Roswell Daily Record
More local taxes to increase in 2015 Vol. 124, No. 03 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
BY JEFF TUCKER RECORD STAFF WRITER
Chaves County shoppers and property owners will experience higher taxes in 2015 as Chaves County and the Pecos Valley Artesian Conservancy District seek to boost revenues to fund projects. Shoppers in Chaves County will see a 0.375 percent increase in gross receipts taxes beginning July 1, while property own-
ers are already seeing higher tax rates in their 2014 property tax bills that were due Dec. 10. However, property owners may pay the second half of their 2014 property tax bills in May.
The property tax increases are due to the PVACD doubling its tax levy from 2 mills to 4 mills. The PVACD’s mill increase applies to all of 2014 and has no expiration date, the Chaves County Treasurer’s
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January 3, 2015
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Office said Friday. However, to lessen the blow, the Chaves County commissioners voted in December to lower the county’s property tax levy by 1 mill, while also voting to raise GRT taxes by 0.375 percent. That tax relief offset, however, will not be realized until property owners receive their 2015 property tax bills in November.
PVACD tax hike
Property owners within the conservancy district,
which includes the central regions of Chaves and Eddy counties, are experiencing higher property tax rates for 2014, depending on the assessed valuations of their properties within the conservancy district.
The PVACD’s 2 mill increase will cost the owner of a $100,000 home about $67 more a year, said Chaves County Chief Deputy Assessor Mark Willard. Residential
property
owners within the city of Roswell who own a $100,000 home faced a total county tax bill of 30.582 mills in 2014, or about $1,019, Willard said. PVACD superintendent Aron Balok said the conservancy district needed to raise the district’s tax rate because of a water shortage.
Balok said aquifer levels within the conservancy district have suffered in
recent years and the PVACD needs to raise taxes to generate revenues to purchase water rights.
The PVACD’s board of directors, all five of whom are elected every two years for staggered terms, have taxing authority and approved the tax increase.
In July, the PVACD board approved a $10 million loan from First American Bank. The loan and See TAXES, Page A3
3 newborns at Lovelace christen the new year
BY TIMOTHY P. HOWSARE RECORD EDITOR
Timothy P. Howsare Photos
Above: Hunter Holmes was the first baby born at Lovelace Regional Hosptial-Roswell in 2015. With Hunter are his proud parents, Craig Holmes and Pearl Navarro. Bottom left: Adalyna Lopez of Roswell was the second baby born at Lovelace at 1:38 p.m. Her parents are Amber Armstrong and Chazton Lopez. Bottom right: Walt William Walker was Lovelace baby No. 3. He was born at 2:32 p.m. Thursday and weighs in at 6 pounds, 10 ounces. Walt’s parents are Ben and Caiti Walker. Also pictured are Ben’s son, Ian and daughter, Livia.
The staff in the Birthing Center at Lovelace Regional Hospital-Roswell said Friday it’s not unusual for three babies to be born on the same day at the center, but it was quite a surprise when three little bundles of joy made their debuts on Thursday, the first day of 2015. In 2014, the first baby wasn’t bor n at Lovelace until three days after New Year’s Day, one staff member pointed out. The first baby was Hunter Holmes from Eunice, who entered this world at 12:17 a.m. He was not the first baby born in New Mexico. That honor goes to Angelo Oros of Farmington, who was born just 45 seconds after the clock struck midnight. Hunter weighs 6 pounds, 8 ounces and is the third child of Craig Holmes and Pearl Navarro, who have
two daughters. “This is our third and last child,” Hunter’s father said. It’s not hard to figure out how Hunter got his name. His dad is an avid outdoorsman. There was a hunting show playing on the TV in the couple’s room at the hospital. “That’s my Jeep out there in the parking lot,” Craig Holmes said as he pointed out the window. And though only one-day old, little Hunter was already dressed in camouflage baby clothes. He’s still a little too young to own a rifle, but his dad said he will definitely take his son hunting when he gets older. Hunter’s parents said his due date was Jan. 1. “But we had no idea he’d be born so close to midnight,” Pearl Navarro said. The second baby was Adalyna Lopez of Roswell, a 6-pound, 7-ounce girl born
Shot fired at Terminally ill man postpones off-duty RPD wedding, woman steps in to help officer’s home BY EMILY YOUNGER KRQE NEWS 13
SUBMITTED BY RPD
City police are trying to identify and locate the person who fired a gunshot toward an off-duty Roswell police officer as the officer was outside his home the evening of New Year’s Eve. During the drive-by shooting, the officer was not struck by the bullet, which did strike the officer’s personal pickup truck that was parked along the curb. The off-duty officer had just returned in his pickup to his home in a south Roswell neighborhood Wednesday at about 5:40 p.m. A white Honda Civic drove by and one shot was fired from the car as the officer was walking along the sidewalk, making his way from his truck, which was parked next to his
police vehicle, to his house. The of ficer ran into his house and called in the incident on his police radio. About 20 minutes later, in the east-central part of the city, a Chaves County Sheriff’s Office deputy spotted a car matching the description of the car involved in the shooting. The deputy attempted to stop the vehicle, but the driver, a man, instead led the deputy on a low-speed pursuit through the neighborhood before the driver stopped the car outside a residence in the 800 block of Eldora Drive and fled on foot into the backyard of that house. Believing the man may have gone inside the house and could potentially be an armed suspect in the earlier shooting, the RPD SWAT See OFFICER, Page A2
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A ter minally ill New Mexico man and his fiancée have been dreaming of their wedding day for years, but medical bills keep getting in the way. Now, a new year’s angel is stepping in and hoping to make that magical day a reality. “New Year’s Eve of 2012 they did lung surgery and when they did that they got in there and they found the cancer,” said Jerami Stovall. Stovall was just 26 years old when he got the news. The Roswell native had recently graduated college and proposed to the love of his life, Malia McGough. “She’s a little firecracker. She’s a lot of fun. She’s full of life,” said Stovall. The two have been engaged for nearly three years.
• HAZEL DAWN GREEN RASBERRY • LORETTA RICKETSON RILEY
Submitted Photo
Malia McGough and Jerami Stovall have been enaged for nearly three years. They still plan to get married despite Stovall’s terminal cancer diagnosis.
“Once I got diagnosed you know with all of the medical bills and stuff we just kind of put it on the back burner,” said Stovall. Stovall went through a year of chemo and just when things were looking up he got more bad news. “They found a tumor
• CLARIBEL Y. MARSHALL
TODAY’S OBITUARIES PAGE B4
that was on the bone of my tailbone,” he said. Doctors also found tumors in Stovall’s brain and spine. Given less than a year to live, Stovall and his fiancée’s wedding was put on the back burner again. “I want them to have
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See NEWBORNS, Page A2
that experience. Plain and simple. I think everyone deserves happiness no matter what,” said Tabitha Denny, who operates a CrossFit businesses and serves on the Roswell City Council. Denny met Stovall in November at a local cancer fundraiser. “Jerami’s story just really touched me because he’s so young and life is short,” said Denny. She’s now trying to raise money for the couple’s wedding. So far, she’s reached out to Roswell businesses for donations. “I would like everything for them taken care of,” Denny said. “As of right now, I don’t think she has her dress or anything like that.” Stovall said seeing Malia walk down the aisle would be a dream come See WEDDING, Page A2
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