South Valley Incorporation Feasibility

The area proposed for South Valley incorporation is a vast area on the City of Albuquerque's southwestern flank with a population conservatively estimated to be just over 50,000 in 2007.1 While the South Valley incorporation area accounts for just under half (45%) of the population in unincorporated Bernalillo County and was almost 8% of the county's total population in 2000, as estimated by the Bureau of Business and Economic Research (BBER), the area is under served in terms of private sector economic activity. In 2006, average monthly private wage and salary employment in the South Valley area amounted to 7,700, or 2.9%, of the average for all of Bernalillo County. Determining the financial feasibility of a South Valley municipality requires developing estimates of the revenues that might be raised, and this in turn requires a careful reading of New Mexico statutes to see what the City may be entitled to and what authority it has under State law, as well as estimating the tax bases and the levels of activity against which fees and charges for services will be assessed. Of course, it is also critical to determine how much it will cost to provide various municipal services to the South Valley. In this exercise, it is useful to look at other municipalities, the revenues they raise, the amounts spent on providing services -- as well as taking a very careful look at service provision to the South Valley by Bernalillo County and any associated revenues.