Bernalillo County Commission to vote on $500 million Santolina tax diversion

New Mexicans are still discussing and coming to grips with the results of the 2016 election, but government marches on. Bernalillo County’s commission will be voting on Tuesday night on the much-discussed tax increment development district (TIDD) for Santolina. The Rio Grande Foundation has opposed TIDD’s for Santolina. Libertarians and limited-government advocates like Randal O’Toole of the Cato Institute have  long opposed TIDD’s (known elsewhere as TIF).

The graphic below illustrates the gist of how TIF/TIDD work and why they are bad for taxpayers. It is hard to understand why handing $500 million to taxpayers would be a good idea when the New Mexico economy is in such bad shape and population growth is at a standstill.

RGF strongly supports economic development and growing NM’s economy, but not through costly subsidies. If you are concerned about this, feel free to drop your Commissioner a line: commission@bernco.gov