[Editor's Note: This is part 4 of multiple articles on the Grant County Commission work session on Aug. 8, 2023 and the regular meeting on Aug. 10, 2023. It continues the review of the regular meeting agenda, including hearing elected officials' reports at the regular meeting .]
Photos and article by Mary Alice Murphy
The first elected official to speak at the regular meeting of the Grant County Commission on Aug. 10, 2023 was Treasurer Patrick Cohn.
He presented the tax schedule maintenance report as of July 31, 2023. Taxes collected to date for fiscal year 2022 total $12.414,482.85, with $875,469.23 remaining uncollected.
The total percentage of property taxes collected for the 10 years stands at 95.69 percent for a total of $115,426,960.37 collected and $5,240,759.52 uncollected.
"The county will have a total of 37 properties that will go up for auction," Cohn said. "The Property Tax Division has set a date of Sept. 20, 2023 for auction here in the commissioners' meeting room at 10 a.m., I believe."
He noted that his department has made great strides on collecting delinquent property taxes on manufactured homes that have never been paid in the whole 10-year tax roll. "I look forward to them coming in and having the conversation. Some don't understand why they have to pay taxes. There are a lot of questions they have. I look forward to collecting a lot more."
"I hope our GovPros conversion will be wrapping up soon," Cohn continued. "I want to thank Adam Baca and Robert Hood (of the IT Department) for their assistance, and I want to thank you, the commissioners for the upgrade of the payment system. We are also looking at upgrading the solid waste payment system."
District 5 Commissioner Harry Browne asked why people thought they didn't have to pay property taxes on manufactured homes.
Cohn replied: "A lot of them think just paying their land account is enough. I clarify that the manufactured home is also considered real property in this state. A lot of it is just education about the what and why it is considered real property." He noted that some are not set on their own land, but they still have to pay property tax on the home itself.
Sheriff Raul Villanueva said he wanted to acknowledge several residents and one from out-of-state, who helped out the Sheriff's Department in an incident. "On July 5, 2023, deputies were dispatched to highway 180, mile marker 108, in regards to a one-vehicle roll-over, involving a mother and her two small children. One of the children was a 3-month-old and the other about 2 years old. While deputies were on scene, numerous people were helping with traffic control. At that time, three women, Kathy Davis, Deborah Butler and Brenda Fierro were administering CPR to the infant. Brenda was doing chest compressions, while Kathy and Deborah were holding a blanket over the infant to keep the sun off. As deputies approached they were told the infant's eyes had rolled back and she was not responding. Before deputies' arrival, Deborah Butler had been doing CPR before handing the infant to Brenda. Deborah had been driving eastbound and saw the car appear to avoid hitting something and hit the embankment. She slowed down and noticed the mother outside the vehicle and reaching across the front seat, so she called 911. After she stopped, she saw the mother holding a very small baby in one arm and walking toward the passenger side, where she picked up another small child on the ground that had been thrown from the vehicle. The mother was yelling for help. Deborah went over to her and tried to calm her down and asked her if she was OK. The mother was obviously in shock with blood on her hands and arms. Deborah had the child clinging to her as she tried to calm him down. The mother kept screaming: 'Help my baby.' By this time more people had arrived. Deborah passed the toddler to a bystander and took the seemingly unresponsive baby onto her arms. The baby was turning blue. She placed her mouth over the baby's nose and mouth and breathed air into the baby. The baby exhaled, but still did not respond. This went on for several minutes until the baby started taking small breaths on her own. Deborah continued breathing into the baby and Brenda spoke to the 911 operator telling the location. She went back to Deborah. They put the baby on a blanket on the ground on her back. Brenda started doing chest compressions. She continued carefully so as not to break the baby's ribs until law enforcement came and took control of the situation until the ambulance arrived. We will present them with a certificate that says: 'A civilian's certificate of valor. A recognition of courage, bravery and personal sacrifice and going beyond civil duty in a dangerous and difficult situation' to each recipient." The first went to Brenda Fierro, the second to Kathy Davis and the third to Deborah Butler.
Villanueva then presented a certificate of commendation to Lt. Michael Valencia for being the first to arrive on scene and take control of the situation. "With all the assistance and his guidance, everything turned out well."
He completed his report on July from the podium, noting the department made 1,388 calls, 861 of them as self-initiated.
Villanueva addressed several cases of interest, including a child abuse case between a juvenile, who called 911. on July 2, 2023 and the male subject who left before deputies arrived. It continues as an ongoing investigation and was reported to CYFD statewide central intake. On July 11, 2023, it was reported that the juvenile had run away.
Deputies were dispatched to a domestic disturbance on July 10, 2023, where the male subject had barricaded himself, The victim said an argument between them escalated and the subject began to strangle her. She thought he would not attack her in the presence of the children, but he did. The children were crying and pleading with him to stop. It was only when he heard the sirens that he stopped. The male subject barricaded himself and was having suicidal ideations. Law enforcement and family members talked the male subject out of the room. His grandfather transported him to Gila Regional Medical Center. Three counts of aggravated battery against him were filed with an affidavit of arrest warrant.
On July 14, 2023, deputies responded to an aggravated assault in Santa Clara. Caller stated they were arguing with neighbors because their children were fighting. One of the neighbors went into the residence and came out brandishing a firearm and pointed it at the other neighbors and the children. The male subject was arrested for aggravated assault, along with negligent use of a firearm while intoxicated.
On July 19, 2023, deputies learned a male subject with an active felony warrant was in Santa Clara. Subject failed to follow commands to stop. When deputies tried to place him under arrest, he kept resisting and pulling away from deputies. After deputies successfully placed suspect in handcuffs, a search found a white plastic baggie containing several blue pills consistent with fentanyl. He is being held in the Grant County Detention Center awaiting trial.
On July 20, 2023, deputies responded in regards to a missing person, the husband of the caller. He continues to be missing as of the date of the meeting and was entered into the National Crime Information Center on missing and endangered persons.
Villanueva's written report stated that his department continues to place resources in the Hachita area under Operation Stonegarden. "We are still seeing a rise in suspected foreign nationals in the Silver District."
The department continues to have issues with high-mileage vehicles breaking down, but two new vehicles are on patrol and the department awaits three more new vehicles, hopefully by the beginning of September.
He reported in his written report that the five cadets that just came out of the Police Academy are "adapting well to work and are looking to complete the field training officer program within the next few weeks."
"I would like to express my thanks to the Grant County commissioners for implementing the salary structure for all county employees," Villanueva said.
Chief Deputy Assessor Raul Turrieta said the department continues its reappraisal for Bayard. "It takes time going house-to-house. In September, we will receive the tax rates. On the manufactured homes issues, it has always been interesting. Many of them are on wheels and can move around. They change hands. It's at least personal property and they should be licensed. Many are taxed as personal property as well as for real property for the land they sit on. It takes a lot of steps to become real property."
The commissioners at the regular meeting approved the expenditure report presented at the work session.
The next article will address new business at the work session and the decisions made at the regular meeting.
For the previous articles in the series, please visit https://www.grantcountybeat.com/news/news-articles/79844-grant-county-commission-holds-work-session-080823-part-1 ; https://www.grantcountybeat.com/news/news-articles/79871-grant-county-commission-holds-work-session-080823-part-2 ; and https://www.grantcountybeat.com/news/news-articles/79906-grant-county-commission-holds-work-session-080823-and-regular-meeting-081023-part-3 .