[Editor's Note: The Grant County Commission held a work session on Dec. 12, 2023. This part 7 continues the work session regular meeting agenda review and decisions made at the Dec. 14, 2023 regular meeting.]

By Mary Alice Murphy

At the Grant County Commission regular meeting on Dec. 14, following presentations, commissioners heard from the elected officials.

Clerk Marisa Castrillo had no report.

Treasurer Patrick Cohn reported that taxes collected for the month of November totaled $5,241,672.51. "So far for the 2023 tax roll, $5,606,891.84 has been collected, which left the county at a collection percentage rate to date of 40.34 percent. For the 2023 tax roll, $8,291,882.74 remain uncollected."

He gave the 10-year report, with the total collected by Nov. 30, 2023 of $110,993,857.84, with the amount uncollected in the 10 years of $12,749,857.84.

"We had a great collection rate for the first half 2023 taxes with many residents coming in and paying in full," Cohn said. "That surprised me."

He said he has determined who did not pay taxes in the past, and he has been going out and visiting with residents to determine what is going on. "Each case is different. The banker in me says: 'Let's do a plan and when you complete it, it will keep your property from being sent to the state for auction.' They are appreciative of that and when they make that final payment, they say: 'Thank you.'" He said, even if it's just a dollar he can put into the account, it makes him happy.

Cohn said he had brought in an intern from Silver High School, and she worked with the returned mail. "I showed her how to look for the correct address, and sent out the bills again. I think that has made a difference in this year's collection. I don't have as much returned mail as in the past."

He also thanked his staff, and the county manager and commissioners for getting the GovPro software in place to help with online payments, as well as Finance Director Linda Vasquez for her support. He said that as chairman of the Safety Committee, he wanted to thank Renae Calloway and Daniel Arrey for helping keep the county safe. He wished everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

The next report came from Sheriff Raul Villanueva. The total calls addressed by the department were 1,485, with 992 self-initiated and 493 dispatched. They included 127 incident reports and the department investigated 30 crashes. He said they included 14 alarm calls, 25 domestic violence calls, 224 traffic stops. 6 weapons fired, 62 welfare checks and 44 animal complaints.

Cases of interest included a suicide attempt on Nov. 4. The person was transported to GRMC of her own free will.

On Nov. 5, deputies went to San Lorenzo on the report of an unattended death.

On Nov. 12, deputies responded to a domestic violence call in Santa Clara, with charges filed again the boyfriend of battery against a household member.

On Nov. 28, deputies responded to a structure fire which caused two female casualties. At the time of the report, they had a suspect and asked for information on her location. [Editor's Note: According to https://www.grantcountybeat.com/news/news-articles/81551-suspect-arrested-and-charged-in-structure-fire-causing-two-deaths-ha, the suspect was arrested and charged.]

Villanueva thanked the community for giving the department a lot of tips that led to her arrest. He said it was a traumatic incident for deputies, first responders, EMS, and the families, and he was thankful that they had a debrief after the incident that District 2 Commissioner Eloy Medina made possible.

After approving three sets of minutes at the regular meeting, commissioners went into the financial reports, which had been presented at the work session.

Finance Director Linda Vasquez had noted the expenditure report covered the period from Nov. 9, 2023 - Dec. 5, 2023. The total expenditures stood at $4,164,268.41, which included two payroll periods and expending the law enforcement recruitment funding of $4,169.64 for a total of $491,183.10.

[Editor's Note: The extraordinary expenses over $10,000 are found below in PDF format.]

Commissioners approved the expenditure report at the regular meeting.

Procurement Officer Veronica Rodriguez, at the work session, reported on asset transfers of vehicles no longer needed by the Sheriff's Department. A 2008 Ford Expedition will go to Cliff-Gila Volunteer First Department and a second 2008 Fort Expedition will go to the Pinos Altos VFD. A 2010 Dodge Charger will go to the Detention Center, and another 2008 Ford Expedition will go to the Lower Mimbres VFD. In addition. a 2006 Ford Expedition will go to the Village of Santa Clara Fire Department, a 2009 Ford Expedition to the Hurley FD, two 2011 Ford Crown Victorias to Western New Mexico University Police Academy, and a 2014 Ford Explorer to the Bayard FD.

Commissioners approved the asset deletions and transfers at the regular meeting.

County Manager Charlene Webb, at the work session continued the review of the regular meeting agenda. Under new business, the first item addressed consideration of an addition to the policy for the Sheriff's office to include a tourniquet trauma kit policy.

Sheriff Raul Villanueva said the tourniquet trauma kit had been added to the office several years ago, and training had been done. "When I reviewed the training, it indicated that a policy needed to be developed and added to the policy manual to protect the deputies and the county relating to the use of the tourniquets."

The next article will continue the work session review of the regular meeting where decisions were made.

To read the prior articles, please visit https://www.grantcountybeat.com/news/news-articles/81832-grant-county-commission-held-work-session-121223-part-1  ; https://www.grantcountybeat.com/news/news-articles/81852-grant-county-commission-held-work-session-121223-part-2 ; https://www.grantcountybeat.com/news/news-articles/81868-grant-county-commission-held-work-session-121223-part-3 ; https://www.grantcountybeat.com/news/news-articles/81909-grant-county-commission-held-work-session-121223-and-regular-meeting-121423-part-4 ; https://www.grantcountybeat.com/news/news-articles/81935-grant-county-commission-held-work-session-121223-and-regular-meeting-121423-part-5 ; and https://www.grantcountybeat.com/news/news-articles/81962-grant-county-commission-held-work-session-121223-and-regular-meeting-121423-part-6  .