Albuquerque
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Tax increase defeated

Gillian Barkhurst
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The Albuquerque City Council voted down a proposal Monday to raise gross receipts taxes by a fraction of a percent.

The ordinance would have raised $113 million a year to invest in infrastructure projects, reduce city-imposed fees and give raises to underpaid city employees.

The proposal would have raised GRT from 7.62% to 8.1%, a difference of .4875%.

The ordinance was voted down by a 1-8 vote.

Councilors Brook Bassan and Joaquín Baca spearheaded the proposal, though they would later vote against it after amendments "killed the spirit" of the bill.

“I'm not proud to sponsor a tax increase,” Bassan said. “In fact, it's the last thing I ever thought I would do. But after careful thought, I truly believe this will allow us to close some of the massive gaps our city is facing. It will allow us to move forward and become a better version of what we already have.”

Bassan told the crowd that raising taxes was a decision of last resort, after trying and failing to cut what she called a “bloated budget” for two years as Committee of the Whole Chair.

Sponsor Baca said that raising taxes is “investing in ourselves.”

After the bill was amended to reduce the tax increase, both Bassan and Baca ultimately voted against their own bill. Tammy Fiebelkorn, the sponsor of those amendments, was the only councilor to vote for the bill.

Those amendments meant that the tax hike would yield around $30 million a year, down from $113 million. It also guaranteed that the majority of those funds were spent on raises for staff.

Amendment sponsor Councilor Fiebelkorn said that the original tax hike would impact the poorest residents all the while funding councilors’ “vanity projects.”

Councilors Stephanie Telles and Dan Lewis, who rarely agree, both said that the city budget was improperly managed and that a tax increase was a rush fix.

After amendments sealed her ordinance’s fate, Bassan apologized to city employees in the audience.

“I had a proposal that's written for everyone to see that would have gotten you $56 million a year in compensation,” Bassan said.

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