Clovis property taxes likely to rise

CLOVIS — Property taxes in Clovis are likely going up, reflected in payments that are due this November.

That was the decision of the Clovis city commission at its regular session Thursday. The vote was 7-1 with District 3 Commissioner David W. Bryant voting “no.”

The tax increase is in the form of an ordinance. Thursday’s vote was the introduction of the ordinance. There will be a vote at the commission’s next regular meeting July 7 to finalize approval of the property tax ordinance.

Mayor Mike Morris said the increase means the tax bill for Clovis property owners will go up, on average, by about $44 per year.

The operational property tax will go up by 1 mill levy, meaning a $1 tax on every $1,000 of the property’s taxable valuation. For instance taxable valuation on a $100,000 property would be about $33,000. So the increased tax would be about $33 per year.

The money is to be used to make payments on a loan of $15 million, Clovis’ payment into the Ute Water pipeline construction.

Approval of the tax increase was contingent on the ordinance having a sunset clause. When the loan is paid off in 30 years, it will not automatically renew.

Interest rate on the loan from the New Mexico Finance Authority will be 1 percent.

Morris outlined how Clovis city commissioners in 2019 made an arrangement with the Eastern New Mexico Water Utility Authority if the project received $40 million in funds from the federal government and $30 million from the state of New Mexico the city would then move to contribute $15 million as its share to the project construction funding.

Morris opened the meeting to comments from the public. Some speaking asked for the commission to hold off on implementation of the increased tax due to the high cost of fuel and inflation.

A number who spoke said they understood the need for the tax increase, some saying if there was no water “homes would be worthless, businesses would close, there would be no Clovis.”

Morris continued to emphasize the importance of the pipeline over use of groundwater.

“We have got to stop mining the Ogallala Aquifer,” he said.

In other business at Thursday’s meeting, Jon Forrest, lead pastor at First Christian church, spoke about crime and violence in Clovis.

Forrest’s church parking lot was the scene of a shooting early Monday afternoon in which a man was wounded and a bullet hit the church building.

“We need to pay our police more,” Forrest said. “We need more police.”

Forrest made reference to an incident at a Clovis softball field in which an older man tried to break up a fight and was assaulted by five juveniles.

Later in the meeting Morris made reference to police pay saying he knew of only one fully staffed police force in New Mexico. “It’s in the city of Rio Rancho.”

“And they are paid the same as Clovis police,” Morris said.

As part of Thursday’s session Morris handed out a key to the city to Capts. Miguel and Maria Ibarra who have been directing the Salvation Army in Clovis since 2018 and are moving to Oregon.

A key to the city also went to Erinn Burch, executive director of the United Way of Eastern New Mexico, for her 20 years of service at that post.