will consider a final agreement at a future meeting.
The town began collecting a 1.5625 percent gross receipts tax at the airport after the annexation was approved last year. That tax will eventually revert to the county once the annexation issue is resolved.
The county has agreed to make quarterly payments to the town equal to the amount the town would have otherwise collected in gross receipts tax generated by the project.
Taos County Finance Director Leandro Córdova said quarterly payments will make it easier for the county to provide the funds without straining its budget. “We really want to partner with them, and we really want to make sure we can afford to give them what we promised them,” Córdova said.
Source: http://www.santafenewmexican.com
