Thousands of VIA properties sent to the state

June 12, 2009

The New Mexico Delinquent Property Tax Bureau is looking into adding thousands of Valley Improvement Association (VIA) properties to the state’s delinquent tax rolls.

Valencia! reported in mid-May that VIA has 12,040 delinquent properties on file with the county and 953 on file with the state, making the nonprofit the county’s highest tax debtor. VIA officials disputed those numbers.

VIA is asking the state to take on more than 8,000 of the properties for which the county is still trying to collect taxes, so the association can enter into an agreement with the state for payment, according to County Treasurer Dorothy Lovato.

When property becomes more than four years delinquent, the county can refer it to the bureau for collection, which Bob Davey, the head of VIA, has suggested has happened in this case. Lovato insisted her department didn’t initiate the action.

“The state gave us a list of about 8,000 parcels,” Davey said, adding that he would like to enter into an agreement with the state “on some of the balance.”

If the state is unable to collect taxes on the properties, it can place them for public auction. Auctions can end up being a pricey endeavor for the state because of public notice requirements.

A state employee who works out of the county treasurer’s office on these types of issues refused to answer questions, saying, “I don’t have time for VIA.” New Mexico Delinquent Property Tax Bureau Chief Darrell Lujan was unavailable for comment.

Davey said approximately 1,000 of the properties on the list the assessor provided to the state aren’t delinquent, but inaccurate recordkeeping at the county shows them as delinquent.

“The problem in our case is that in some cases the taxes have been paid, in some cases we don’t own the property, in some cases the property has been re-platted and we pay taxes on the new plat but the assessor is giving us the old plat,” he said, later adding, “We are in the process now of trying to set up a meeting with the state at which we will show them that the information they got is wrong.”

Lovato said any incorrect VIA records have to be brought to the attention of the assessor’s office.

“I know they foreclose on properties. They sell properties,” she said of VIA. “That’s what they have to let the assessor’s office know, because we bill them according to the assessor’s records.”

VIA owes approximately $844,000 in back taxes as of June 1, according to Lovato. That number is up $94,000 from what the county said VIA owed earlier in the year.

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