No one likes to rain on anyone’s parade but I think we need a bit of a reality check on the Rec Bond issue. There are so many reasons to vote AGAINST this bond.  Here are a few:

Los Alamos County is not in a good predicament money-wise. Presently we have a $1,400,000 shortfall for this budget year due to the LANL contract’s limbo status. I hope everyone realizes that the windfall we’ve received from a for-profit company winning the last contract is what has funded our new Municipal Building, the Justice Center, the White Rock Library and other big projects. This is mainly through the Gross Receipts Taxes that we’ve collected. If a non-profit wins the next contract, we can kiss half of these GRTs goodbye. This is no small deal. Click here for more information.

Rep. Garcia Richard is presenting a change in state law to allow us to tax non-profits. This could be addressed in the Special Session beginning May 24. Will it be presented? Supported? Passed? We don’t know. It’s a bet. Cross your fingers.

Although we are a rich county, we have many individuals who live on fixed incomes.  With the passage of the Rec Bond, the School Bonds et al we will have doubled the property taxes on individuals who simply cannot afford it. Lisa Shin’s opinion piece mentions so many business models that should be incorporated in our funding of recreational facilities in Los Alamos. All involve creative private/public funding options. Jessica Chipera’s letter shows how a revenue bond is better suited to a fiscally responsible and sustainable business model. I would venture that the cost of building, operations and maintenance of the facilities are wholly underrepresented–especially as these facilities age. We will pay and so will our children. In other words, more taxes to come.

If the county and residents are betting that we will increase our tourism to help fund this, think again. The “If we build it, they will come” mentality denies our location. Los Alamos is remote for a reason. It seems we can, however, fund a $250,000 rebranding contract and a $175,000 tourism “plan” (not implementation) yet we’ll never know the return on investment for these. Saying you see an “uptick” in tourism does not mean our tourism plan and rebranding caused this. How will that be measured? Secondly, Hobbs has creatively funded its own ​$60,000,000 mega facility,​ which will be in direct competition to ours (link). Residents and councilors hoping to lure New Mexico sports teams to our facility have not factored this in.

This MEGABOND will seriously jeopardize the quaint ice rink and the private pools that have sustained themselves through sound business models. Pinon Pool is worried. They all should be.  A group utilizing the softball field has brought another concern to us. They had been promised use of the new and improved softball field yet had recently been told “they will never step foot on it.” Shin notes the issue with the YMCA. It’s not as clean and pretty as everyone thinks.

We need to break up this bond. We have $13,400,000 in a capital improvement fund. If we utilize these to fund some of the recreational projects and use creative methods for sustainable business models for the rest, Los Alamos will be more fiscally secure in uncertain times–like now.

The rest is a big bet. There is a Better Way For LA.