Bernalillo County holds public informational meeting on proposed TID for State Fairgrounds; county vote set for March 11

Bernalillo County officials and state representatives held an informational meeting at Expo New Mexico’s African American Pavilion to explain a proposed Tax Increment Development District, or TID, for the State Fairgrounds and to collect public comment before the county commission’s March 11 vote on the county’s portion of the plan.

The TID would be a public financing tool that captures a share of incremental tax revenue generated within the district — principally county gross receipts and property taxes above a 2024 base year — to pay for public infrastructure such as roads, water and sewer, and other public improvements, Bernalillo County executive development officer Marcos Gonzalez said. “The increments that are gonna be used in this is up to 75% of the base, which meaning the base here is looking at 2023… anything after 2024… 75 percent of the increment above that base is gonna be used, to pay for bonds to reimburse the developer,” Gonzalez said.

The proposed geographic boundary for the TID is the State Fair/Expo New Mexico property; speakers emphasized state law prevents gaming revenue from being included, so the racetrack and racino would not be part of the TID and would not receive TID-funded public infrastructure. “The district is contained to just the expo in New Mexico,” Gonzalez said. County and state approvals would be…