First, the major bills that would have been harmful to our local industries did not pass this year, thanks to the hard work of our local legislative delegation. This included SB 54 and HB 127, which would have been very harmful to our partnership with HOLTEC and the Eddy Lea Energy Alliance.  Thank you to the many members of our community who spoke out against these two anti-nuclear bills. 

This also included HB 6, which would have established some unreasonable standards that would have been almost impossible for oil and gas companies to meet.  Local companies are presently doing a great deal to reduce greenhouse emissions. 

Of course, the challenge is that many of the bills that are harmful to industry resurface every single year. We hope that we can have good discussions with legislators across the state over the next 12 months to avoid some of these disruptive bills in the future.

Additionally, legislative efforts to remove the tax on Social Security benefits have finally gained traction. This effort, spearheaded for years by Rep. Cathrynn Brown, is now part of HB 163, the state’s omnibus bill. We expect that it will be approved- eliminating an unfair double tax on many of our seniors.  

SB 137 would have created a partial path forward in allowing the City of Carlsbad to address the issue of changes in the gross receipts tax code. The state benefits greatly from all of the oil and gas work that takes place in Eddy and Lea County. This industry creates jobs and it has led to our area’s population boom. 

Unfortunately, the change in 2019 meant that gross receipt taxes are now based on where a service takes place, not where the business that provided the service exists.  This is an even trade in some places, but communities such as Carlsbad and Hobbs are taking a devastating hit. Our gross receipts revenue dropped by about 34% due to this change, while the state is reporting a similar increase that came as a result of our loss. 

Thanks to our City Council and our finance and administration department, our city runs on a very conservative budget. However, we are still looking at significant hiring freezes and reducing many of our budgets. This is, again, during a period in which all of the hard work in our area is paying the state’s bills. All we are asking for is a fair system allowing us to make sure that we provide services to the businesses and residents who are providing all of this work. 

Senator Gay Kernan did an excellent job of introducing the bill and obtaining bipartisan support. Hobbs Mayor Sam Cobb joined me in speaking in support of this bill, as did several labor unions. Thank you to Missi Currier, with Strategies360, for all of her effort in organizing our response. 

At this point, we will regroup and discuss our options. The good news is that the entire state is now aware of this issue.

From the office of Mayor Dale Janway