Voters Approve County School District Tax Matters

College board members, other selected county school districts

County voters have approved two tax levies from the Chaves County School District and voted for a new city code that will allow restaurant liquor licenses in the town of Hagerman, according to unofficial election vote results events of 2021 which ended on Tuesday evening.

In other votes, residents of Dexter, Hagerman and Lake Arthur chose 10 school district board members, while two unopposed candidates for the Eastern New Mexico University-Roswell Community board of trustees. College won their seats.

The Chaves County Council of Commissioners has scheduled a meeting on November 9 to review the results. The New Mexico Secretary of State will then review the county’s solicitation, at which time the results become final. All incumbents will take up their duties on January 1.

Restaurant liquor license

The Hagerman liquor license issue rose from 108 to 25, or from 81% to 19%, according to the New Mexico Secretary of State’s website.

The need to ask the question arose when Liliana Echeverria, the owner of Piccolino, an Italian restaurant, applied for a beer and wine license.

“Italian food, wine and beer go hand in hand,” she said.

She said she had owned the restaurant for three years, but had been in her family for 20 years.

Echeverria said she applied for the liquor license in May 2020, but nothing happened for over a year. According to Kami Mason, clerk of the town of Hagerman, the municipality then learned that the reason no action had been taken was that the town had to first pass its own law to allow this.

“Once we are successful, the restaurant will be able to apply for the license,” Mason said.

She said no other restaurant within the city limits had applied for a license. She said the city will receive part of the sales tax on alcohol sales, but does not expect a significant increase in revenue as a result.

School district taxes

With voters approving their questions on the 2 mill property taxes, the Consolidated School District of Dexter and the Municipal School District of Lake Arthur will maintain existing property taxes in support of their districts.

Dexter Consolidated Schools’ tax of $ 2 million, which provides the district with $ 2 for every $ 1,000 of net assessed value of property in its district from tax year 2022 to 2027, was approved 84 votes to 42 votes, or 67% to 33%.

Superintendent Miles Mitchell said the funds will likely be used for maintenance of facilities or capital projects. Tax revenues are estimated at approximately $ 145,000 per year for the district.

In Lake Arthur, 18 voters supported the $ 2 million tax issue, while nine opposed it, meaning the measure was reduced from 67% to 33%. The tax will be in effect for the 2023 to 2027 tax years. Superintendent Elisa Begueria said the district would likely use the funds for plumbing and electrical improvements.

Some voters in Chaves County were also able to vote on the issue of the 5-mile tax of the Artesia public school district and the 2-mile levy measure of the Elida municipal school district. However, not all constituencies had finished reporting at press time.

Chaves County Public School District Board Members

Dexter voters could choose three general school board members, with two current board members running unopposed for two positions. Nancy Miles and Juanita Segovia, retired librarians from Dexter Schools, will serve another four years. Miles received 106 votes, while Segovia received 66 votes.

Another executive post has a two-year term. In this race, Kellie Cobos beat Megan Kristian Brook Calderon 75% to 25%. Cobos received 106 votes, while Calderon had 35 votes.

Cobos is a Dexter native who attended Dexter schools until she graduated from high school. She is a retired Dexter teacher and her husband is currently a teacher and coach. She said she is also the mother of high school graduate Dexter and three current students.

“I’m a Dexter girl at heart and it was difficult for me to leave when I retired last year,” she said. well over there.

In Hagerman, Jeniffer D. Salazar returns to the seat in position 4, while Trevor E. Gray will remain in the seat in position 5. She received 125 votes, while Gray had 134 votes.

They will be joined by Dusty Don Perry, who is filling the remaining two years of the four-year tenure for Position 1. Chet Armstrong had chosen to step down from that position.

“I’m fed up with politics coming before our children,” he said. “As a board member, you have to protect our children before you care about politics. “

Perry said it was his first candidacy. He said he spent 10 years in the US military, training in early childhood development and criminal justice.

All of the Hagerman Schools candidates ran unopposed.

In Lake Arthur, the three contenders returned to the board of directors and ran unopposed. Irma P. Salmon, Position 1, received 24 votes. Cynthia J. Buck, Position 2, won 28 votes. Amanda Lodoza, Position 5, collected 25 votes. Lodoza’s term of office is two years.

In addition, some constituents in the county could vote for the District 1 member of the Artesia School Board and the position 1 and position 2 seats in the Tatum Municipal School Board. The final results of these races were not known to the press.

ENMU-Roswell Branch Community College Board members

Two women ran unopposed for two vacant positions on the Community College board of trustees and will serve four-year terms. To be elected, they had to receive at least one vote.

Rissie Ellen Daubert of Dexter is a retired educator with 40 years of experience, 32 years with the Dexter Consolidated School District. She received 411 votes. She will occupy the District 2 seat, in a position that was held by Patricia Parsons, former Dexter superintendent and educational diagnostician, since December 2016. Parsons chose not to re-run.

Tamaliah “Tammy” D. Lueras of Roswell was elected to District 3 Headquarters with 717 votes. She started in this role in June 2020 following the resignation of longtime board member Eloise Blake. Lueras is a retired ENMU-Roswell Nursing Faculty and former Director of the Nursing Program.

Lisa Dunlap can be reached at 575-622-7710, ext. 351, or at [email protected].

To follow coverage of this election and others of local and regional interest, visit rdrnews.com/category/news/elections/.