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Charter Commission Sets Stage for Election
The Nov. 2 ballot includes what may be the last good chance to consolidate local government in Bernalillo County.
The Unification Charter Commission last week voted 10-1 to present a new blueprint for combined city-county government to voters.
Initial reviews by several commissioners were not enthusiastic. That's not entirely surprising; 11 individuals appointed to represent various constituencies are bound to have differences about which officials should be elected, which appointed and about how to allocate powers. The end result can only be a compromise.
Voters' rejection of last year's charter proposition cast a long shadow over the formulation of this edition. In 2003, much was made of the Bernalillo County sheriff and clerk's vocal opposition to a charter that would have eliminated their elected posts. Those jobs would have been filled instead by appointment. Likewise, the mayor was lukewarm to a charter provision that would have weakened the mayor's role.
Absent an effective campaign to sell the charter proposition to voters last year, those dissenting views probably had greater impact.
Commissioners co-opted that dissent this year by retaining the elected sheriff and clerk, and strengthening mayoral powers. Whether that strengthens its chances at the polls remains to be seen.
One factor that ought to catch the attention of city voters was a recent study that fleshes out the costs and benefits of unification and makes clear who bears the brunt of the fiscal burden of the status quo.
According to the University of New Mexico's Bureau of Business and Economic Research, between $5 million and $10 million savings in administrative overhead could be achieved. Because the state formula for allocating gross receipts taxes differs between cities and counties, the new government might get an additional $26 million.
On the negative side of the ledger, equalizing the payrolls at the higher rates of pay received by city workers would cost an estimated $15 million.
The study also documents the extent of city residents' subsidization of services and infrastructure in unincorporated Bernalillo County -- $49 million a year. That should be illuminating in the run-up to election day.
Even before last year's charter was defeated, this reprise was programmed in by legislation that enabled New Mexico's most urbanized county to consider consolidation.
If this proposition goes down, there may not be another real shot at passage. Opponents are pushing to restore the veto to non-city residents -- the poison pill that kept unification off the table for years and that would make future initiatives futile.
But at this point, it seems like such a poison pill is overkill -- lack of interest by city voters may well keep consolidation from becoming reality.
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