Officials confirm ballot results

PORTALES — City officials on Monday afternoon confirmed the results of a mail-in ballot approving an ordinance to expand the use of existing tax dollars for economic development.

In a special meeting at the Roosevelt County Commission chambers, votes from the city’s mail-in-only election were canvassed and verified. The final tally was the same as reported a week earlier before the results were made official: 594 in favor and 207 opposed.

The newly approved ordinance will authorize the city to consider “retail business, arts and cultural districts, and cultural facilities as being eligible to utilize revenues generated by the Municipal Local Options Gross Receipt Taxes Act.”

It does not entail any tax increase, only a broader potential use of Local Economic Development Act (LEDA) dollars. Previously those funds were restricted more toward industrial purposes, but now they can be applied toward attracting businesses like galleries or restaurants, or establishing succession plans for businesses that would otherwise close with their operator’s retirement.

It specifies that funds cannot go toward creating competition with existing entities, but instead to support economies in communities with populations under 35,000.

Roosevelt County’s Economic Development Director Bill Hendrickson said he expected the new ordinance to go into effect July 1.