Roswell Daily Record THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Vol. 124, No. 34 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
February 8, 2015
SUNDAY
www.rdrnews.com
Unemployment insurance rates down for most employers
By Jeff Tucker Record Staff Writer
About 70 percent of New Mexico employers are experiencing lower unemployment insurance contribution rates this year in light of a state law passed in 2013 that changed the way employer contribution rates are calculated in the state. The remaining 30 percent of employers, however, are experiencing higher unemployment insurance contribution rates this year as state officials attempt to build up the state’s Unemployment Trust Fund. The New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions says the new rates
effective Jan. 1 are more closely tied to employers’ unemployment benefit charges. A new formula is in effect for new employers in the state, and industry rates vary by the type of business. Starting in 2015, new contributing employers, those with less than two years experience in the unemployment insurance program, have a rate that is the greater of their industry average unemployment insurance contribution rate, or 1 percent. The utilities industry has the lowest industry rate of 1.26 percent. Pub-
lic administration, available only for governmental entities, has the highest industry rate of 3.28 percent. The contribution rate for new employers is a maximum of 5.4 percent and a minimum of 0.33 percent. “New employers are just the industry averages, up to 5.4 percent, but no less than 1 percent,” explained Joy Forehand, deputy cabinet secretary for the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions. Forehand said approximately 70 percent of New Mexico employers are now paying the minimum rate of 0.33 percent, adjusted up to no less than 1 percent.
Forehand said new employers paid a 2 percent taxable payroll rate before this year’s changes. “And now, per legislation that was passed in 2013, now their rate is based on their industry average,” she said. “So, for the majority of those industries, they actually fell below 2 percent. I believe there’s only two or three industries that are above 2 percent.” While rates are down for about 70 percent of the state’s employers, the other 30 percent of employers are paying higher rates, principally due to unemployment claims. “It’s a spectrum,” Fore-
hand said. “I think the majority of employers fall below 2.7 percent. It depends on what their account was previously. It mostly depends on their interaction with the program and if they had any benefit charges on their accounts.” Forehand explained the rates for experienced employers, those with two or more years in the unemployment insurance program, have changed from a reserve-ratio formula to a benefit-ratio formula. “So benefit ratio takes into account a threeyear period,” Forehand explained. “It’s any benefit
charges that have hit that employer’s account, divided by three years of their taxable payroll. And then it’s multiplied by a reserve factor. It’s a complex program.” The reserve factor, 4.0 in 2015, is set by the director of the Department of Workforce Solutions every year based on the solvency of the Unemployment Trust Fund. It can be as low as 0.5 and as high as 4.0. The reserve factor is 1.0000 when there are adequate reserves in the trust fund, between 0.5000 and 0.9999 when there See INSURANCE, Page A3
The personal toll of Turquoise Health’s impending closure By Randal Seyler Record City Editor
Randal Seyler Photo
Tena Murfin, left, and her father, Benny, discussed on Thursday the potential closure of Higher Horizons PSR, a facility which is likely to shut down due to Turquoise Health and Wellness ceasing operations in New Mexico on March 31.
What does it mean that Turquoise Health and Wellness may cease operation in Chaves County on March 31? For patients like 70-year-old Benny Murfin, it could mean life in a mental institution instead of living in society. Murfin is a client at Higher Horizons PSR, a day care facility that offers support and teaches social and life skills, and he has been a part of that community for more than 20 years. “My dad has schizophrenia, and he has been part of Counseling Associates for 20 plus years,” said Tena Murfin, 29. “That is where he has seen doctors, and that is why I have been so adamant about Higher Horizons, they taught us coping skills, how to live a normal life in society while maintaining
your mental health,” Tena said. Turquoise Health and Wellness provides mental health services to Medicaid patients in Carlsbad, Roswell, Clovis and Tucumcari. Turquoise was added to the state’s network in 2013 as part of a network shake-up by Gov. Susana Martinez’s administration. Turquoise provides mental health care to the residents under the auspices of the state Department of Health. However, once Turquoise ceases to treat patients, there will be a population of mental health patients who will have no source of medication or care. Benny Murfin is one of thousands of Roswell residents now facing the loss of crucial services. The elder Murfin is also a disabled veteran, having served in the U.S. Army. See MURFIN, Page A3
Racial slurs compel Overmier is longtime search and rescue volunteer father to pull child from middle school
By Dylanne Petros Record Staff Writer
Imagine your child coming home and saying someone at school used a racial slur against him. What would you do? For Thomas Davis, father of a former Mesa Middle School boy, he has been attending school board meetings since November. In the three months he has been attending the monthly meetings, Davis said nothing has changed. “I’m not going anywhere until it’s fixed,” he said. Davis sent a complaint letter to the Public Education Department in December. The letter, obtained by the Daily Record, states there are problems with racial slurs at Mesa Middle School. “My son is scared to go to school some days,” Davis wrote. In the letter, Davis claims Art Sandoval, assistant dean of students at Mesa, told Davis’ son that he was “making up stuff” and the racial slurs did not occur. “Are (teachers and administrators) being
trained properly?” Davis asked the Daily Record. In his letter to the PED, Davis said the administrators at Mesa Middle School neglected the situation “like (using racial slurs) is a normal thing to do.” “Roswell is on the map for something negative instead of something positive,” Davis told the Daily Record. In December, after writing a letter to the PED, Davis met with Tom Burris, superintendent of the Roswell Independent School District, over breakfast to discuss the matter, according to a Dec. 10 letter from Burris to Davis, obtained by the Daily Record. In the letter, Burris states he is aware of the problem at Mesa, but after acknowledging he knows what is occurring, Burris said the district has reviewed the incident. “I am writing to advise you that the matter has been addressed pursuant to RISD policy, both as a personnel matter and on the student level,” the letter See SLURS, Page A3
By Shannon Seyler Special to the Record
If you ever go missing, Rick Overmier might just come looking for you. Richard E. “Rick” Overmier is a longtime search and rescue (SAR) volunteer. In addition to being a former police officer and military veteran. He grew up in Roswell, and became interested in public service at a young age. “I was the son of a police officer,” Overmier said. “As a small child, I remember my dad working as a traffic officer riding motorcycles for the Roswell Police Department. He also worked for the Sheriff’s Department. When he’d leave for work, he would always turn on his red lights for just a second, and I’d get so excited. I was so proud. I respected him so much, and wanted to be just like him. I knew early on that public service was my calling.” Overmier decided to pursue that calling early.
Today’s Forecast
HIGH 76 LOW 38
Submitted Photo
Richard E. “Rick” Overmier, longtime search and rescue volunteer, is a native of Roswell and a former police officer. “I started out in high school, and got onto a local county volunteer fire department. I was with the county department until 1998. During most of this time, I was also working as a police officer and volunteering on the side.” By 2000, Overmier wanted to get back into volunteer public service again, and that is when he found Chaves County Search and Rescue.
Today’s Obituaries Page B6
• Sarah Harrington • Faye Harrington • Yolanda Madrid Hawley
• Monez Helen (Woods) Oehl • Patricia Ann Clark • Reyes R. Gallegos • Paul David Drum
“I attended a few meetings, and knew it was something I was interested in,” Overmier said. “Since that time, I worked my way up from a regular searcher to a Type IV Incident Commander for State Police District 3.” Overmier said he is also certified by the New Mexico Department of Public Service New Mexico State Police as a Public Information Officer, Safety Offi-
• Angela Chipps • Samuel Valdez • Eunice Dorthy Wright • Charles “Chick” Murphy
cer, Operations Section Chief and Air Operations Branch Director. “I am also a certified instructor in Lost Person Behavior, and a FEMA instructor in the Incident Command System. I will soon be certified as an Operations Section Chief Instructor.” Overmier enlisted in the U.S. Army during his See OVERMIER, Page A7 Index
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