VIA continues to negotiate tax debt with state

September 21, 2009

A Rio Communities property management group has negotiated with the State of New Mexico to pay off some of its tax debt owed to Valencia County in a long-running saga between the nonprofit, the county treasurer’s office and the county assessor’s office.

The Valley Improvement Association (VIA), which manages properties owned by the association and individuals in the Rio Communities area, at one time was estimated to owe up to $982,000 in back taxes to the county on some 12,040 properties, more than any other property owner in the county.

After penalty assessment fees were lowered for the group, that amount was reduced to $750,000, according to the county.

VIA has disputed numbers that high and has worked with the state to help the association and the county produce more reliable numbers in terms of actual debt and actual properties owned by the association.

VIA has also been working with the state to figure out how to pay off the debt it actually owes. VIA says it has paid “some $2 million” in property taxes in recent years.

According to Teresa Scott, VIA’s executive vice president, the nonprofit entered into two contracts this year with the New Mexico Delinquent Property Tax Bureau to pay the tax debt owed on 3,959 lots, totaling $338,000. A fraction of that will go to the county.

Approximately 3,900 more properties are now being researched by the state and county to determine how much VIA might owe on them.

There are another 2,800 properties that have yet to be looked at.

Recently, VIA agreed to “relinquish” 1,100 properties that they say they don’t care to own, according to Diana Coplen, the county’s deputy treasurer. The state will place those lots for public auction.

“VIA is not going to owe us as much money as everyone thinks they do,” said Treasurer Dorothy Lovato.

Not only has VIA relinquished property to the state, but Lovato said the county assessor’s office has inaccurate records on VIA property that sometimes includes property VIA doesn’t actually own. Lovato attributed the inaccurate records partly to VIA’s property management practices, where VIA has combined lots and swapped lots with owners of lots in undesirable areas.

“We want to get everything corrected. We want to move forward,” she said, adding, “We bill according to the assessor’s records.”

Lovato and Coplen said they didn’t know exactly how much VIA owed today because of the contracts, relinquished property and inaccurate records. The lowest amount Coplen mentioned was $600,000 of debt.

Lovato said she has had very little control over collecting the debt because the debts are mostly more than four years overdue. Once a debt passes the four-year mark, it’s automatically forwarded to the state for collection, taken out of her hands.

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