Chaves County residents will have two opportunities to weigh in on whether a proposed tax increase will appear on their ballot in the upcoming election.
The Chaves County Board of Commissioners voted 5-0 Monday to pass a resolution authorizing the county to publish a notice for a special meeting at 5:30 p.m. Aug 19 at the Chaves County Administrative Building, 1 St. Mary’s Place in Roswell.
People at the meeting will be permitted to provide public comment on a proposal to put a countywide 0.125% local option gross receipts tax on the ballot in the Nov. 3 general election.
The public will have another chance to weigh in on the proposal at the commission’s regular monthly meeting on Thursday, Aug. 20 at 9 a.m. at the Administrative Building. Later in that meeting, commissioners will take up Ordinance O-119, which would authorize the county to create a tax, as well as a resolution to place it on the ballot.
The Local Economic Development Act (LEDA) allows counties and municipalities, with approval from their voters, to levy local option gross receipts taxes on goods sold and services provided within their jurisdictions to incentivize economic development. According to the New Mexico Department of Taxation and Revenue, cities can impose a tax of up to 0.25% for economic development, while counties can levy a similar tax of up to 0.125% for the same purpose.
The ordinance being weighed by the county comes as the city of Roswell is considering asking registered voters who reside in city limits to approve a similar 0.25% local option gross receipts tax in the November election. Councilors will be discussing that proposal and receiving input from the public at a hearing Thursday, Aug. 13, at 6:30 p.m. in the Administrative Building.
Revenue generated from such taxes could only be used for economic development, aimed at attracting, expanding or retaining businesses and industry in the area.
Based on revenues from Fiscal Year 2026, County Manager Bill Williams told the Roswell Tribune that the new local option tax would generate an additional $2 million beyond current revenue. Information provided by the Roswell City Council states that based on revenues from Fiscal Year 2026, the new tax would bring in an additional $4.5 million to the city.
Mike Espiritu, president and CEO of the Roswell-Chaves County Economic Development Corporation, which is supporting both proposals, told the council in July that money generated by the additional gross receipts tax would be restricted to uses related to economic development, such as site readiness and upgrading infrastructure on properties where businesses are located or plan to relocate to. He added that 50 municipalities in New Mexico have instituted similar taxes.
‘Opportunities to speak’
A draft of the county’s proposed ordinance is available to view on the county’s website or at the County Clerk’s office housed in the Administrative Building.
Initially, Williams put forth a resolution that scheduled public comment and a vote on the ordinance for the regular commission meeting. However, the Aug. 19 meeting was added to the notice after District 1 County Commissioner Dara Dana voiced concern that some people interested in weighing in on the matter might not be able to attend the regular meeting.
“That’s what my problem is, anybody who wants to come in has to be at our 9:00 meeting on the 20th and that’s kind of hard for business owners to do,” she said.
Williams added that in addition to attending one of the two meetings, the public can also submit written comments and questions by email before either of the meetings, or in person at the meetings. Email addresses for each of the commissioners can be found on the commission’s page on the Chaves County website.
People can also view each of the meetings, which will be streamed on the Chaves County Facebook page.
“I think we’ll afford all the opportunities to speak on this,” Commission Chair Richard Taylor said.
If both proposals make it on the ballot, voters within the city would weigh in on both, while those who reside elsewhere in Chaves County would only vote on and be subject to the county’s tax.
