Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Property Taxes topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Taos County commission approves 2025 property tax rates after brief questions about school and municipal drops
Summary
The Taos County Commission on Sept. 2 approved the county's 2025 property tax rates after staff said the state provided certified rates and commissioners raised questions about decreases for some school and municipal levies.
The Taos County Commission on Tuesday voted to approve the county's 2025 property tax rates after staff presented the state-certified figures and commissioners asked follow-up questions about several decreases affecting schools and municipalities. The vote was unanimous.
County staff told the commission they had "received the tax rates from the state of New Mexico" and that the county's taxable value had increased by about $59.8 million, which affected rate calculations. The presenter said some residential rates dropped and that 2,160 protests had been filed, with 1,153 resolved and others pending. The full value under protest was described as about $55 million.
The matter attracted questions from commissioners about specific decreases in Penasco school district capital-improvement levies and a sizable municipal decrease in Red River. Commissioners asked whether staff had verified the numbers with the affected entities. Staff said they had emailed the school and municipal entities and that the treasurer's office had reviewed the figures. For Penasco, staff said they believed a bond had been paid; for Red River, staff said they had not received a response but had emailed the municipality to request verification.
Commissioners also asked why Northern New Mexico College and UNM Taos appeared on the rate schedule even though they do not receive distributions; staff explained that Northern had been the parent institution when the tax was established and that the format of the report shows entities that may not currently receive distributions.
After discussion, a commissioner moved to approve the 2025 property tax rates; another commissioner seconded the motion, and the clerk called a roll. The commission recorded unanimous "yes" votes and adopted the rates.
The approval was procedural and did not change the board's direction to staff to monitor and follow up with entities that did not respond to the pre-certification inquiries. Commissioners expressed concern that nonresponse from small municipalities could materially affect local budgets and said they expected staff to continue outreach.
The commission did not adopt any additional policy changes or delay the certification; staff indicated unresolved protests remain under review.
