TMCnet News
Officials mull combining bond issue, permit votes(Las Cruces Sun-News (NM) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Oct. 7--LAS CRUCES -- Dona Ana County officials are looking at the possibility of combining an election about beer and wine permits with a vote about whether to raise property taxes to pay for a new state district courthouse. State Rep. Joseph Cervantes, D-Las Cruces, asked the New Mexico attorney general in September whether a bond issue question could be placed on a ballot along with a beer and wine permit question. Assistant County Manager Sue Padilla confirmed the county is trying to find out whether it's OK to place the courthouse matter on the ballot with a question about beer and wine permits. The Dona Ana County Board of Commissioners, in a 4-1 vote in May, approved a resolution indicating its intent to ask voters for a property tax increase to pay for a proposed new courthouse. Third Judicial District Court officials have said their existing facility on West Picacho Avenue is crowded and will become more so if the Legislature approves new judgeships next year. County Manager Brian Haines said at the time that he was aiming for the question to be placed before voters in February 2009. Commissioners have discussed Dec. 17 as a possible date for a beer and wine permit election. Election officials have said the cost of a special election could range between $47,000 and $133,000, depending on the number of polling places and the election type. County Commission Chairman Kent Evans said he'd prefer the questions be asked on the same ballot, though that will be difficult. "We'd like to put the two together, and we'd like to do it in December, but if I were guessing, I don't think we're going to do the beer and wine until next spring," he said. "It's going to be really hard to get done what we need done to do both of them." However, Evans said, the county's next steps will depend on what Attorney General Gary King says. Phil Sisneros, spokesman for the attorney general, in an e-mail said he couldn't provide a time frame for when the opinion would be issued. "We do recognize that Rep. Cervantes would like our evaluation and opinion to be complete before the December elections in Dona Ana County," he wrote. "Every effort will be made to complete our research as quickly as possible." But even if the beer and wine permit election is not held this year, Evans said it's possible the courthouse referendum could be a stand-alone election in December. He said the county could then pursue a beer and wine permit election next spring. The county commission on Sept. 23 postponed a measure in support of the beer and wine permit election, after concerns by County Commissioner Dolores Saldana-Caviness that the county might be asked by residents to hold an election on a separate matter: whether liquor licenses can be transferred into the unincorporated areas from other jurisdictions, something that's not allowed now. For the liquor license measure to appear on the ballot, 5 percent of county voters must sign a petition and present it to the commission. Saldana-Caviness said she wanted to make sure the county didn't wind up holding two special elections, one dealing with beer and wine permits and the other dealing with liquor licenses. Now that a third special election is being discussed, Saldana-Caviness said she hopes it can be combined with the other issues. A beer and wine permit election would ask voters whether to authorize the state to issue the permits to restaurants in unincorporated areas. Diana M. Alba can be reached at [email protected]; (575) 541-5443 To see more of the Las Cruces Sun-News, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.lcsun-news.com. Copyright (c) 2008, Las Cruces Sun-News, N.M. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |