From revenue to wildlife – 2023 was a memorable one for Los Alamos County. Photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com
By KIRSTEN LASKEY
Los Alamos Daily Post
kirsten@ladailypost.com
As 2023 reaches the finish line, it seems like an opportune time to take stock of the year and what was accomplished in Los Alamos County government.
“As 2023 comes to a close, I want to express my sincere gratitude to the residents and staff for their hard work, engagement, and dedication to Los Alamos County,” County Manager Steven Lynne said. “Wishing everyone a joyous and safe holiday season and a Happy New Year!”
Future revenue was a big topic of conversation at the start of the year and could have significant impacts in years to come.
During the Fiscal Year 2024 budget hearings in April, council was presented with projections that featured a decrease in gross receipt tax (GRT) from Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in 2026 and 2027. At the time, Lynne said, “the magnitude of the decrease is about $15 million.”
The decrease would be due to LANL moving into pit production and since the state has significant exemptions for paying GRT on manufacturing, LANL is expected to take advantage of those exemptions.
As a result, proposed ordinances to raise GRT .5 percent in January and July 2024 were presented to council in June but neither were passed.
Councilors who voted against the measures argued that the projected $15 million GRT shortfall is not for certain. Additionally, the County’s reserves could be used to cover the shortfall. Those who voted in favor of the GRT increase noted that when the laboratory is eligible for a manufacturing deduction for pit production to decrease the amount of GRT it pays, it seems a certainty that the laboratory would claim that deduction, and raising the GRT ensures the County would not face significant reductions in revenues for its operations, maintenance and capital plans.
Finances, in one form or another, were prevalent in other areas of the County throughout the year. For instance, the Department of Public Utilities’ (DPU) electric and gas rates increased this year.
In March, council passed a natural gas ordinance that does the following:
- Increase the variable cap rate from 99 cents to $4 a thermal unit, broadening the range of allowable charges for the pass-through, cost-of-gas portion of the gas rate.
- Installing a 44-cent per thermal unit “sunsetting” recovery rate mechanism to address the estimated $7.2 million shortfall in DPU’s natural gas fund, which was caused by escalating costs not being fully recovered under the current ordinance’s 99-cent cap. The recovery rate mechanism would sunset when the shortfall is recovered or two years from the new ordinance’s adoption, whichever happens first.
- Set a compensatory minimum of 11 cents per thermal unit for the variable portion of the gas rate would be set. Its purpose is to soften the month-to[1]month rate swings caused by volatile commodity costs.
In September, council voted to increase electric rates. A 9 percent increase went into effect in October and will rise 9 percent again in July. Service charges increases were approved, too. While the service charge remained the same in October, the volume metric charge increased 12.82 cents per kwh and in July, the service charge will change to $12.60 and the volume metric charge will rise to 14.13 cents per kwh.
The rate increases help the DPU recover from the deficiency that occurred due to costs exceeding its revenue.
With costs escalating, there has been discussion on raising minimum wage in the County, too. In June, a town hall, hosted by Los Alamos Middle School students, Madeline Lueninghoener and Samatha Kranthijanya, proposed raising the minimum wage; this led to council introducing an ordinance in December for raising minimum to $15, $3.75 for tipped workers and $13.50 for students. A public hearing on the ordinance is scheduled for Jan. 30. If approved, it will go into effect July 1, 2024.
While budgets, expenses and revenue are continuous topics of conversation, another being discussed in Los Alamos is wildlife and how to responsibly interact with deer, bears and mountain lions that frequent the community.
After several town hall meetings were held to discuss the issue, council earlier this month rejected passing an ordinance to prohibit feeding wildlife in favor of educating the public on why it is important not to feed them.
The proposed education plan identifies the Los Alamos Polic Department and Pajarito Environmental Education Center as local resources for creating public service announcement, information and programming. The New Mexico Game and Fish will be the main point of contact for all messages and will review and approve all educational materials.
Deer sampling the flora buffets in local gardens is a common sight and in 2023 another was bumper-to-bumper traffic during peak times along Trinity Drive. The construction on the intersection of N.M. 4 and Jemez Road is one culprit but in July, council heard a report on the road diet from 39th Street to Oppenheimer and what impacts it has had on traffic times.
County Engineer Eric Ulibarri and Public Works Project Manager Keith Wilson said based on their research, the removal of one lane has not hampered traffic times. Ulibarri said when the road diet initially opened in June 2020, traffic didn’t seem impacted but then in 2022, Canyon Road was closed for repaving. As a result, Ulibarri said the traffic jumped 75 percent but has since gone down. With the intersection at Jemez Road now under construction, the traffic has risen but not as significantly. It rose from 14,000 vehicles daily to 17,000. Wilson said he personally researched drive times on the section of the road diet from when Canyon Road was opened to when it was closed. Whether driving eastbound or westbound at different times during the day, Wilson said the drive times along the section of road diet had only a difference of a few seconds to at most one minute.
In a small town, residents can get used to familiar sights and faces but throughout this year, a few faces consistently seen in County government are no longer spotted as several longtime employees retired.
Los Alamos County Project Manager Wayne Kohlrust retired in July after a 24-year career. Los Alamos County Marketing Specialist Kelly Stewart retired in August and County Manager Steven Lynne has announced that he will retire in March.
Saying goodbye – to a familiar face or to the calendar year – can be bittersweet.
As incoming County Manager Anne Laurent said, “2023 passed by too quickly and it felt good to be back to a somewhat more normal post-pandemic living and working situation. There were many highlights this year we will review in January, but Manager Lynne announcing his retirement is certainly an emotional mix of happiness for him and sadness that we will not be seeing him in the office every day.”
But it also is exciting to see what the future holds. So, here’s to a new year and a new chapter in Los Alamos County!