Residents of Placitas have paid almost $7 million to a local flood control district and not flood control received any benefit, Mike Neas says. Neas told the Sandoval Signpost he has filed a formal complaint with the New Mexico Finance Authority over the issue, which stems from Placitas residents’ continued taxation for Eastern Sandoval Arroyo Flood Control Authority (ESCAFCA) debt, even though that obligation was met in 2022.
Neas is a member of the Eastern Sandoval Citizens Association. That group earlier this year retained an attorney in the hopes of clearing up the issue, after the assessment appeared on residents’ 2025 tax bills. Neas said his goals as an individual are the same: prevent any further excess taxation of Placitas for 2026 and beyond, and get overpayments returned to those property owners.
The saga began in 2011, Neas said, when HB306 removed Placitas from ESCAFCA’s taxing authority. The legislation stipulated that Placitas would pay its share of the agency’s accrued debt until it was retired. But although the debt is paid off, it has appeared on tax bills in Placitas for another three years. Neas said Placitas residents had paid $6 million while included in the district, and another $900,000 in excess taxes. Neas said there are no immediate plans for a lawsuit, and that he thinks language in state law giving the ESCAFCA board statutory authority “to arbitrate any differences arising in connection with any project or otherwise concerning the authority” means the board is responsible for making things right.
Bernalillo Mayor Jack Torres sits on the ESCAFCA Board of Directors. He told the Signpost the agency wants the matter sorted. “Our position hasn’t changed,” he said. “Between the county and the state, there was a mistake made, and it needs to be fixed. Torres said ESCAFCA has told inquirants verbally and in writing that it doesn’t have the authority to change the tax structure. He said ESCAFCA representatives have spoken with state and county officials but that he’s unaware of the status of the situation.
Torres rejected Neas’ assertion that ESCAFCA could simply solve the overpayment problem through arbitration, and that the agency doesn’t dispute that the overpayments occurred. Sandoval County Manager Wayne Johnson said earlier that county authorities are changing the way they handle tax certificates, which set rates for all taxing entities within the county. “We won’t be approving any tax certificates we deem to have incorrect rates,” he told the Signpost in June.