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Gallup-McKinley board adopts resolution urging maintenance of 2025 tax rate
Summary
The Gallup-McKinley County Schools Board voted to send a resolution to the New Mexico Public Education Department asking that local tax rates for 2025 be maintained amid increased state-level involvement in rate setting.
The Gallup-McKinley County Schools Board voted to adopt a resolution expressing the district’s intent to maintain its current property tax rate for 2025 and to register that position with the New Mexico Public Education Department.
Board members considered the measure after district staff and bond counsel warned that the department’s finance bureau has been more intensively involved with assessors and is examining ways to maximize tax rates, particularly for capital outlay. Miss Hanks, who presented the item on behalf of the district, said the board’s action would amplify the district’s voice in those discussions. “We just want to be sure that nobody is trying to streamline something administratively without thinking through the unintended consequences,” Hanks said.
The board discussed the drivers behind the district’s stance, including relatively high debt-service rates in McKinley County and recent legislative changes such as the veterans exemption, which Hanks said could cause instability in property tax rates. Hanks told the board that RBC Capital Markets is the district’s retained advisor and that Kaylee, the district’s representative at RBC, had requested the resolution to strengthen advocacy in ongoing rate negotiations.
Member Benally asked whether the public education department’s proposed changes would apply uniformly across the county or vary by area; Hanks replied the department is examining current rates, outstanding debt, capacity and cash balances, and that the process is highly nuanced. President Mortensen and other members said they supported publishing the board’s position.
A motion to approve the “resolution of intent to maintain tax rate for 2025” was seconded by Board Member Long and approved on a roll-call vote. The roll call included votes recorded as “Yes” from members who answered when called: Mitchell (yes), Pinali (yes), Shaw (yes), Long (yes) and Mortensen (yes). Hanks said that if the board endorses the statement it will give RBC’s representative “all the backing that she needs” during negotiations.
The resolution directs the board’s advocacy on local tax-rate-setting discussions and does not itself change any tax rate. No additional fiscal action or budget changes were made at the meeting.
