New Mexico has made some dramatic strides in making government more accessible to citizens and taxpayers. I congratulate deserving political leaders for their efforts and outline some ways in which further improvement could be achieve in this recent article.
Paul, you failed to mention public disclosure of real estate sale prices. NM is one of only a handful of states that do not record sale prices for the public. Accurate information is needed for anyone to determine whether or not your real estate taxes are too high. It is comical that assessors expect you to ask a realtor to do a comparative analysis gratis. This is another area, like tax lightning, that is clearly unconstitutional. The GOVERNMENT should not have better information, vis a vis, sale prices, than citizens in a dispute over property assessments. Complete disclosure of all pertinent information is the basis for our entire jurisprudence system.