CITY of ALBUQUERQUE
TWENTY FIRST COUNCIL
COUNCIL BILL NO. F/S P-14-5 ENACTMENT NO. ________________________
SPONSORED BY: Klarissa Peña
PROPOSITION
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F/S Adopting A Proposition To Be Submitted To The Voters At The Next General Election Concerning The Imposition Of A One-Eighth Of One Percent Municipal Gross Receipts Tax For Essential Services (Peña)
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ADOPTING A PROPOSITION TO BE SUBMITTED TO THE VOTERS AT THE NEXT GENERAL ELECTION CONCERNING THE IMPOSITION OF A ONE-EIGHTH OF ONE PERCENT MUNICIPAL GROSS RECEIPTS TAX FOR ESSENTIAL SERVICES.
WHEREAS, it is important that the City Council begin to restore the public's confidence in APD by resolving some of the underlying issues that have plagued our community and that have led us to this point; and
WHEREAS, while not part of its formal recommendations, the DOJ mentioned the need to address the mental health crisis in our City; and
WHEREAS, we can longer use the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) to house residents with severe mental health and substance abuse issues; and
WHEREAS, we must invest in prevention and intervention programs and accessible inpatient and outpatient mental health services. Without addressing these needs and the lack of other services such as services relating to homelessness and to the developmentally disabled, the problems in our community will persist; and
WHEREAS, families throughout the city struggle to find help for family members who suffer from the above-mentioned issues and are forced to deal with them alone. More often than not, the individual never receives the help they need and families anguish over how best to help their loved ones; and
WHEREAS, there are only six psychiatric hospital beds available at UNM; and
WHEREAS, the Metropolitan Detention Center is the largest mental health institution in the state - sixty percent of the MDC population is either mentally ill or has severe substance abuse problems or both; and
WHEREAS, mentally ill individuals released from the MDC receive only three days' worth of medication and no other follow up assistance is provided; and
WHEREAS, seventy percent of the homeless struggle with mental illness and/or substance abuse issues; and
WHEREAS, the city needs to develop coordination efforts between governmental, quasi-governmental, community based and non-profit mental health providers, and with local law enforcement and incarceration agencies/institutions to ensure the safety of the mentally ill and the public; and
WHEREAS, the City Council has proposed a new municipal gross receipts tax (the "Essential Services Tax"), revenue from which will pay for the types of programs that are needed to help reverse the mental health crisis in Albuquerque.
BE IT PROPOSED BY THE COUNCIL, THE GOVERNING BODY OF THE CITY OF ALBUQUERQUE:
Section 1. That the City Clerk is instructed to place the following proposal on the next general election ballot in cooperation with Bernalillo County, and the qualified voters of the City of Albuquerque shall be permitted to vote "for" or "against" the following proposal:
PROPOSITION
PROPOSING TO IMPOSE A ONE-EIGHTH OF ONE PERCENT MUNICIPAL GROSS RECEIPTS TAX FOR ESSENTIAL SERVICES, DEDICATED SPECIFICALLY AND ONLY TO THE FOLLOWING PURPOSES: 50% TO PROVIDE FUNDING FOR ACCESSIBLE INPATIENT AND OUTPATIENT MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES AND SERVICES RELATED TO HOMELESSNESS, THE DEVELOPMENTALLY DISABLED, SUBSTANCE ABUSE AND AT-RISK POPULATIONS; AND 50% FOR SERVICES OR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS RELATED TO MENTAL HEALTH, HOMELESSNESS, THE DEVELOPMENTALLY DISABLED, SUBSTANCE ABUSE AND AT-RISK POPULATIONS.
Section 2. Should the voters approve the imposition of an Essential Services Gross Receipts Tax, no portion of the revenues of the Tax shall be used to pay for any portion of the salaries or benefits of City employees, other than indirect costs and overhead. The Essential Services Tax may only be used for net new services through new providers or the expansion of services from existing providers.
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