Sunday, November 11, 2007

CNM Campus Well Worth Tax

By Larry Naranjo
Rio Rancho City Councilor, District 5
    AS THE CENTRAL New Mexico Community College (CNM) district expansion election is approaching the finish line, I feel compelled to voice my strong, unflinching support in favor of expanding CNM's district into northern Rio Rancho. My reasons are simple and my motive easy to understand.
    When I first heard about CNM, it was called TVI, and its relationship with the residents of the city was bad shortly after I moved to Rio Rancho in 1999. I was deeply concerned because my neighbors told me that CNM was taxing my property without providing services within the city limits nor providing representation on the TVI Governing Board to city residents.
    In my opinion, taxation without representation is the worst, followed by taxation without providing direct benefit to those being taxed.
    I felt the best course of action was to remove my property, and the other properties in the city of Rio Rancho, from this taxation district.
    I began researching how this could be done. It is a difficult but not impossible thing to do and requires a local legislator to sponsor a bill to appropriate funds to pay off debt secured by the properties that would be removed from the district. As of this date, no local legislator has stepped up to the plate to introduce a bill to make this change.
    When I heard that CNM was proposing to expand its taxation district to the part of the Rio Rancho Public Schools district that is not currently within the district, I was very skeptical about their motives and the potential outcome of such a move. I began researching what would happen if this effort was successful.
    The first thing I discovered was that the majority of the voters in the district that covers the part of Rio Rancho currently within the CNM taxation district are Rio Rancho residents. With the proposed expansion, the redistricting of the seats on the CNM governing board would place an entire district seat in Rio Rancho. This, of course, would guarantee that the city would have at least one seat and, potentially, two on the board depending on how the districts are drawn.
    I also discovered that CNM already has $20 million ready to immediately invest in a CNM Rio Rancho campus building that will be located on 40 acres of land that CNM already owns in the City Centre area. If it gets the go-ahead through this election, CNM plans to have the first campus building ready to offer classes in January 2010.
    Since the land that CNM owns is currently outside the college boundary, by law CNM cannot build or occupy a building on that tract of land.
    Bringing a college campus to the property that has been purchased for this purpose fits into a broader plan to improve Rio Rancho's marketability to international and national companies who are considering relocating to Rio Rancho.
    In addition to the public return on investment, national studies have shown that property values increase by as much as 10 percent when an institution of higher education opens a campus in a community.
    The presence of CNM in this vital area of development for Rio Rancho will expedite the City Centre's growth. Small businesses to serve the CNM students, which would increase the gross receipts tax base for our community. For large businesses and industries, the campus would serve as a powerful selling point because of CNM's 41-year-old devotion to developing programs that serve the workforce training needs of the local economy.
    Because of a landmark partnership between CNM and the University of New Mexico, the first CNM campus building in Rio Rancho would offer UNM courses when it opens in January 2010. A "2+2" agreement between CNM and UNM will allow Rio Rancho students to take the first two years of a UNM bachelor's degree through CNM. This would greatly reduce the cost of a UNM degree because of CNM's well-known commitment to low tuition and high-quality instruction.
    If the election fails, UNM has already made it clear that its arrival in Rio Rancho will be delayed by years. This proposed CNM-UNM partnership in Rio Rancho would facilitate more positive higher education endeavors involving New Mexico Highlands and New Mexico State University in Rio Rancho and would allow CNM to offer dual-enrollment programs in Rio Rancho Public Schools north of Northern Boulevard, including the under-construction Sue Cleveland High School.
    Rio Rancho resident access to CNM's programs would provide quick entry into high-demand, well-paying jobs. In addition to associate's degree programs, CNM is committed to filling the proposed Rio Rancho campus with occupational courses, workforce training programs and skill development that can prepare a person for a higher paying job in a year or less. When access to higher education increases in a community, quality of life measures improve and crime rates go down.
    Some argue that CNM's Westside Campus is close enough to serve the needs of people in northern Rio Rancho. All of us who live in Rio Rancho know that the current traffic situation can make the commute from northern Rio Rancho to CNM's Westside Campus 35 minutes or more. Many potential students, especially those who are balancing their time with children and jobs, don't have the time and/or gas money to commute that far to attend classes.
    CNM, which welcomes students from all walks of life, will provide the kind of easy access to higher education that people in Rio Rancho have never had before. It will contribute to the improved health of our community.
    Homeowners in northern Rio Rancho will have to accept a property tax increase of $119 per $100,000 of a home's assessed value— which is $9.86 per month— to join the CNM district. The assessed value of homes is always less than the market value. Most of the time it is one-third of its market value.
    I believe the tax will be a small price to pay for the benefits Rio Rancho and its residents will reap for decades to come. Bringing CNM into northern Rio Rancho is a wise economic and educational long-term investment, and we don't have to wait to see results.
    I urge people voting in this election to seize this opportunity and vote "yes" for expanding CNM's district and improving the future of Rio Rancho.