Four constitutional amendments on the ballot this year

There are four constitutional amendments on the November ballot this year.

Two pertain to property tax exemptions for veterans, while the third allows the dean of the University of New Mexico School of Law to appoint a designee to the Appellate Judges Nominating Commission.

The fourth gives county commissioners the authority to set the salaries of county officials.

Amendment 1

Among the benefits New Mexico provides veterans includes a 100 percent property tax exemption for disabled veterans and their widowed spouses. Amendment 1 would allow veterans with less than 100 percent disability, as determined by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, to received a property tax exemption equal to the percentage of the veteran’s disability rating.

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According to the analysis prepared by the New Mexico Legislative Council Service, unlike other property tax exemptions, loss of revenue to local government agencies and the state for the additional exemptions would be made up by an automatic increase in property taxes known as yield control, with at least 40 percent of the estimated lost revenue being adsorbed by an automatic property tax increase of about $34 per year for all other taxpayers not eligible for the exemption.

Any losses beyond that would be made up by local governments, not the state, which might chose to increase property tax rates to offset the reduction in revenue.

The NMLCS analysis indicates 63 percent of the state’s veteran population is concentrated in Bernalillo, Dona Ana, Sandoval, Santa Fe and Otero counties.

Amendment 2

Currently, honorably discharged members of the armed forces and their widows and widowers receive a $4,000 exemption on property taxes. Amendment 2 would increase that exemption to $10,000 for the 2024 tax year, then adjust annually for inflation.

As with Amendment 1, about 40 percent of the lost revenue would be made up through yield control which would increase taxes for other property owners not eligible for the exemption about $34 a year.

Amendment 3

The third amendment would allow the dean of the University of New Mexico School of Law to appoint a designee to serve as chairman of the Appellate Judges Nominating Commission. The dean’s designee must be an associate dean, a faculty member, a retired faculty member or a former dean of the school of law.

The Appellate Judges Nominating Commission is required to evaluate and nominate qualified lawyers for the position of justice of the New Mexico Supreme Court or judge of the New Mexico Court of Appeals.

When there is a vacant supreme court or court of appeals position, the commission sends a list of nominees for the position to the governor. The governor must appoint one of the nominees to fill the vacant position.

Currently, the state constitution requires the dean of the UNM School of Law to serve as chairman of the commission. The chairman presides over meetings of the commission, but only acts as a voting member of the commission in the event of a tie vote.

Amendment 4

Counties are created by the state, and Article 10, Section 1 of the constitution currently reads the Legislature “shall at its first session classify the counties and fix salaries for all county officers ...” referring to county commissioners, treasurers, assessors, sheriffs, clerks and probate judges.

That section of the constitution has been interpreted to mean the salaries of county officers must be established by the Legislature in state law, so when the legislators decide to increase or adjust salaries for county officials, it updates existing statutes that set out separate salary caps for each county classification.

Constitutional Amendment 4 proposes eliminate legislator’s role in setting the salaries for county officers and authorizing county commissioners to set the salaries for their own officers.