Proposals to raise taxes SANTA FE (KSFR) -
-- Nov. 17, 7 a.m. -- The governor's 42-member task force on budget issues has wrapped up its first meeting and scheduled the next one for Thursday afternoon in Albuquerque. At yesterday's session at Santa Fe Community College, the group came up with nearly three dozen proposals to raise revenues to help offset next year's budget deficit. Among them are recommendations about corporate income taxes and for taxes on tobacco and liquor. The task force is charged with making a final report to the governor in late December, a month before the legislature meets in its regular session.

A Santa Fe judge has determined former state police officer Alfred Lovato should stand trial in the death of a pedestrian who was struck and killed as he crossed a street. Lovato was a passenger in a vehicle driven by Carlos Fierro, who was sentenced last week to seven years in prison for vehicular homicide in the same case. State District Judge Michael Vigil cautioned prosecutors that they barely met the threshold for demonstrating probable cause. He indicated that without more evidence, he may acquit Lovato before the case goes before a jury. A similar case wherein a passenger was held accountable for vehicular homicide is up for review by the state supreme court. If that decision is reversed, it will nullify the case against Lovato.

A visit to New Mexico by Vice-president Joe Biden for a democratic fundraiser was marred by a traffic mishap with the VP's motorcade. A sheriff's deputy was taken to an Albuquerque hospital after a woman drove around police vehicles blocking an intersection and collided with the sheriff's car. A spokesperson for the department said the unnamed officer had no visible injuries at the scene.

Those state worker furloughs ordered by Governor Richardson due to the state's budget crisis may be timed to coincide with holidays. A series of four-day holiday weekends would incorporate the five unpaid furlough days scheduled for executive branch agencies. Richardson's proposal would take effect first on Christmas Eve, December 24th and followed next by New Year's Eve on the 31st. Other days to follow in 2010 would bracket the Martin Luther King holiday weekend in January, Easter weekend and Memorial Day. The furloughs do not apply to public schools, colleges and courts.

Today the Santa Fe school board meets to discuss budget cuts. The school system faces a $1.5 million shortfall this year, largely because it has to serve an extra 300 students who came on board after the budget year began.

It's an Election Day for Santa Fe County residents who live outside the city limits. The single-issue ballot asks voters to re-institute a previously sunset-ed quarter cent tax to fund County firefighting services and operations. Polls will be open tomorrow from 7AM to 7PM. A list of polling places can be found at santafecounty--dot--org.

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