Belen low on gross-receipts taxes

BELEN, N.M. (KRQE) - In Belen, where 25 percent of the workforce has already been laid off, city officials are waiting and hoping August's gross-receipts taxes are enough to keep them from having to cut even more. But, the cash registers are not ringing as much as they used to.

The city needs $435,000 a month in gross-receipts taxes to function in the current budget - the same budget that was cut along with 26 employees. The check the city received last week was $28,000 lower than they had hoped. In June, the city was $45,000 short.

The smaller checks prompted the city council to call for one furlough day a month for all remaining employees, but it still may not be enough.

"If it stays at that level, we have a couple capital projects that we will eliminate first," said Michael Steininger, Belen Finance Director. "If it becomes prolonged or as the state is and becomes a more severe downturn, then all options are off and we open it back up and look at everything again." Watch Steininger's full interview here...

The receipts received do not always include all the gross-receipts taxes. If businesses do not pay the state, then the city does not get its money. Steininger said, based on the number of businesses who are late paying a simple thing like water bills, it is easy to assume they are not paying their gross-receipts taxes either.

The city and businesses are just crossing their fingers, hoping better days are ahead. Steininger said they will wait to get the next gross-receipts tax check in mid-August to decide if more drastic cuts need to be made.

As for other cities in New Mexico, the Aztec city manager said they are about 12 percent short of projects while Rio Rancho said it is right on target.