Title
Incorporated County of Los Alamos Ordinance No. 726 (Corrected) Adopting a Municipal Gross Receipts Tax of One-Half of One Percent to be Effective July 1, 2024
Recommended Action
I move that Council adopt Incorporated County of Los Alamos Ordinance No. 726, as corrected, and reject corrected Incorporated County of Los Alamos Ordinance No. 725; I further move that, upon passage, corrected Ordinance No. 726 be published in summary form.
County Manager's Recommendation
The County Manager recommends that Council adopt Incorporated County of Los Alamos Ordinance No. 726, as corrected, as a secondary alternative to Ordinance No. 725.
Body
On April 24, 2023, Council adopted the FY2024 Budget and included in their motion a directive to return to Council with two ordinances implementing a new one-half percent Gross Receipts Tax (GRT) increment for Council consideration: One ordinance going into effect January 1, 2024; and the other July 1, 2024. Ordinance No. 726 would make the effective date of the new GRT increment July 1, 2024. The FY 2024 adopted budget included this half cent new increment being effective January 1, 2024. The 6 month delay incorporated into Ordinance 726 would reduce projected revenue in FY 2024 by approximately $6.5 million.
As discussed at the April 2023 Budget Hearings, GRT revenues are expected to increase in the next few years. As LANL moves into the manufacturing phase of their increased pit production in a few years, although the LANL budget will remain high, their taxable expenses will reduce and GRT is projected to drop by approximately $15 million dollars annually. As shown on Attachment C General Fund 10-Year Projections, this additional GRT increment revenue is necessary to maintain desired operational service levels, catch up on deferred maintenance issues, and fund capital projects. Without this additional funding, significant reductions to current operational and capital plans would have to be made.
The County's current GRT rates is 7.1875%, and will drop to 7.0625 July 1, 2023 due to a state GRT reduction of one-quarter percent. If Ordinance No. 725 or No. 726 is adopted, the County's GRT rate will be 7.5625%.
Attachment D is a copy of the GRT slides from the budget hearings and includes information about the comparison of the proposed new GRT rate to others in the state as well as a historical comparison.
If Council adopts this ordinance, Ordinance No. 725 should be rejected as they are mutually exclusive.
Incorporated Los Alamos County Ordinance No. 726 was introduced on June 13, 2023. A typographical/scrivener’s error was identified in the title; Attachment B shows the correction in the title as redlined.
Alternatives
Council could choose to not adopt this ordinance and adopt corrected Ordinance No. 725. If Council chooses to not adopt either ordinance, or direct that a lesser amount be considered, then in both those cases, the adopted budget would need very significant revisions.
Fiscal and Staff Impact/Planned Item
The FY2024 Adopted Budget included projected revenue of $6.5 million in FY 2024. Ordinance 726 defers implementation by 6 months and therefore the projected revenue in FY 2024 would be $6.5 million lower than what was projected in the adopted budget. If this is the ordinance that is adopted, then staff would recommend that this one-time loss of revenue be initially absorbed by accepting a lower level of unassigned fund balance in FY 2024. This would reduce future financial flexibility.
This new one-half percent tax increment is currently estimated to generate approximately $13 million dollars annually. This additional revenue is necessary to minimize or eliminate County operational and project impacts from the expected drop in GRT revenues, when the lab expenses shift from development to manufacturing activities in a few years. It also mitigates the debt amount needed to support the County's CIP program.
Attachments
A - Publication Notice
B - Incorporated County of Los Alamos Ordinance No. 726 (Corrected)
C - General Fund 10-Year Projections
D - GRT Slides from Budget Hearings