What could the county commissioners do with an extra $68,851.89?

They're not sure, but they would like to find out. On March 17, the commission unanimously approved a resolution calling for all elected officials, or those wanting to be elected, to get their house in order.

"I don't really know what else to say about this," said commission Chairman Donald Holliday before reading the resolution in March. "This pretty much says it all."

The pertinent language in the resolution says the commission finds that it is "a hypocrisy" for anyone to be employed by the county, hold elected office or seek to hold elected office without first paying their property taxes.

With 36 individuals battling it out in the June primary with hopes of being their party's candidate in the November general election, the News-Bulletin decided to look at their property tax compliance.

Of those three dozen candidates, 11 had delinquent tax bills in their names. The remaining candidates were either up to date or did not own property in the county.

The second half of 2009 property taxes was due by May 10.

As of noon on Friday, $66,557.24 was still outstanding from nine of the candidates, and there was an additional $2,024.65 in the county coffers.

The candidate who owes the most is District 7 incumbent State Rep. Andrew Barreras (D), who is facing one opponent in the primary. Barreras owes $24,541.43 in property taxes on three properties.

The majority of that is $21,859.96 he owes for the last three years on the office building he owns at 106 Main St. in Los Lunas. That property is now in foreclosure, according to a March district court filing.

Valley National Bank claims that as of Feb. 2, Barreras and his wife, Dorothy, and their company, Barreras Plaza LLC, owe $1,996,784.30, the amount borrowed in June 2009, in addition to $63,701.98 in interest and fees.

Barreras also owes $275.87 in property taxes for the 2008 and 2009 tax years on a piece of undeveloped property on Belen's west mesa and three years of taxes, in the amount of $2,405.60, on his Los Lunas business, Casa de Pizza.

Barreras did not respond to numerous messages seeking comment.

One of the four Republican candidates seeking the nod for county sheriff on Tuesday, Roy Lemons, owes a total of $22,339.99 in back taxes for 2008 and 2009 on the two car washes he owns. According to Lemons, he sold the Belen and Los Lunas Valley Laser Car Washes and held the note on the property himself.

"Things didn't work out, so I took them back," Lemons said. "When I was getting things in order, I realized they hadn't paid the taxes for the two years. I've been making monthly payments for about a year."

Records from the county treasurer's office show that Lemons made two payments on May 11 — $500 on the Belen business and $675 on the Los Lunas business' bill. Both amounts were applied to the 2008 outstanding balances.

According to County Treasurer Dorothy Lovato, once a property is in arrears, any payment is applied to the oldest year.

"The payment is applied first to the penalty and interest for that year, and what is left is applied to the base tax amount owed," Lovato said.

Lemons called the outstanding property taxes a lesson learned in selling property.

"Because I was holding the paper, in the beginning I was checking to make sure the property taxes were being paid. Then I stopped checking," he said. "I know you have to pay and now it's my responsibility."

Four years ago, Lawrence Romero and his wife, Carolyn, bought the Tierra Grande Shopping Center in Rio Communities. At that time, property taxes were around $2,400 a year, said Romero, one of two Republicans running for the District 3 county commission seat in the primary.

"It jumped up to $4,000 a year because of tax lightning," Romero said. "We didn't want to raise the rent on our tenants. They were going through enough hell with what was going on with the economy. So we decided this was something we were going to have to swallow. I'm happy they are still there and in business."

Romero says that decision led to the $12,565.83 he owes the county in back property taxes for the past three years.

"We pay taxes. We pay a lot of taxes. We have two residences, one in Belen and one in Jarales," he said. "To get this caught up, we are in the process of closing on a property sale in Bernalillo, and we'll use the money from that. Having those businesses be able to stay means more than anything."

Current county Sheriff Rene Rivera is on the hook for $4,401.66 for two pieces of property. The lion's share of that, $3,421.48, is five years worth of back taxes owed on property Rivera says he "gave back to the bank."

The other piece carries a bill of $980.18, which Rivera acknowledges is overdue. Those taxes haven't been paid since 2006.

"I will be making arrangements with the treasurer's office to make payments," Rivera said. "My fiancee lost her job, and we've gotten behind on the bills."

Rivera faces three Democrat challengers in the primary.

Alonzo Baldonado says the two pieces of property and $1,824.25 for two years of back taxes are definitely his. In an odd way, it's why he decided to run for the District 8 state representative seat. He is the only Republican candidate in the primary.

"It's been a real struggle for our family these last two-and-a-half years. We had a hard time holding on to our family home, so unfortunately we had to elect to set aside the property taxes on our investment properties," Baldonado said. "When my wife and I talked about me running, we thought who better to represent the people who are struggling than someone who is living it right along with them?"

Baldonado and his wife, Rebecca, work exclusively in real estate, a field that has taken a nosedive over the last two years, he says.

"We are raising three children under 10. Some weeks, it was a choice between groceries and bills," he said. "We've been aware of the tax issue, and as we are able to, are making payments."

County records indicate that Baldonado paid $1,300 on May 6, which was applied to the 2008 outstanding balance on one of the bills. That same day, he paid the first half of the 2009 taxes on a second parcel, leaving an outstanding balance of $152.46.

After reviewing some records and consulting with his father, Belen Magistrate Division III Democratic candidate Phillip Romero realized that he was indeed the owner of the property sporting a six-year-old tax bill.

"My dad sells and develops property. A while back, he couldn't sell a piece for some reason, and asked me if I would sign on as owner," Romero said. "I did, but the tax bills were going to his mailing address. It was something that got overlooked. I did sign off as the owner, and the bill will be paid right away."

According to county records, Romero owes $992.20 on that piece of property.

If the property in question is his, Toby E. Jaramillo says the 2008 and 2009 taxes should have been taken care of during the closing on the parcel last Wednesday.

"I have an escrow account on my mortgage for my home, and I know that is paid up," Jaramillo said. "If this is mine, those taxes should have been paid out of the closing. I will check on it and make sure it gets paid."

Jaramillo is one of five Democrats seeking the county probate judge position in this year's primary. He pointed out that his name is not unique in this county or the next — there is a Toby Jaramillo running for probate judge in Socorro County, he said.

James Maag, one of four Democrats running for the District 1 county commission seat, didn't elaborate as to why he was behind on his taxes, but has made a serious dent in the five-year debt. Over the past month, Maag has paid off the $2,415.03 he owed for 2005 through 2008, and paid all but $250.25 of his 2009 property taxes.

Belen Magistrate Division II candidate Elias Maez III found himself playing detective on Thursday after the News-Bulletin informed him that according to county records, he owed two years of back taxes — a total of $66.74.

It turns out that a mobile home Maez sold in 2003 came back to haunt him.

"I sold it to a gentleman and he then resold it, but neither of them put the title in their name," Maez said. "It changed hands a few more times, but none of the owners went to MVD and put the title in their name. I really want to thank you for bringing this to my attention."

Maez spent Thursday afternoon tracking down the current owner of the mobile home in Monterrey Park.

"He wants it in his name, and said he would be paying the taxes to the treasurer's office," Maez said. "I guess I should have made sure the title was put in the new owner's name."

According to county records, Maez sold the mobile home in December 2003, and the taxes were current at the time of the sale.

Maez's opponent and incumbent Magistrate Danny Hawkes was surprised to hear that he owed two years of back taxes on his property.

"I thought my mortgage company was taking care of that," Hawkes said. "They pay the insurance as well. I renewed the note eight or nine months ago, and those taxes should have been taken care of at the closing."

Hawkes said after speaking with his bank, that was not the case. He said he paid the $1,976.19 owed on Thursday, which the treasurer's office confirmed, and Hawkes said his bank will reimburse.

"I thought the bank was taking care of it," he said. "I'm glad you brought this to my attention."

The unchallenged Democrat incumbent for the District 3 county commission seat said he thought his taxes were up to date. David Medina said he was unaware of a balance of $48.52 for the second half of his 2009 taxes.

"I thought everything was current," Medina said. "I will go today and pay that. They were due May 10." The treasurer's office said the bill was paid Thursday.

On July 15, any property still owing 2007 taxes will be turned over to the state, Lovato said.

"We have to turn it over after three years," she said. "Once the state has it, the property owner has to deal with them."

And Lovato asked people to remember that when they don't pay their property taxes, it isn't just the county government that misses out on that money.

"What we collect is disbursed to every municipality, both school districts, the university, the conservancy district," she said. "When people don't pay, it hurts every single person in this county."

(Correction: In the May 29th issue of the News-Bulletin, it was incorrectly reported what district State Rep. Andrew Barreras (D) represents. He represents District 7)

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