COVID-19 relief checks coming, but property taxes due

There’s good news and there’s bad news on the financial front in the age of COVID-19.

The good news is that the Treasury Department changed course last week and announced that Social Security beneficiaries and other Americans who haven’t filed income taxes for the past two years won’t have to take any extra steps to receive one-time checks of up to $1,200 under a new economic-recovery program.
“Social Security recipients who are not typically required to file a tax return need to take no action and will receive their payment directly to their bank account,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said.
Most Americans won’t have to do anything to receive a payment under the $2.2 trillion program designed to help the economy recover from the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic. The checks will be sent automatically within the next three weeks to eligible Americans.

Then there’s the bad news:
Doña Ana County Treasurer Eric L. Rodriguez announced last week that the second-half property-tax deadline of May 11 is not affected by COVID-19.
“We made every effort to get relief for taxpayers, but ultimately that was not within our legal authority,” Rodriguez said, adding that the New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department decided against extending the payment deadline on a call with several counties, saying it would hurt cash flows for local taxing entities such as school districts and municipalities.
“We want to avoid burdening taxpayers who are affected by the COVID-19 pandemic,” Rodriguez said. “That is why we will continue to work with the state and our legislators for subsequent relief options.”
To avoid penalty and interest accruals, property second-half taxes must be remitted on or before Monday, May 11.  Since in-person payment services are closed, the Treasurer’s Office is offering five payment options:
•     By phone: 575-647-7433, Toll Free 1-877-827-7200 ext. 7433
•     Online at: www.donaanacounty.org/treasurer/payments
•     By mail: P.O. Box 1179 Las Cruces, NM  88004
•     24-hour drop box: in front of the County Government Center
•     Bill pay: This is a service provided by most banks
For questions or service requests, the Treasurer’s Office can be reached by phone at the numbers
above, by email at taxbill@donaanacounty.org or by standard mail at 845 N. Motel Blvd. Las Cruces, N.M., 88007.
“During these challenging times, we will continue to remain focused on customer service and we will make every effort to respond, in a timely manner,” Rodriguez said, adding that his office’s COVID-19
response plan is viewable at www.donaanacounty.org/treasurer.

Then there’s this:
With the U.S. experiencing a record number of initial unemployment claims, WalletHub last week released its report on the states with the biggest increases in unemployment due to coronavirus.
WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across two key metrics that compare initial unemployment claim increases for the week of March 23, 2020 to both the same week in 2019 and the first week of 2020.
New Mexico saw an increase of – sit down – 3,291 percent from 831 the week of March 25, 2019 to 28,182 the week of March 23, 2020, marking the 31st highest increase in the U.S. Comparing to the first week of 2020, claims have risen 3427.16 percent from 799 the first week of the year to 28,182 the week of March 23, the sixth- highest increase in the U.S.
And as if all that weren’t enough, Jason Espinoza, New Mexico state director for the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) released a poll showing 92 percent of small-business owners have been negatively affected by the coronavirus, and about half of small employers indicated they can survive for no more than two months, with about a third believing they can remain operational for 3-6 months.
“There is no putting a brave face on these grim numbers,” Espinoza said. “There’s only rolling up our sleeves and getting to work on the road to recovery, which runs down Main Street and requires small-
business revitalization. And that means immediate relief, coupled with medium and long-term policy solutions to boost small-business growth.”

The NFIB advises business owners who need loan assistance or grants in order to weather the uncertainty caused by COVID-19 closures and business disruption to visit the NFIB website at
www.NFIB.com/NM or call 505-417-4001.