Roswell Daily Record
Vol. 123, No. 184 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
August 1, 2014
FRIDAY
www.rdrnews.com
Council adopts $110M budget at emergency meeting BY JEFF TUCKER RECORD STAFF WRITER
The Roswell City Council approved the city’s proposed $110 million budget at a brief emergency meeting Thursday afternoon, just in time to meet a stateimposed deadline. Thursday’s emergency meeting followed a special City Council meeting Tuesday night when the 201415 fiscal year budget failed to receive a majority of votes of the entire 10-member City Council and mayor.
City Clerk Sharon Coll said the New Mexico Attorney General’s office had to approve Thursday’s emergency meeting. Coll said the AG’s office did approve the emergency meeting in advance of Thursday’s 1:30 p.m. start time.
The emergency meeting was necessary for city officials to adopt and submit the city’s final budget for the 2014-15 fiscal year to the New Mexico Department of Finance and Administration by Thursday’s deadline. The city’s fiscal year
began July 1.
budget on Thursday.
City Councilor Steve Henderson, who was one of two city councilors who voted against the budget Tuesday, again voted against the $110 million
Henderson said the proposed budget did not include across-the-board raises for the city’s 600 or so employees. However, Henderson said it did include a $341,000 increase for additional health insurance costs. Henderson said the health
The budget passed Thursday by an 8-1 vote. City Councilor Elena Velasquez, who was among three city councilors that missed Tuesday’s meeting, was again absent Thursday. Velasquez has been absent for four of the City Council’s eight special and regular meetings since March.
Henderson, who said the budget meeting was the most important meeting of the City Council all year, again said he had concerns that the city’s revenues would be sufficient to meet its spending.
Mary Morgan Photos
MINI Coopers and their drivers stopped at the UFO Museum in Roswell Thursday before hitting the road to Lubbock, Texas, where they spent the night.
MINI Coopers invade UFO Museum
insurance increases equated to about $568 per employee. “This budget does not include a raise for employees across the board, but does provide the cost of that insurance,” Henderson said. Henderson noted the $110 million budget is a significant increase from the city’s $90 million budget in the 2013-14 fiscal year. Henderson said the city’s 2014-15 fiscal year budget is predicated on an optimistic 2.5 percent increase
in the city’s gross receipt tax collections. “In essence, we’re betting that we get the 2.5 percent,” Henderson said. “We’re kind of robbing Peter to pay Paul in this budget.” Henderson said city leaders should consider raising fees at the city golf course to meet operational costs. He also suggested raising sanitation fees by a dollar or two to pay for the demolitions of dilapidated buildings. “We’ve got to be able to
STAFF REPORT
cans.” From 12:01 a.m. today until midnight on Sunday, retailers will not be required to collect gross receipts tax from customers on certain back-toschool necessities, such as school supplies, computers, and clothing. This exemption will enable more New Mexico families to ensure that their children are well prepared to resume school this fall, according to the release. New Mexico taxpayers could save as much as $4 million dollars throughout the state over the course of the weekend. Non-taxable items include: • Clothing and footwear $100 and under, • School supplies such as pens, paper, and other classroom necessities $30 and under, • Computers $1,000 and under, • Various computer
Tax-free holiday begins today
This weekend, the annual Back to School Tax-Free Weekend will be held in New Mexico, and the holiday will save families $4 million, according to the governor’s office. Gov. Susana Martinez on Thursday encouraged New Mexico families to take advantage of the annual tax-free weekend, to save money and prepare their children with clothes and supplies to return to school this fall. “We want our children to start this school year off on the right foot,” Martinez said in a news release. “This tax-free weekend helps our families save money on much–needed supplies and clothes, so that students will be prepared to get back in the classroom. “Not only is this good for families and children, it also benefits New Mexico businesses, so this is a win-win for all New Mexi-
See BUDGET, Page A2
See TAX-FREE, Page A3
BY MARY MORGAN RECORD INTERN
For those unfamiliar with the small, cute cars that are as individual as their owners, it may have looked like the International UFO and Research Center was invaded by a swar m of “unidentified driving objects.” MINI Take the States, a caravan of 700 MINI Coopers, stopped in Roswell for a br eak before heading to Lubbock, T exas, for the night. The trip started in San Francisco and will end in Boston. The drivers departed fr om Albuquerque Thursday morning for their three-hour jaunt to Roswell. Events have been scheduled at each stop for the gr oup as they head to Boston. MINI Cooper drivers are welcome to join at any of the stops and drive with the group until they reach Boston or can leave before then. MINI Cooper enthusiasts fr om all over the nation and even a few foreign countries are participating in the event. “We have two guys from Ger many who are driving with us, a few from England, and four guys that drove to San Francisco from New Jersey in one MINI Cooper,” said Rob Duda, one of the MINI drivers.
Randal Seyler Photo
The trip will raise money for the Best Friends Animal Society. Many of the drivers brought their pets. “We have over 100 dogs, several cats, a bird and a reptile,” said Duda. On their stop in Lubbock, they will bring one of the pets to its new owner. MINI Coopers were first manufactured in 1959 by
HIGH 82 LOW 64
TODAY’S FORECAST
British Motor Corp. Production stopped for a while and was later picked up by BMW in Germany. Three MINI Coopers, one white, one red, one blue, wer e featur ed in the movie “The Italian Job” that starred Michael Caine. The 1969 comedy caper spurred demand for the cars in the United States.
• GARLAND ROY BERG • BRADLEY JAY DAVIS • HENRY R. RAMIREZ
Above: Caryn Grun, who is the main planner for the rally, proudly poses Thursday with her MINI Cooper. Left: Is it from outer space? Sort of. It started out from San Francisco. A MINI Cooper parked in front of the UFO Museum Thursday.
“I like the New Cooper. It’s fun to drive on hills and twisty roads,” said Linda Medved, one of the MINI Cooper drivers.
The rallies ar e every two years and work with different charities.
For more information about the rallies, visit minitakesthestates.com.
• GEORGE AND CHRISTINE SNOW • PHALA WHITAKER
TODAY’S OBITUARIES PAGE A8
Zoey Sota, an employee of Nature’s Dairy, said working for the Roswell milk processing facility was a great experience. “I’m young, and I can always find another job, but where will I find another place like this to work? We’re more like a big family, and I am going to miss them.” The facility shut down production on Thursday after 35 years.
Nature’s Dairy makes last shipment of milk RANDAL SEYLER RECORD STAFF WRITER
Thursday was the last day fresh milk from Roswell’s Nature’s Dairy made it’s way onto a store shelf. For more than 35 years, Nature’s Dairy has been supplying fresh milk to the residents of Southeastern New Mexico, either through grocery stores, restaurants and even in the school cafeterias. With the shuttering of
the production line, 24 employees are now out of work.
“I have been here for 33 years, more than half my life,” said office manager Pearl Cruz. “What made this dairy unique is that even when dairies were booming in this area, this was the only actual dairy in area that bottled and processed its own milk.” Cruz said other milk See DAIRY, Page A2
CLASSIFIEDS ..........B8
INDEX GENERAL ...............A2
FINANCIAL ..............B5
LOTTERIES .............A2
COMICS .................B7
HOROSCOPES .........A9
OPINION .................A4
SPORTS .................B1
WEATHER ..............A8