Rio Rancho, New Mexico
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Contents |
[edit] Website evaluation
This Web site was most recently evaluated Jan. 12, 2012.
[edit] The good
- Budgets are posted.[2]
- Meeting minutes, agendas, and schedules are available including meeting video.[3]
- Contact information for elected officials is posted.[4]
- Contact information for administrative officials is available on their respective pages or in the staff directory.[5]
- Audits are posted.[6]
- Employee salaries are posted.[7]
- Contracts over $5,000 are posted along with policies regarding purchasing.[8][9]
- Lobbying information is disclosed by posting the contract.[10]
- Public records information and forms are posted along with the contact information for the employee responsible for the requests.[11]
- Tax rates for gross receipts and property taxes are posted in separate documents and tax revenue is described in budget documents.[12][13]
- Forms for zoning and impact fees are posted.[14]
- Impact fee chart shows costs of building and contact information is available for the zoning division.[15][16]
[edit] Budget
The Fiscal Year 2012 budget spends $58,056,222 which is a 2.4% increase over FY2011. The revenue is estimated to be $58,056,222.[17]
| Expenditure | Amount | Increase/Decrease |
| Personnel Services | $39,569,046 | 4.70% |
| Materials and Services | $11,109,995 | 12.70% |
| Capital Outlay | $140,293 | 157.20% |
| Fund Balance | $6,873,888 | -13.90% |
| Transfers | $363,000 | -25.10% |
| Total | $58,056,222 | 2.40% |
[edit] Stimulus
Rio Rancho has received almost $18 million in stimulus funds.[18] The city website lists the costs and objective of each project here.
[edit] Public Employees
[edit] Elected Officials
The city council is made up of six members representing separate districts and a mayor elected at large. Elections are held every four years and the city council has staggered elections.[19]
| First | Last | Position | District | Salary | Term Ends |
| Michael | Williams | Council Member | 1 | $13,372 | 2012 |
| Patricia | Thomas | Council Member | 2 | $13,372 | 2014 |
| Tamara | Gutierrez | Council Member | 3 | $13,372 | 2014 |
| Steven | Shaw | Council Member | 4 | $13,372 | 2012 |
| Timothy | Crum | Council Member | 5 | $13,372 | 2014 |
| Kathleen | Colley | Council Member | 6 | $13,372 | 2012 |
| Thomas | Swisstack | Mayor | At Large | $26,749 | 2014 |
Mayor Swisstack's “Conversations with Mayor Swisstack” is a television program that airs on public, education and government channels. He does a new episode every four weeks.[20]
Swisstack has said that Rio Rancho deserves more state representation when redistricting takes place. As of now only one state representative represents Rio Rancho as it is split among senatorial districts. He has called for one more state representative and a state senator for Rio Rancho.[21]
City Councilor Michael Williams has proposed banning front lawns on new houses and businesses to conserve water.[22]
[edit] Administrative Officials
Under the "Council-Manager" form of city government, elected officials appoint a city manager to oversee the day to day operations of the city. Rio Rancho's city manager is James C. Jimenez and he earns $150,010 a year.[23]
The city clerk is Roman Montoya and he earns $70,194 a year. The city clerk is responsible for processing legislation, public records requests, city code, and city elections.[24]
[edit] Salaries
The FY2012 budget allocates $39,569,04 to salaries and benefits which is a 5% increase over FY2011.[25]
The city website posts all employee salaries here.
The following table outlines the top 10 salaries:
| First | Last | Position | Salary |
| James | Jimenez | City Manager | $150,000 |
| James | Babin | City Attorney | $116,873 |
| Lisa | Vornholt | Director Public Works | $108,215 |
| John | Castillo | Director Dev Services | $107,963 |
| Robert | Boone | Director Police | $98,987 |
| Hardy | Hart | Director Parks and Rec | $97,879 |
| Rebecca | Sanford | Director Human Resources | $95,860 |
| James | Tobin | Director Fire & Rescue | $93,371 |
| William | Cicola | Director Lib and Info | $90,864 |
| Olivia | Padilla-Jackson | Director Financial Services | $90,002 |
[edit] Pensions
City employees are enrolled in New Mexico's Public Employee Retirement Association (PERA). PERA's cost to the city was $6,112,882 in 2011. The following table outlines contribution percentages for employees and employers.[26]
| Employee Type | Employee Contribution | Employer Contribution |
| General | 2.29% | 16.01% |
| Law Enforcement | 4.07% | 30.73% |
| Fire/EMS | 4.05% | 33.40% |
[edit] Emergency personnel
The FY2012 budget allocates $16,884,963 for the police budget and $9,376,633 for the fire and rescue budget.
Fire Chief James Tobin resigned in August 2011 citing health issues. Since May, 6 firefighters have been under an investigation for sexual harassment hazing. Tobin claims that threats from the city contributed to the health issues. In the interim, Assistant Fire Chief Michael Meek will serve as Chief.[27]
Joshua Roney, a Rio Rancho firefighter, has resigned after an arrest for suspicion of drunken driving. Roney was one of three firefighters placed on paid leave for an alleged hazing of a new firefighter in 2010.[28]
[edit] Lobbying
The most recent lobbying contract was signed in November of 2009 with Scott Scanland of New Mexico Government Affair to lobby the New Mexico state legislature on behalf of Rio Rancho. The cost was not to exceed $28,380 annually.[29]
[edit] Transparency & public records
The Rio Racho web site has a Request to Inspect Public Records Form posted here. The city clerk is the custodian of public records.
Rio Rancho 360 is a web page that contains links transparency information such as financial records and salary information. It can be found here.
[edit] Taxes
The revenue projection in the FY 2012 budget is estimated to be $58,056,222.[30]
| Revenue Source | Amount | Increase/Decrease |
| Property Tax | $12,010,565 | 2% |
| Gross Receipts Tax | $25,164,295 | 4% |
| Franchise Fees | $3,138,828 | 2% |
| Intergovernmental | $412,506 | -40% |
| Charges for Services | $4,707,372 | 3% |
| Fines | $1,068,750 | -3% |
| Miscellaneous | $2,944,902 | -17% |
| Other | $102,502 | -87% |
| Beg. Balance | $7,987,140 | 57% |
| Licenses | $519,362 | -13% |
| Total | $58,056,222 | 5% |
Property tax rates every year since 2000 can be found here.
Gross receipts tax rates since 1982 can be found here.
In 2011, the gross receipts tax will go up by .25 percent. The tax increase brings the tax from 7.1875 to 7.4375 percent to help close a $3.6 million budget shortfall.[31]
An IRS audit revealed that Rio Rancho owes the IRS over $19k from failure to withhold social security taxes for the mayor and three city councilors over two years. [32] In late July the city requested that the IRS audit be repeated to re-calculate the amount owed after city officials questioned some of the findings.[33]
[edit] External links
- City of Rio Rancho Web Site
- Rio Rancho 360 Transparency
- Rio Rancho on Wikipedia
- Rio Rancho on City Data
- Rio Rancho Public Schools
- Rio Rancho on Stimulus Watch
- KOAT Albuquerque
- See sample transparency legislation at the Sunshine Standard
- New Mexico on State Budget Solutions
[edit] References
- ↑ Census
- ↑ Budgets
- ↑ Meetings
- ↑ Governing Body
- ↑ Staff Directory
- ↑ Audits
- ↑ Salaries
- ↑ Contracts
- ↑ Purchasing Policies
- ↑ Lobbying
- ↑ Public Records
- ↑ Gross Receipts
- ↑ Property Taxes
- ↑ Forms
- ↑ Impact Fees
- ↑ Zoning Division
- ↑ FY2012 Budget
- ↑ Stimulus
- ↑ City Council
- ↑ Rio Rancho KOB "Mayor Swisstack is back"
- ↑ Rio Rancho Observer "Swisstack wants more state representation in redistricting"
- ↑ KOAT "Council Member Pushes For Front Lawn "
- ↑ City Manager
- ↑ City Clerk
- ↑ FY2012 Budget
- ↑ Personnel
- ↑ KOAT "Rio Rancho Fire Dept. Recovering From Controversies"
- ↑ KOAT "Rio Rancho Firefighter Quits After Arrest"
- ↑ Lobbying Contract
- ↑ FY2012 Budget
- ↑ Rio Rancho Observer "City’s gross reciepts tax rises in 2011"
- ↑ ABQ Journal "Rio Rancho To Pay IRS Over $19K"
- ↑ Rio Rancho Observer "City asks IRS to repeat audit"
