By Rodd Cayton
Albuquerque City Councilor Joaquín Baca says residents of the Duke City are ready for new beautification and recreation projects.
Baca, who represents Albuquerque’s District 2, introduced an ordinance that would ask voters to fund new community improvements through a gross receipts tax increase.
He said the city can address ongoing concerns about crime, homelessness and safety while also pursuing projects that will benefit its youth.
Baca noted a previous quality-of-life package built the Biopark and Explora.
“People are ready for more,” Baca said Thursday. “They’re ready to feel good about Albuquerque again.”
Baca said the proposed legislation, O-25-77, will go to the Finance & Government Operations Committee, after which a potential “sunset” date for the tax will be established. Baca said he expects the tax to be in place no longer than 10 years.
The ordinance establishes a dedicated revenue stream he says will allow completion of some projects and make others fully funded.
According to the text of the legislation, all revenue collected during the first year would go toward completing the North Domingo Baca Aquatic Center, with anything left over going toward a new downtown performing arts center.
In the second year, all revenue would be allocated to developing the performing arts center.
Any excess second-year revenue and all the money in subsequent years would be allocated equally among the nine City Council districts, with each councilor determining how it would be spent in their district.
In-district spending would have to meet criteria that include promoting and preserving cultural diversity, enhancing the quality of cultural programs and activities and “supporting projects, programs, events and organizations with direct, identifiable and measurable public benefit to residents.”
If the council approves the ordinance, it will be brought to voters for the Nov. 4 election.
“Albuquerque deserves to thrive,” Baca said in a news release. “This ordinance is about investing in our city’s soul, ensuring we have the cultural and recreational spaces that reflect our vibrant heritage and foster community connection. This new fund will empower us to build the Albuquerque of tomorrow.”
Albuquerque’s elected leadership and its subordinate bureaucrat apparatus perfectly fails at advocating for the hourly wage earning, tax paying residents of this city
when corporate, industrial, entrepreneurial players express an interest in having support operations, or intend to conduct commerce in our market. A lot is offered to the outsider,
In return a lot is promised but little is given,
what the leadership offers isn’t theirs to give. period.
Aside from their own, political, personal gain and the few low wage jobs that may materialize,
no positive economic benefit is realized by the residents, and those who are the most impacted by such
activity.
In fact it costs us. We subsidize every concession given to such prospective business interests.,
when a bone is finally thrown our way we find the marrow is already sucked out.
The skewed local economic landscape is as lopsided any, and is tightly controlled by the regulatory bureaucratic arm and the connected insiders that populate the city’s vendor list,
all associates of city leadership.
The administrative authority of the weaponized regulatory city departments by design are enabled
to be very prejudicial in its enforcement, and obtusely unequal in its fees & fines process.
with the trespasses by its agents against residents at home or at commerce have only of a hearing
as a form of “redress”
Coupled the with council members bent on limiting economic innovation by ordinance, The result is the exclusivity of the even the mere opportunity to access participation in commerce.
With this a questionable attitude toward transparency, and a heightened entitlement
We now have the publicly funded quasi -private country club known as
The Domingo Baca multi generational center, built in phases, all in a time when economic disparity was never more apparent, and the unhoused population was fastly growing but still being blatantly ignored
a perpetuated condition here in Albuquerque
The grandiose facility with all the amenities to reward the higher income constituency concentrated in the far NE heights. We need the elected to be transparent and account for the monies that are extracted from us at our every movement, we also are in need of oversight of the considerable funds at their disposal and how and why its spent, we need it broken down for us, and we need it regularly published for our convenience. We do not need any more taxes, especially taxes that prioritizes the leisurely poolside summer fun of the wealthy and entitled, above the provisions to address issues in crime housing , inflation,& the corrupt misuse of funds