TOWN COUNCIL BRIEFS
The town of Taos Council met for their regular Monday (June 24) workshop to discuss a number of items from monthly financials to social media presentations.
Infrastructure improvement plan moving along
The town of Taos Council heard a presentation from grants and revenue director Lynda Perry on Monday about the town’s capital improvement plan. Several projects have been completed and crossed off the list as town officials look toward future projects for improving Taos.
Among completed projects in the town are the purchase of new police vehicles and a new water treatment system at the youth and family center and an update to the town’s comprehensive planning documents.
The town will now look toward the rest of its projects, which include finishing the water system updates, working on affordable housing options as well as offering an update to the youth and family center that could include a new skate park and pickleball courts.
Many of the upgrades are made possible with the help of various grants with the town matching some of the funds. Development grants must go toward projects that have a 10-year span and help the entirety of the community.
GRT woes
Town finance director Marietta Fambro presented the town’s monthly financial update Monday to the dismay of some of the council as gross receipts tax revenues in some industries have declined in the past few months.
March GRT revenues were down $11,089 as compared to the same month in 2018. GRT revenue reported from April was down more than $56,000 compared to last year. Fiscal year totals for 2018-19 are down more than $122,000 compared to the prior fiscal year.
The decline in revenues creates a budget shortfall that Fambro and town manager Rick Bellis are in the process of shoring up. With GRT revenues in several categories falling from previous years, town councilor George “Fritz” Hahn expressed his concerns about the town’s budget and how town officials are going to make up for lost revenue.
“We’re getting gyped by the very people we are trying to help,” Hahn said. “Don’t you dare call to complain if you aren’t paying your taxes.”
Hahn’s statement came after a discussion with Bellis about the arts and entertainment GRT loss and assumed some businesses or artists may not be recording their transactions. Hahn later apologized for his statements but reaffirmed that businesses and individuals needed to be recording their sales in order for the town to collect GRT money to add to public building and repair projects.
Marketing social media
After The Waite Company gave their regular six-month presentation to the council and presented various increases to the town’s online presence on Monday, the council on Tuesday (June 25) approved handing the company another $271,000 under an amended contract.
In 2018, the town approved a contract to pay $270,000 to The Waite Company to run the town’s social media presence and marketing campaigns. Facebook, Twitter and Instagram profiles are managed by the company, with the latter being the town’s most successful reaches. Both Twitter and Instagram followers and engagement were up for the town, while Facebook’s traffic took a bit of a dive from the previous report.
Councilor Pascualito Maestas wanted to see more where the traffic was coming from and encouraged the group to bring in more specific data for their next presentation.
“I think it would be helpful for us to know who’s clicking,” he said.
The aim of the social media campaign is to bring in more tourism traffic to the Taos area. In addition to the social media sites, The Waite Company also assists in taos.org, the town’s tourism website. Traffic to the website has increased in the previous years, according to the company, and visitors spend more time on the website looking through articles about Taos.
The Waite Company holds offices in Albuquerque, Taos and Melbourne, Florida, and has 20 employees in their staff.
The total contract between the town and The Waite Company now stands at more than half a million dollars.
— Jesse Moya