Bernalillo County Assessor grants tax exemption to Veterans Integration Center, freeing tens of thousands for services
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Summary
Bernalillo County Assessor Damian Lara said his office granted a property tax exemption to the Veterans Integration Center, allowing the nonprofit to avoid an unanticipated roughly $56,000 tax bill and reallocate those funds to housing and services for unhoused veterans.
Bernalillo County Assessor Damian Lara announced that his office granted a property tax exemption to the Veterans Integration Center (VIC), a New Mexico nonprofit that provides temporary and transitional housing and supportive services to unhoused veterans.
"My office was able to grant the VIC a property tax exemption," Lara said, describing the administrative relief the assessor's office provided after the organization received an unexpected tax bill.
VIC CEO Brock Wolf said the organization faced a tax liability that "was scary" when they received it: "It was scary when we first got the bill for $56,000 that we weren't anticipating." Wolf said that because the VIC previously rented offices and had not been property owners, it missed some deadlines to appeal a notice of value and had to work with the assessor's office to submit an application and claim a refund.
The VIC, Wolf said, has operated for about 20 years and provides a range of services including street outreach, transitional housing stays of up to a year (most last about six months), case management, deposit and rental assistance, and counseling and behavioral-health supports. "Once we move them into their apartment, 90 percent or so are permanently housed a year later after that," Wolf said when describing the program's one-year housing retention.
Wolf told the assessor the freed-up funds will be reinvested into direct services for veterans: "Not having to pay a $56,000 tax bill, those dollars are freed up now to help us provide the mental health services, the nutrition support, the other life skills support. So it'll really just be invested back in our veterans and their family members." Lara said the exemption helps reach veterans who are unhoused or renters and emphasized the assessor's office assists residents with property tax values and exemptions.
Assessor Lara gave contact information for the office for residents with questions about property tax values or exemptions, including a phone number (505) 222-3700 and the assessor website. The announcement described an administrative action by the assessor's office rather than a legislative vote or court judgment; no formal vote or public hearing was recorded in the segment.
The exemption should allow the VIC to redirect funds toward housing and supportive services; district-level or county-level oversight, future filings, or any additional appeals were not discussed in the segment.
