Taos County Board of Commissioners Regular Meeting Summary

July 16, 2013

Public Hearings

Amendment of Ordinance: Taos County Water Advisory Committee

In 2010, the Taos County Board of Commissioners passed an Ordinance creating a Water Advisory Committee designed to inform the Board of all water transfer applications filed with the Office of the State Engineer, and located within Taos County, and to make recommendations as to whether or not Taos County should formally oppose any of those proposed transfers. Water transfers allow for the sale of water rights from one property to another, but must first be approved by the State Engineer before any water is used at the new location. If the State Engineer finds that the new water usage will be offset by a retired use from the same water basin, then the transfer will generally be approved unless an opposition is filed, which then requires a hearing.

The purpose of the amendment to the Ordinance is to require the Taos County Planning Department to lend its resources to the Committee in order to facilitate its work. The committee members are appointed by the Board on a volunteer basis. Additionally, I made a motion to include within the Ordinance an acknowledgement of the Abeyta Settlement and its relevance to water transfers within Taos County. The acknowledgement of Abeyta does not require the Board to refrain from formally opposing any water transfers, which are made under the Abeyta Agreement, but it does balance the existing language which generally discourages water transfers.

The amendment was passed by a 5-0 vote including the additional reference to the Abeyta Settlement.

Passage of Ordinance to allow for the sale of Education Bonds.

In 2012, Taos County voters approved the sale of bonds to raise money for much needed capital improvements at various Taos County schools. The bonds will be paid off with proceeds from the Education Gross Receipts Tax. Tax rates will not go up from their present rates as a result of the sale of these bonds. The Taos School Board can provide a complete list of the capital improvements that will be completed with the funds from the sale of the bonds.

The Board voted to approve the sale by a 5-0 vote.

Resolutions

Union Agreement

The Board passed a resolution to approve the County Manager’s negotiations with the Union to increase the County’s contribution to PERA on behalf of all County employees and to increase its contribution to disability premiums for Union eligible employees. The total impact on Taos County’s budget is ninety two thousand dollars for the upcoming fiscal year.

It was heartening to hear from Union members and Union representatives, who praised the tone and efforts in the negations by County Manager, Steve Archuleta. In recent years, union negotiations have been adversarial resulting in much wasted time and negative energy. Our Manager’s direct and fair approach to the issues has helped raise the morale of the entire Taos County staff.

E-911/ Dispatch Center Discussions

Letter from Mayor Cordova

Town of Taos Mayor Cordova presented a written offer to Taos County to move into the Kit Carson Command Center as a partner with the Town for dispatch at no upfront costs. The County is currently moving forward to develop its own Command Center at a cost of approximately one million dollars. Although a partnership between the Town and County would require good faith negotiations on several key issues, including the amount of the operating budget, and the selection of a supervisor to oversee the operations, Chairman Barrone and I believe that the County should consider the Mayor’s offer and begin to enter into those negotiations. However, the other three Commissioners remain suspicious of doing business with the Town. This matter will be discussed at the Board’s budget work study meeting at 9 AM at the chambers on July 23. No decisions will be made at that meeting.