Protection sought to ensure LANL gross receipts taxes

Santa Fe County commissioners want the state Legislature to protect Northern New Mexico communities from the possibility that a change in management at Los Alamos National Laboratory could cost local governments millions in tax revenue.

Commissioners on Tuesday approved a resolution requesting a tweak to the state’s tax structure that would ensure lab management will pay gross receipts taxes.

Santa Fe city councilors are poised to approve an identical resolution Wednesday.

The lab is currently managed by a for-profit consortium that must pay gross receipts taxes. Its contract is set to expire Sept. 30. Bids for the next contract were due to be submitted Dec. 11.

The local governing bodies’ statement legislation reflects anxiety that the Department of Energy could grant a new management contract to a tax-exempt nonprofit-led group and leave local agencies and communities that rely on tax revenue generated by lab activity in the lurch.

A state committee in late November received data show-

ing the for-profit consortium paid between $48 million and $100 million a year in gross receipts tax. In 2015, $76 million was collected; all but $22 million was distributed to local governments, including tribes and the city and county of Santa Fe. Los Alamos County received the largest share.

A bill that would have required a nonprofit lab management organization to pay gross receipts taxes died last legislative session. The prospects of an omnibus tax reform overhaul that would require all nonprofits to pay gross receipts tax being taken up in the upcoming 30-day session appear dim, but lawmakers could craft an alternate measure.

The county resolution was sponsored by Commissioner Henry Roybal, who works as a designer at the lab. The city resolution was introduced by Councilor Peter Ives, a candidate for mayor.