By Erica Cordova
Albuquerque Journal (New Mexico)
Copyright 2006 Albuquerque Journal
With Tuesday’s approval by Santa Fe County voters of a $25 million bond issue to finance the construction of a new courthouse, officials are moving full speed ahead to make the proposal a reality.
District Judge James Hall, a leading proponent of the issue, said he felt relieved when final results from the election were tallied Wednesday. The item passed with 52 percent approval, a difference of 1,832 votes.
“It appears that it has passed,” Hall said Wednesday. “We are certainly pleased. We want the project to move forward, and this gives us the ability to do so.”
Hall, who campaigned with other district judges to get the item passed, said that he and other county officials will meet with the public during the next several months to decide on the design of the building. The County Commission already has approved the idea of building the courthouse on a 4.5-acre site at Montezuma Avenue and Sandoval Street.
Meanwhile, Santa Fe County Fire Chief Stan Holden, who was pleased about county voters’ support of a proposed gross receipts tax increase for the Fire Department and other emergency services, said he was going to meet with his staff Wednesday to talk about moving forward with plans to use revenues from the tax.
The tax, an increase of onefourth of 1 percent, will raise an estimated $9 million annually in new revenue to pay for at least 48 new fire positions at the county Fire Department and provide incentives for volunteers, among other items.
Holden said the Fire Department is planning to use some of the funds to add kitchen space and sleeping quarters to the Agua Fria and La Tierra fire stations. He said the department also will move forward on plans to build a new fire station at Rancho Viejo with the tax revenue.
“We’re going to continue to operate as we have, and we’re planning to gear up for when we get the new funds,” Holden said.
Businesses and consumers countywide will see the gross receipts tax rise to 7.875 percent when the tax is imposed in July 2007, Holden said.
It won’t be until October that the Fire Department actually begins to receive any revenue from the tax.
Santa Fe County Commissioner Jack Sullivan expressed his appreciation to county voters for passing the tax.
“I think it’s something that Santa Fe County really needs,” Sullivan said. “It’s going to relieve the pressures on the county (emergency medical services) crew.”
Santa Fe city officials initially threatened to oppose the tax if the city did not receive a cut of the new revenue but later reached an agreement with county officials to support the measure. Still, many members of the Santa Fe firefighters union held up signs opposing the tax until 7 p.m. on Election Eay.
The county essentially agreed to give the city approximately $2.3 million by covering the city’s share of operational costs for the regional emergency communications dispatch center.
“I’m hoping this discussion we’ve been having with the city and the union firefighters is over,” Sullivan said. “Now we can move forward and provide the services that the people expect as a result for having voted for the gross receipts tax.”
Sullivan said the county was planning to acquire the site of the Blue Monkey Hair Salon at 225 Montezuma St. so the courthouse could be built there by late 2009. The county’s legal staff is working on an appraisal for that property.
“Once we get an appraisal, we’ll be able to sit down with the owners and tenant and see what possibilities there might be,” County Attorney Stephen Ross said.
Ross said the county is looking at condemning the property, which is owned by the Barker family, if negotiations don’t proceed.
Nicole Carter, proprietor of the salon, said she was concerned she would not be able to afford to move her salon elsewhere in the city.
Ross said the county, however, has met with Carter and the owners and offered to assist them and find a building for the business to rent.
Joseph Gutierrez, director for the county’s Projects and Facilities Management Department, said the county had about nine committee members revising three requests for proposals to hire an architecture firm to work on the site.
Gutierrez said the committee would select the firm within the next few days. The County Commission would then hire the firm to start work on the project. The total cost to build the courthouse is approximately $43 million, according to a feasibility study, Gutierrez said. The county also plans to use state funds to build the facility.