County to campaign for passage of tax

October 22, 2009

Valencia County is gearing up for open advocacy of a new gross receipts tax that could help fund an expansion of the Valencia County Detention Center if passed by voters in November.

The detention center is overcrowded, housing many more than the 98 inmates is was built to hold just 10 years ago. The county is expected to argue that the new correction facility gross receipts tax is the only way the county can fund the needed jail expansion.

County Manager Eric Zamora said the county will send out press releases supporting the tax and might also produce paper materials for distribution by mail. The information is being prepared by Derek Williams, the detention center director.

Commissioner Ron Gentry warned the county manager not to distribute information that doesn’t represent the full views of the commission, saying there are some disagreements over the issue among commissioners.

“I want to caution that there’s two sides to the story,” he said, adding, “If you’re going to put out a pamphlet or literature, it needs to be absolutely factual and unbiased.”

He said he doesn’t want information put out on behalf of commissioners that commissioners don’t agree with but then have to answer for it when the press and public asks questions.

Commissioner Chairman Pedro Rael said the commission, “overall,” supports the tax and that will be reflected in the information that’s distributed.

All the commissioners have publicly supported the tax at commission meetings, with all of them voting for the tax in July when it came up as two separate motions, one that was defeated and one that was approved.

The only disagreement over the tax has been whether or not to hold an election to let citizens decide if they want to be taxed. The commission ultimately decided not to hold an election by a 3-2 vote, but citizens compelled it by submitting petition signatures.

Gentry was tepid to the idea of producing materials for distribution because it could get expensive, costing between $15,000 and $20,000.

Some county officials and commissioners had complained about the cost of the election itself, at approximately $48,000, but appear to support spending more to promote the tax.

While some commissioners and county business manager Kenny Griego expected cuts to be made to pay for the election, the county’s budget office has found enough money to cover the cost of the printing and mailing ballots and overtime for Valencia County Bureau of Elections staff.

“The money for the special election was found in our budget,” said Wilma Abril, the county’s budget director. The county will make no cuts.

Abril said the county had a vacant position in public works. Because of the vacancy, the county has saved money that it can now put toward the election.

“The position stays in the budget. We just take credit for the vacancy, which is called a vacancy savings,” Gentry explained.

County Clerk Sally Perea said the election ballots will be mailed to all Valencia County registered voters on November 2. People who receive it have until November 24 to return it to the county, by mail or in person.

Zamora said the pro-tax material will be distributed between now and November 2.

A few citizens, some of whom worked to gather petition signatures, are also distributing information to the public explaining that, if passed, the tax will be permanent and isn’t limited to an expansion of the detention center but can be used for almost anything the facility might need in the areas of construction and operations.

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