News and Articles

February 22, 2011 - BCC Meeting Summary

All five commissioners were present and below is a summary of the actions and matters that came before the Santa Fe Board of County Commissioners:

January 25, 2011 BCC meeting minutes were unanimously approved.

Special Presentations
The Commission honored former members of the County Open Lands, Trails & Parks Advisory Committee (COLTPAC). Present to receive certificates of appreciation were Jack Frost, Judy McGowan, Jan-Willem Jansens and Matthew McQueen. Also recognized for their membership and contributions were Todd Brown, Brett Bonwell and Dr. William Johnson.

The Commission honored former members of the County Development Review Committee (CDRC) for their many years of service. Those recognized for their time and dedication were Don Dayton, Charlie Gonzales, Jim Salazar and Jon Paul Romero.

Matters from the Commission
Commissioner Stefanics introduced a resolution calling for objective-based accounting and accountability for the purpose of informing constituents how the County’s money is being spent was introduced by and unanimously approved.

Commissioner Holian introduced a resolution supporting a ban on steel-jaw and snare traps that are needlessly cruel and indiscriminate. The resolution passed by a majority vote [4-1] with Commissioner Anaya voting against.

Commissioner Mayfield introduced his first resolution as a Commissioner for a “Sunshine Portal” that will provide interested parties with information on expenditures, budgets, contracts, revenue and employee salaries that will be searchable and free on the internet. The resolution passed unanimously.

Consent Calendar
Findings of Fact were unanimously approved for the following land use cases:
CDRC Case # MIS 07-5502 Apache Springs Subdivision Extension
CDRC Case # MIS 10-5550 Tessera Subdivision Extension
CDRC Case # Z 10-5360 St. Francis South Business Park

Approval of the naming of County Road 61A as Geo Lane, County Road 70B as Camino Cementerio and the road name change of Montañas De Oro to Santa Fe Studios Road.

Matters from Staff
Open Space Division Manager Colleen Baker announced the purchase of 11.3 acres of land along the Santa Fe River for the purpose of creating a public greenway and trail. A.J. Moellenbeck Professional Association Retirement Trust is selling the land for $770,000.

The Commission voted unanimously to purchase the 11.3 acres and passed a resolution authorizing the County manager to execute closing documents.

Finance Division
Teresa Martinez, Finance Director reported that the County had a positive budget variance of $39,000 when comparing revenues collected to expenditures incurred for the month of January 2011. Property tax collections through February 2011 totaled $29.2 million and exceeded budget forecasts. She recognized the Treasurer’s Office for the delinquent tax collections. Based on Gross Receipts Tax (GRT) collections through January the County is above budget, although the unincorporated GRT has been consistently down.

FY 2010 Audited Financial Statement – Martinez advised the BCC that action is required on this audit. She reviewed the eight findings of the audit and County Manager Miller said she would act quickly to resolve repeat findings. The Commission unanimously approved the FY 2010 audited financial statements. A copy of the audit is available on the web http://www.santafecountynm.gov/finance/financial_reporting 

Matters From the County Manager

Legislative update
County Manager Miller spoke on SB429 (Eliminate elected county surveyor position) and how it would remove the surveyor position from statute after December 31, 2012. The statute was written in the 1880s and Santa Fe County has had an elected surveyor since the 1980s.

County Surveyor Jeff Ludwig supported the elimination of the elected position and urged the County to have a formal Full Time Employee (FTE) surveyor position. Miller noted that Mr. Ludwig’s performance for the County has been very good.

The Commission will consider placing the elimination of the surveyor position on the next appropriate available ballot.

Rudy Garcia, Community Services, indicated they are monitoring the following issues for possible impact to the County: property tax lightening, energy bills, film tax credit bills, right-of-way and franchise fees, hold-harmless immigration status, liquor excise tax which could impact RECC and a per diem bill.

Chief Deputy County Assessor Gary Perez spoke about SB108 (property tax lightening) and provided information for the commission on how the bill could affect Santa Fe County.

Land Use Code
Land Use Administrator Jack Kolkmeyer provided an overview of the three-tier Code update process that includes drafting, technical review and public review.

The Sustainable Growth Management Plan was approved by the BCC (Resolutions 2010-210 and 2010-225) and is available on the website http://www.santafecountynm.gov/growth_management/sgmp and hard copies are available for $20 through the Santa Fe County Growth Management Department by contacting Melissa Holmes (505) 995-2717. Reference copies of the SGMP are also available for review at the County Satellite Offices, Santa Fe Public Libraries and County Administrative Building. 

Santa Fe County staff is currently establishing a process to include drafting the Sustainable Land Development Code, technical review and a public input and review process.

All BCC meetings are broadcast live at www.santafecountynm.gov. To view recorded video of this BCC meeting, go to http://santafecounty.org/video_on_demand/ or check GOV TV Channel 28 listings. Transcripts of the meeting will be available within 10 working days once approved at http://www.santafecountynm.gov/committees/board_of_county_commissioners_bcc.