Tax-aid guru takes preparation services to the mall
Peter Doniger and his tax preparation services will be back in January. Doniger was instrumental in building the free AARP tax service at Santa Fe Community College, and in 2015, the group completed some 10,000 filings for individuals and families.
But in doing so, Doniger went beyond the scope of the free service and helped many with complicated deductions, the selfemployed and independent contractors who sought out his expertise and services. He and his volunteers also questioned a change in software that made it more time-consuming to do the work, which created longer wait times for tax filers.
In January, Doniger will be doing the work with his own company — and many of the longtime volunteers have pledged to help him. He has purchased his own computers and software and will be renting a space at Santa Fe Place mall starting mid-January.
There will be a small charge for the service, about $32 for individual returns without complicated deductions; more for those with itemizations and special circumstances. The fee is necessary because Doniger has to pay his preparers as well as for high-speed internet and security. But parking is free, and there is a food court.
“It’s going to be an experiment, and I suspect all those people that came to me personally will come back. I’ve got reoccurring customers going back 10 years,” he said. “They like free, but I hope they’ll pay something.”
MorningStar Senior Living has broken ground on its Santa Fe project on Pacheco Street, which it has said will be ready for tenants by next fall.
The 71,000-square-foot development will have 85 units for assisted living and memory care residents.
MorningStar is undertaking the project in conjunction with Confluent Senior Living. In a statement about the development, the partners said the building will have a mix of studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom units as well as a 24-hour bistro.
“We’re excited to bring an offering to Santa Fe seniors and their families unlike anything else in the area,” said Matt Turner, managing partner for MorningStar. “MorningStar of Santa Fe will be an artfully designed community, incorporating the latest technology and beautiful grounds and amenities, all in a convenient location that boasts gorgeous mountain views.”
Rosemann & Associates is serving as the architect for the new development, and New Mexicobased Bradbury Stamm Construction is the general contractor.
It’s easy to forget how bad New Mexico’s economy was when Gov. Susana Martinez took office in January 2011.
Employment in the state peaked at about 850,000 nonfarm jobs in the middle of 2008 and then deteriorated quickly as the recession took hold to wallop the housing market, then private sector employment and finally, public sector jobs in government and education.
By the end of 2009, the state had lost 6 percent of its workforce, and when Martinez took office, New Mexico had an employment level of about 800,000. And that is where it stayed for several years, a stagnation that lasted until 2015.
Even as other industries, — particularly health care, hospitality and construction — added jobs, they were offset by declines in energy and its related sectors such as transportation and manufacturing.
Likewise, the unemployment rate peaked at 8.3 percent in the summer of 2010 and stood at 7.6 percent when Martinez assumed office for her first term in 2011.
But since about March, all the state job sectors are finally moving in the right direction, and New Mexico is slowing adding jobs — not every month and not as fast as neighboring states, but also not at a boom-and-bust pace.
And though the unemployment rate is still second highest in the United States, after Alaska, it now stands at 6.2 percent. The pace is slow for those looking for work or hoping to find more opportunity in another job, but it is real and perhaps more sustainable.
The best job growth in the state came during the first term of Gov. Bruce King. From January 1991 until December 1994, the state added 90,000 jobs — with the percentage growth in King’s last two years exceeding 5 percent, twice the national average. Today’s pace is about 1 percent.
Yet King lost his bid for reelection in 1994 to Republican businessman Gary Johnson.
In economics, as in baseball, what goes up will come down, and Alaska and Wyoming, Oklahoma and other energy states still seeing job losses now realize this. Perhaps New Mexico’s tortoise-like progress, though frustrating, is the new way forward for the state.