[Editor's Note: This begins with a presentation from the county treasurer and continues with an IT department presentation. This is part 2 of a multi-part series of articles on the Grant County Commission work session of Aug. 9, 2022, and the regular meeting on Aug. 11, 2022.]

By Mary Alice Murphy

This article on the Grant County Commission work session on Aug. 9, 2022, begins with a presentation from Grant County Treasurer Patrick Cohn.

Cohn said the New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Property Tax Division was doing a site visit in the Treasurer's Office. "We have 125 delinquent properties that are eligible for auction. If some owners pay them off, that will decrease the number of delinquencies."

He said they were having trouble getting deeds for some properties.

Cohn noted the property tax bills for the first half will go out Nov. 1 for a due date of Dec. 10 for 2022 taxes and then again in the spring for the second half taxes.

"Last year for the 2021 mailout of taxes, we had an influx of return mail," Cohn said. "Most were eople who sold their property but didn't report the sale to us."

He said in February, he made the decision for the department to send out postcards as a reminder to pay their taxes. "It was a success. We sent out 260 postcards and after the payments came in, only 81 were added to the delinquent list. They got a postcard in February and a letter in June. We asked them to pay at least their 2019 taxes, and we would work with them to help them pay their 2020 and 2021 taxes, so they wouldn't be forwarded to the state as delinquent. We want to build trust with them. When they come into the office, we work to build trust."

He said for the past five years, the collection percentage looks "like we collected less, but some people paid in July, so it didn't show in the prior year. For 2021, our collection was 92.79, but for the whole 10-year period the tax collection was at 95.56 percent."

Cohn noted that they put delinquent notifications on people's doors.

"We have a lot of issues with manufactured homes," Cohn said. "People don't report when they sell. Or maybe the sale is under the table. They don't do the proper procedure for getting the transfer done and don't report to the Motor Vehicle Division. Citizens do record their deeds at the clerk's office, but people need to make sure their taxes are current."

District 5 Commissioner Harry Browne presented a fictitious "Let's say I owe a couple of years of taxes. I sell my property. Does my debt go to the next owner? If I say nothing, it seems to me, it shouldn't fall on the county or the new owner."

Cohn said that's why "we have title companies."

"But what if I don't use a title company," Browne asked. "Then the new owner has the liability, right?"

District 4 Commissioner Billy Billings said that's why people get title insurance.

District 3 Commissioner Alicia Edwards said a challenge with mobile homes is that maybe it's not a formal sale, but just between family or friends. But still the new owner has the liability. And if it's not formal, the bills still go to the old owners. "How many a year are like that?"

"At least 20-30," Cohn replied.

Assessor Raul Turrieta said he works closely with the treasurer on the delinquent taxes on mobile homes. The state will not do a sale on personal property, which includes mobile homes. They only do sales on real property. If the deed is recorded at the clerk's office, then the liability goes to the new owner. "We had a discussion with the former county manager on filing deeds. It would eliminate a lot of delinquencies. Maybe we can do it through an ordinance. And yes, there is an issue with manufactured homes because they are considered personal property."

The next report from Jason Lockett, facilities and grounds maintenance supervisor, presented the General Services and Maintenance Departments' funding priorities, as requested by the commissioners.

The projects are the Gila Community Center at an estimate of $912,100 and $1.934 million for Bataan Park improvements and preliminary estimates.

Randy Hernandez, planning director, noted that the county will request funding for the entire $1.9 million for Bataan Memorial Park improvements. And will apply for the entire amount for the Gila Community Center and Bataan from the Quality of Life grant. "We expect to hear if we are awarded by the end of August."

About the community center, Browne asked if there is any process of evaluating what the community wants and will utilize.

Hernandez said the community wants a new facility, and "this is what we can maintain."

Billings noted that at the recent meeting with Gila residents, they presented drawings. "How big is what they want?"

Acting County Manager Randy Villa said: "What we put in this estimate is what we can afford and what we will submit. It depends on what the cost is when we want to do it. If we go in at $200,000 and it will cost $175,000, we're good, but not the other way around."

Edwards noted that a 30X30 building was only 900 square feet, which isn't very big. "That's not much for wedding receptions or even for food pantry distribution. If we downsize it like that, it will limit the growth of its usage. So, we're talking about scaling back what the priority is, and whether they really want a better tennis court."

Billings said at the ICIP meeting held in Cliff, residents working on the project had sets of plans. A good case was made for the less large space. Alex Ocheltree did a scale plan, but it was more than what the community thought it needed.

Hernandez said the Quality of Life grant is for planning, designing, constructing and equipping a center.

Billings noted that on the ICIP (infrastructure capital improvement plan), one is in the No. 3 spot and the other is No. 7.

Hernandez said they are separate on the ICIP, but for the Quality of Life grant, "we are combining the Bataan and the Gila projects. "

Billings said the residents' group did a presentation at the ICIP meeting on the historical uses of the center and for new uses of the center. "It got pretty detailed. They did a good job of assessing what they want and need. If we do an inadequate job or too much, either way, we are invalidating what they want or wasting money."

The group, Billings said, is also looking a grant and raising their own money.

Hernandez said he and Priscilla Lucero, Southwest New Mexico Council of Governments executive director, are in constant contact with the group.

Edwards noted that the group's dream project is 4,700 square feet, not 900 sq. ft.

Lockett said a structure that big would not fit on county-owned property. "What we are looking at is expandable. The current building is similar to 900 sq. ft."

Billings said the group that started the project decided they need a new building. "If they can just have what we have without a few bells and whistles, that might work. A few people are also looking for land donations, but that doesn't seem feasible."

Lockett said they want four bathrooms, two inside and two outside for the playground and tennis players. They cost about $600 per sq. ft.

Billings said in retrospect "we took out the old playground equipment and now the reality is that there is only one apparatus."

Edwards asked if there couldn't just be an outside door to the inside bathrooms.

Locket said that would cut costs and square feet.

He also presented on the Bataan improvements. He noted he was waiting on an estimate. But "it will be at least $1 million for the three fields. We have $1.4 million on the list, but if we did all at the same time, we maybe could get a discount. We will have a PNM line coming in underground. And it will cost $1 million to $1.4 million for redoing the drainage and other things to the fields. The whole list is a total of $1.934 million. On ongoing projects in the Administration Center, the only thing left in the building is the manager's office."

Billings asked if the Bataan projects had been engineered, and Locket tsaid they had received estimates for the PNM line and engineering for the electrical portion.

Hernandez noted that the Quality of Life grant is a one-to-one match because they are public recreational areas.

The next presentation on technology requests funding from the ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) and came from IT Director Adam Baca. He said the report will reference the server, networking, back up, remote management and anti-virus solutions currently being utilized and highlight current bottlenecks and support burdens, with a roadmap of recommended solutions to be able to separate from the current contracted provider Spectrum.

"The first three are already in progress," Baca said. "Once they are fully in place, then we can begin the separation from Spectrum."

He proposed a "hyper-converged server solution to replace all the old servers, which have lapsed out of warranty and will eventually fail."

This is the core structure, "I would like to implement to have a managed operations system. Right now, there is no management process to make it more secure."

The third thing is gigabit broadband by Lumen, which is CenturyLink, to the Detention Center. "When they have wind and rain, they lose their internet. It would be fiber from Bonita and Ridge Road. It would provide expansion for anyone in the area."

The fourth item is to get with all the departments and learn what they need in business software. "Opengov is a budgeting and planning suite, which would work with Incode."

The fifth item would implement a cloud-based solution for all Tyler County administration products. It would include professional installation and engineering services.

The sixth item would upgrade the county's point and pay solution to improve the terminal for citizens to pay online with credit cards or echeck payments. Baca noted that right now the process is bulky, because people with more than one property have to log in for one property, log out and log back in for another property.

The grand total for all these projects is $664, 043.11

Browne asked if the costs were one-time costs.

"Yes, they are one-time, and some include the next 2-3 years," Baca said.

Browne asked for a comparison with the current system with Spectrum. "It would be helpful to know about 3-year licenses' cost. And do we still need servers if we are cloud-based?"

Baca said it was important to have three physical servers to build a vertical server. "And there may be solutions that require servers."

Browne asked if the three would replace the 11 current servers. "If Lumen puts in an additional line to the Detention Center, do they pay the capital costs and charges or what?"

Baca said the county would do a one-time payment, then the monthly costs would be $400 less than what they are paying now.

Edwards said: "If Tyler collapsed for any reason, it would be hard to do much. Do we have enough internet capacity?"

Baca said he thought the county could go on. "We have 150 megabites of speed. We would have to do a stress test."

Edwards asked if the test would come before the county spent the money.

"At present, I think our system can handle it," Baca said.

Edwards asked how much of the county's business is tied to Tyler. "If we don't have enough internet and need to expand, what kind of expense would that be?"

"I could ask WNM Communications," Baca said. "We do have direct fiber to this building." He noted that everything in IT is expensive. "Some of this can be a phased approach. Even if we could get it all today, it would take time to implement it all."

Edwards asked if ARPA funding could cover these items.

Hernandez said: "Yes, because they enhance government services. So, yes, they qualify."

The next article will get into county reports at the work session.

To view the previous article please visit https://www.grantcountybeat.com/news/news-articles/73714-grant-county-commission-holds-work-session-080922-part-1 .