Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
Renewal of a gross-receipts tax to support Dan C. Trigg Memorial Hospital has received the most attention from Quay County voters for the Nov. 6 election. But state bond questions will prove consequential to Mesalands Community College and area schools, senior citizen centers and public libraries.
The ballot contains four state bond questions:
• Bond Question A would authorize up to $10.77 million to improve senior-citizen facilities across the state.
• Bond Question B would authorize up to $12.87 million for public libraries and school libraries in New Mexico.
• Bond Question C would authorize up to $6.13 million to buy school buses across the state.
• Bond Question D would authorize up to $136.2 million for improvements to higher-education institutions, special schools and tribal schools in New Mexico.
Officials at Mesalands Community College have advocated for the passage of questions B and D.
According to a news release, Mesalands would receive $800,000 if voters approve the Question D. It would fund renovations to the college’s Math-Science Learning Center and the business office area in Building A.
“Voter support of GO Bond D in November will give Mesalands Community College the ability to reinvest in our infrastructure, allowing us to continue to offer a high-quality educational experience for our students,” Mesalands President John Groesbeck stated in the release.
In addition, Question B would provide $6,600 for Mesalands’ library, including expanding its online research databases for students.
Passage of Question B also would provide about $14,900 for Tucumcari Public Library, director Linda Gonzalez said. She said the money would be used to buy books, computers and furniture — anything that would benefit library clients.
“It really helps us here to run the library,” she said.
Dennis Roch, superintendent at Logan schools, said the passage of Question B would provide up to $4 million for libraries at school districts statewide.
“My understanding is that these dollars flow via a per-student formula, meaning Quay County’s four districts won’t receive a huge amount,” Roch stated in an email. “However, our local school libraries do in fact rely on the infusion of funds to update and augment their resources. Absent these funds, local districts are forced to spend precious classroom dollars on library materials, and some districts don’t have the flexibility to do so.”
If Question A passes, the Tucumcari Senior Center would receive almost $208,000 of that money.
Senior Center site manager Mary Ann Dominguez said it would be used to enclose the walk-in freezer, upgrade the facility’s electrical system, upgrade the kitchen cabinets and countertops, renovate for more pantry space and replace its circular driveway.
As for Question C, passage would be used by school districts to buy new buses to replace old buses that have exceeded their statutory 12-year life, Roch said. Such buses must be used to transport students to and from school, not activity trips.
“Remember, though, that not every district operates their ‘to-from’ transportation in this way,” Roch stated. “Logan, for example, contracts with four individual owner-operators who are not district employees and purchase their own buses, receiving rental fees through operational transportation funds instead of through these bond-funded bus purchases. Tucumcari, on the contrary, relies upon the state to use bond proceeds to purchase their district-owned replacement buses, and the district employs staff to drive and maintain these buses.”