By Mary Alice Murphy
The Silver City-Grant County Chamber of Commerce held its monthly meeting for members virtually due to the recent rise in Covid-19 cases.
Chamber Director Romeo Cruz introduced Grant County Assessor Raul Turrieta as the guest speaker. Turrieta said he has served in the assessor’s office since 1981.
“I went from high school to the U.S. Navy,” Turrieta said. “I had never seen the ocean.”
He said he spent 15 months in Sardinia, Italy, then was serving in San Diego at the time of the Lebanon Crisis. He was born into a family of seven kids and had never been out of New Mexico before he went into the Navy. “I got out of New Mexico and came back.”
After his discharge from the Navy, Dr. Candy Jaurequi asked him to work in the assessor’s office, and he started working for Angie Lara. The office was doing a reappraisal in the state in 1981, because properties hadn’t been reappraised since 1968. “We had to look at every property, so every day I spent four to five hours out in the field. We had to measure buildings, and everything was by hand. The office moved me up to commercial properties. The chief appraiser was running for assessor. I didn’t know anything about politics, and I shook hands unknowingly with his opponent. The next day I got a letter that I had been terminated because of shaking the hand of the chief appraiser’s opponent. So, I took another job and then I was asked back to the assessor’s office. In 1986, I got certified as an appraiser. I served under five different assessors, got a welcome to politics and learned from the best.”
He cited those he learned from including probate judge John Fleming, Frank Tatsch, Bob Stepp. Turrieta went to Santa Fe with Fleming and said he was hanging out with Sen. Ben Altamirano, and Reps. Murray Ryan and Tommy Foy. “What a great education. I want to mention someone special I worked for, Carolyn Torres, who was the assessor. I got educated from the ground up. I was so excited to be the guest of Ben Altamirano on the Senate floor. I’ve been spending the past 40 plus years going back and forth to Santa Fe. I was nosy about everything. In the year 2000, a fellow named Benito Martinez came up with a tool, the New Mexico Legislative Report. There were only three of us who could access this information, Santa Fe County, Grant County and Lincoln County. It was a tool to track all the bills, and it was only accessible to elected officials or someone working for the county.”
“I would drop the information to the county commissioners,” Turrieta continued. “I served on the board of New Mexico Counties, not once, but twice. All of this has been very exciting for me, so I got into a little bit of radio. I’ve been on KSIL, KNFT, and I really enjoyed it. At this time, I have a couple of radio shows on KURU. I was so lucky, they called me in for one of the panel discussions, called BITO, Better Informed Public Officials. I was sitting in on KOAT TV, with the Albuquerque Journal. I say I have the face for radio. The panel was about getting legislative information out to elected officials.”
He said they asked him what the most interesting thing he had brought up on live radio. “Here I am small town radio. I thought of Territorial Charter Day. I did a re-enactment of the patrón who signed off on the territorial charter. Ken Ladner was there, Mike Morones, as was George Carr and Al Gamboa. So, we did the re-enactment. But that night, they were doing something called the $1.98 show, and I was Tina Turner.”
Turrieta said he enjoys what he does to keep people informed. “This morning we had the show with Brian Moore, who is the liaison with New Mexico Counties. We were allowed to have a live show during the legislative conference with a woman named Catherine McGill, a songwriter, who was involved in the census, doing concerts to get people to report to the census.”
“For the last two years, I have had officials come on the show talking about what’s going on,” Turrieta said. “I talk about news releases from statewide. It’s been positive for all of us.”
He said during legislative sessions, he used to go up. But right now, he’s following items virtually. He’s been following HB 71, which would limit property tax increases, but would raise the cap from 3 percent to 10 percent. “The original thought with the 3 percent cap was for mostly for urban residents, so they would not be taxing people out of their houses. It’s not for occupied homes, but for their second homes. When you talk about anything about taxation, it gets a little bit confusing. I got Misty (Trujillo, chief deputy assessor) to watch with me. This morning I talked to Brian Moore on a bill that got snuck in to help with rural hospitals.”
Turrieta said on Feb. 3, that 599 bills had been introduced the day before on Feb. 2, as it was the last day to introduce a new bill. “I’m keeping up with the bills that affect the county, the town of Silver City and the assessor’s office, so I know what’s happening and if I need to listen in. The one I’m looking at right now is HB 173, which creates a rural pricing system to address rural infrastructure crises. In 2022, it will allocate $25 million for rural infrastructure, including rural hospitals and will establish a fund to allocate up to $1 million per calendar year. I’m always focused on our area.”
He is tracking the afore-mentioned HB 71, HB 132, which would lower the maximum interest for smaller loans from 175 percent to 36 percent. “Right now, those interest rates on small loans prey on the lower-income individuals. I don’t know how they ever pay it back.” Another bill he is tracking is HB 146, which addresses distributive resource taxes on counties. “From July 20, 2022 to July 20, 2024, it pays 15 percent to the counties of the copper and resource excise tax. It passed committee without recommendation. We are also looking at the veterans’ exemptions, the head of household valuations.”
“One of the biggest issues we have in the state of New Mexico has to do with the inequities in the state,” he said. “We don’t have full disclosure except on the residentials. It is a tool for us to know how much to assess. We don’t have it on commercial or business entities. The Assessors’ Affiliate needs to work on full disclosure.”
He talked about how his office has advanced from paper maps to digital parcel mapping. “It will be over the internet, so we can share the information with realtors. As soon as it is complete, we want to share the information.”
On the topic of Silver City, he is tracking HB 6, which allocates funding to renovate courthouses. “We are also trying to stay with tracking bills on cannabis. I’m trying to see if the money will come to the rural areas. On the PERA (Public Employees Retirement Association), there will be a time limit for someone to come back to work.”
He noted that the New Mexico Counties website promotes counties. “Five videos tell you that we are 33 Strong. They are powerful videos that will be released through April.”
Steve Chavira, Grant County Workforce and Economic Development Alliance executive director, thanked Turrieta for representing Grant County. “I’m glad to have people like you fighting for us in Santa Fe. How’s it looking for appropriations for Grant County?”
Turrieta said one of the priorities is for broadband for rural areas.
“County Commission Chairman Chris Ponce sits on that board.”
Bruce Ashburn, representing PNM, said his company is involved in SB 42, which is designed to allow broadband providers to “use our poles. If we’re serious about it in rural areas, we’ve got to make it more cost effective. And sharing the infrastructure would help.”
Turrieta said he and Ashburn have worked together on clean energy projects. “I’ll definitely put SB 42 on my docket and give you whatever support you need.”
Ashburn asked about the15 percent excise tax on copper and if it was new.
Turrieta said the money has been going into the state General Fund. “This bill is asking for it to go to the counties, instead. It did pass committee, but without recommendation. We’ve been trying for years to get it done.”
Ashburn said he was on a Zoom call with the governor and was glad she is looking at a 25-basis point reduction in the gross receipts tax. “I know they have put enough money in the ERB, the teacher retirement board, to make it solvent for the next 50 years. I call to your attention that double-dipping bill, retired people going back to work, has a $15,000 cap until they would have to stop working without being penalized. With the need for teachers and law enforcement to return to work, it’s a good bill, but it might take two or three years to get it through. We need to do away with the $15,000 cap.”
Turrieta said he would track that one, too. “People are confused about the raise of the property tax cap from 3 percent to 10 percent. It’s a concern. If we can stay at right and correct on the valuation. People think it’s going to be an increase in tax. There’s a formula called yield control. If valuation goes up, the tax rate goes down and vice versa. Remember that only one-third of your valuation is being taxed. New Mexico has one of the lowest property taxes in the country. Hopefully we can stay fair and equitable for the whole state. Once it’s capped out, it stays on market and stays at 3 percent. It’s confusing about whether it will be on residential or just second home. I’m staying on track with it. There will be to be more detail on the potential raise to 10 percent cap.”
“Anyone who would like to come on the show, just contact me,” Turrieta said.
Chavira said he would like to get on the show talking about the Grant County Workforce and Economic Development Alliance. “On Feb. 23, we will have a business roundtable from 7-9 a.m. We will talk about visioning and how to keep businesses growing.”
Turrieta said Cruz comes on his show on the last week of each month to talk about the chamber and what’s going on.
Cruz said he hoped the members meetings could soon go back to in person.
Turrieta said that Carolyn Torres told those in the assessor’s office that “we had to go to the chamber meetings.”
Cruz said: “I’m always pushing our community as a great place to live. We have two new members, the Grant County Community Foundation and Creative Vitality Health Coaching with Paula. Paula moved here from Washington state.”
Paula said she moved here for her mother in Mimbres, who is about to turn 90 years old. “I have been studying everything about health. Functional medicine better addresses the 21st Century. Nowadays, we have complex, chronic diseases. We are not as healthy as we could be to be able to fight off disease. I will work with clients; I will work with medical professionals. Our body is built to be healthy. I’ve been working with seniors and working in people’s homes with those who have Alzheimer’s, diabetes and heart issues. Alzheimer’s is an epidemic. One out of every two people will have it. It can be prevented and can be reversed. My website is creativevitality.live
Chavira also announced that a group will be forming a local chapter of Toastmasters. “We will meet from 6-7 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 16.”
Turrieta reminded listeners that during the months of January and February, property owners can freeze their valuation if they are low-income. They are also the months to render business property, manufactured home or livestock.
Karen Beckenbach of Grant County Community Concerts announced an upcoming concert on Feb. 25. “Let’s Rock, Diamonds.”
Cruz said American Pickers is coming to Silver City in March. April 9 will feature the Bataan Memorial rededication. “If not next month, soon we will have a face-to-face chamber luncheon. We are here to help support businesses and the community.”