State Deletes List of Tax Cheats

A list of the state’s biggest tax cheats is a thing of the past, at least for now.

In this age of ever-increasing amounts of government information being made available to the public on the Internet, the state Department of Taxation and Revenue has gone in the opposite direction.

Department spokesman S.U. Mahesh said the agency list of top delinquent taxpayers was discontinued last year when Tax and Rev redesigned its website. He said the list wasn’t worth the time and money needed to maintain it.

I last wrote about notable names on the list in December 2008. At that time, the names included those of the chief of staff to then-Congressman-elect Harry Teague, a Democrat; the firm of a prominent Santa Fe lobbyist who made campaign contributions to then-Gov. Bill Richardson and other Democrats; and the company of a former Richardson appointee.

It was Richardson’s administration that axed the list of top delinquent taxpayers, but it’s the administration of Republican Gov. Susana Martinez that appears uninterested in its revival.

I periodically checked the list and just recently discovered it had been killed.

Here’s what Mahesh said in an email:

“The list was discontinued because it was determined not to be productive in encouraging or motivating the delinquent taxpayers to pay their taxes.

“Maintaining the list was putting a strain on limited and declining human resources within the department that could be better used for other audit functions which were more productive.

“Meanwhile, the liens are a matter of public information and can be obtained through other means, such as court and county documents.”

As of December 2008, the list of top delinquent taxpayers totaled 413 businesses and individuals owing gross-receipts, personal and/or corporate taxes. Amounts owed ranged from $2,800 to $1.2 million each.

The list didn’t include taxpayers who had filed formal protests of tax bills or individuals and companies that had entered installment agreements to pay back taxes and kept up with their payments.

Who’s cheating on taxes is a matter of public interest, and it’s just not practical for me — or you — to traipse around the state and plow through tax lien indexes at county clerk offices to come up with a list of names. The Tax and Rev Department has the information at its fingertips.

Public interest in tax cheats is why many — if not most — states publish a list of top delinquent taxpayers on the Internet. Those states include our neighbors Kansas, Texas and Colorado. Even tiny Rhode Island believes such a list has value and has found the resources to put it on the website of its Division of Taxation. Several states have also put searchable, sortable databases of all tax liens online.

Many states have laws that require the creation and publication of top delinquent taxpayer lists. They serve as protection against any politically motivated move by government officials to hide the names of tax cheats.

Maybe New Mexico needs a law like that.

All in the family

When Demesia Padilla became secretary of the Taxation and Revenue Department on Jan. 1, she brought along some help from her old job as a member of the state Gaming Control Board.

Padilla’s top deputy is John Monforte, former executive director of the Gaming Control Board. Monforte headed the Acoma Gaming Commission before joining government.

The new chief information officer at Tax and Rev is Gregory Saunders, who held the same position at the Gaming Control Board. He also served as the board’s deputy executive director. Saunders worked previously for the Department of Children, Youth and Families.

The departures from the Gaming Control Board have left the staff there a little thin.

Frank Baca, the board’s longtime general counsel, is filling in as interim executive director.

UpFront is a daily front-page news and opinion column. Comment directly to Thom Cole at tcole@abqjournal.com or (505) 992-6280 in Santa Fe. Go to www.abqjournal.com/letters/new to submit a letter to the editor.

— This article appeared on page A1 of the Albuquerque Journal