Dona Ana County Residents To Vote On Spaceport Tax

LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) – Dona Ana County residents are getting ready to decide whether to raise the gross receipts tax rate by one-quarter of one percent to help pay for a planned spaceport.

Some 97,000 residents in the county are registered to vote in tomorrow’s election. As of Friday morning, more than 31-hundred people had voted early. And about 300 of the more than 500 absentee ballots that were mailed out had made their way back to the county’s elections office.

Because of a significant financial commitment on the part of the state, Dona Ana County — along with Otero and Sierra counties — are being asked to help with some of the cost.

That’s because the three counties are most likely to see the greatest benefit from the spaceport.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) AP-NY-04-02-07 1110EDT