Board members for a local water conservancy district have decided to keep its mill levy tax at the same level for the year ahead.
The Pecos Valley Artesian Conservancy District board voted unanimously on March 14 to keep the tax at four mills, or four dollars for every $1,000 in assessed value for a piece of property in the district, which runs from north of Roswell to the Brantley Dam area of Eddy County.
“We review it annually, the board does,” said PVACD Superintendent Aron Balok, “and the decision was made to neither lower it or raise it.”
The last time the mill levy was raised, according to Roswell Daily Record archives and prior interviews, was in 2014. At that time, it doubled from 2 mills to 4 mills so that the district could respond to drought conditions by purchasing water rights in the Pecos River watershed region. Since that time, 2 mills of the levy have been designated for water conservation efforts, Balok said.
He added that the board decided not to raise taxes without a specific need for the funds.
“There wasn't a need identified that we were unable to meet under our current structure,” he said, “so I think the board is really conscious of the tax burden on the taxpayers and certainly don't want to raise the mill levy unless there is a specific objective that needs to be accomplished.”
The tax provides annual operating funds for the district, which serves about 100,000 agricultural, business and individual customers. The mill levy vote occurs each year as the district and board begin efforts to submit the next fiscal year's budget to the state, typically due in May or June.
According to the Chaves County Treasurer's Office, the county collected $3.78 million in taxes in 2021-22 for the district. The Eddy County Treasurer's Office indicated that 2021-22 taxes collected totaled about $2.08 million. The district receives a slightly smaller amount than what is collected due to fees.
New Mexico state law gives artesian conservancy district board members, who are elected officials, the right to assess a levy as long as financial needs exist, but the levy cannot exceed 5 mills.
