School mill levy increases fail in three cities
Ruidoso voters favor keeping capital improvement tax
Voters in Aztec, Bloomfield and Loving joined those in Albuquerque in shooting down mill levy increases in school district mail-in elections, while residents in Ruidoso overwhelmingly approved capital outlay funding and a continuation of a capital improvement tax this week.
Aztec Municipal School District Superintendent Kirk Carpenter said it was devastating that voters failed to OK a two-mill levy that would have funded maintenance and technology purchases at the schools.
The increase from 1.886 to 2.000 mill failed on a 1,992-to-1,201 vote, according to San Juan County Clerk.
Aztec is one of three local school districts that will face reduced funding as a result of
Tuesday’s special elections. Albuquerque Public Schools voters rejected the entire mill levy/bond package the district had proposed. A measure to extend an existing two-mill levy failed by 70 votes in Bloomfield while the same measure passed by more than 1,500 votes in Central Consolidated School District.
The measure would have caused a slight property tax increase in Aztec, but property taxes would have remained the same in both Bloomfield and CCSD.
In Loving, voters narrowly turned down a two-mill levy Tuesday, according to Eddy County Clerk Robin Van Natta, who said 102 voted against it and 93 in favor.
Had it been approved, the measure would have imposed a $200 per year tax on a $100,000 house.
Voters in Ruidoso stayed true to their past support of capital outlay funding for its municipal school district and approved continuation of a capital improvements tax.
In a mail-in ballot election, they voted 1,233 for and 861 against, according to Lincoln County Clerk Whitney Whittaker. Thirty-six ballots were rejected out of the 2,130 returned.
“We just want to send a sincere thank you to all district voters for their continued support of our students,” Superintendent George Bickert said. “As we move forward, we will continue to be fiscally responsible with your tax dollars as we continue to upgrade and maintain the facilities for our students.”