Up to $275 million in funding for the Internal Revenue Service may be cut as part of the negotiations underway centering on the Biden Administration’s pending $1.7 billion omnibus budget. Members of the U.S. Senate are pushing for a fiscal year reduction for the IRS, while still allocating just over $12.3 billion for agency. That figure is a reduction from the $12.6 the IRS received last fiscal year. The move comes weeks after the successful passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, which included $80 billion in additional funding for the IRS over the course of the next ten years. That $80 billion increase has partly allowed the IRS to hire new workers, up to 8,000 of which are revenue agents tasked with auditing tax filings. The funding has also been relegated to taxpayer services, operations, and technology at the IRS. According to the Congressional Budget Office, IRS systems improvements are slated to bring in just under $204 billion in revenue between now and 2031. Congressional analysts say they expect to see increased legislative actions relating to the IRS beginning next year—an offshoot of the November mid-term elections. “With Republicans taking control of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee,” notes The Hill newspaper, oversight of the IRS budget “is certain to get extra scrutiny in committee hearings over the course of 2023.” By Garry Boulard
0 Comments
Upgrades to a wide variety of parks and public facilities are in the works across El Paso County in the wake of a vote by the El Paso County Commissioners Court. Members of that body have started the process of approving up to $59 million in certificates of obligation designed to fund the projects. Although not yet officially finalized, the list of projects includes upgrades to the downtown El Paso jail; new construction at the El Paso Medical Examiner’s Office; and roof and sewer repairs at the Juvenile Justice Center. Funding may also be applied to the upgrades at the Fabens Airport; renovations to the Manny Martinez Annex; and an expansion of an employee clinic at the county courthouse. According to the resolution approved by commission members, the funded work may also include street, road, sidewalk, alley, lighting, and culvert projects. As a funding mechanism, the certificates of obligation require no new taxes, and are enacted without the approval of county voters. In launching the funding mechanism process, a note of intent is being published by the commission, to be followed by public meetings throughout January and, finally, a vote to approve the debt issuance on January 30. By Garry Boulard A long-standing and mostly abandoned public school in Colorado Springs is about to see new life, repurposed as an affordable apartment complex. Located at 909 E. Moreno Avenue, the former Helen Hunt Elementary School is a two-story brick structure built around 1902. In 2016, members of the Colorado Springs District 11 school board, looking at a $14 million list of upgrades and repairs needed to keep the school running, opted to close it instead. But now a plan announced by the group Catholic Charities of Central Colorado, which serves as the charitable arm of the Diocese of Colorado Springs, will see the school reconverted into anywhere from 21 to 24 affordable apartment units. Those units, ranging in size from studios to three-bedrooms, will all be relegated to homeless families. Catholic Charities purchased the building, which sits on a 2.8-acre site, for around $3.9 million in early December. It is thought that it will cost at least $9 million to reconvert the Hunt school. According to sources, at least $5 million has already been raised for the project. If the fundraising continues on pace, it is expected that work on the project will launch in the spring of 2024, with an estimated completion date of the latter part of that year. The Hunt building is treasured by local preservationists for its arched windows, wooden floors, and high decorative ceilings. By Garry Boulard A new poll just released by the Washington-based Cato Institute reveals that concerns over the ongoing and continuing cost of housing are widespread and national in character. According to the group’s Housing Affordability Study, an overwhelming 87% of respondents said they were concerned about the cost of housing, with a nearly equally large 76% declaring that “now is a bad time to buy a house.” The survey of some 2,000 people also revealed that 55% of respondents said they didn’t think they could afford to purchase the homes they currently live in based on today’s market. In a less-than-hopeful take on the future, 69% of respondents expressed worries that either their own children or grandchildren won’t be able to own a home any time soon. Attitudes on the home affordability issue get a little dicier when the Cato survey asked respondents how they would feel about new home or apartment complex construction in their neighborhoods. By a slim margin, only 51% said they would favor such projects. But that marginal response jumped to 72% if the new home construction meant it would be easier for “young people and young families” to afford a home. The lowest positive response, at 63%, came when the proposed housing would make it easier for “people with low incomes” to afford a house. The survey also showed that by a large 61% urban residents were in favor of building more houses, while less than half of suburban residents expressed support, and only 37% of rural residents wanted to see such construction in their communities. In an analysis of the survey’s finding, Emily Ekins, director of polling at Cato, said it was clear that the Not in My Backyard movement is real, but added: “Most Americans are open to the idea of building additional housing, especially when they consider how it will impact future generations.” By Garry Boulard One of the most popular recreation sites in the southwest may soon see the construction of a series of new industrial structures. The Big Surf Water Park, located at 1500 N. McClintock Drive in Tempe, was opened in the fall of 1969 at a cost of $2 million, and featured one of the very first wave pools in the entire country. Attracting tens of thousands of visitors every year, the 35-acre Big Surf closed in late 2019, with a plan to reopen it the following year frustrated by the appearance of Covid 19. The site has now been purchased for $49 million by the Torrance, California-based real estate development company Overton Moore Properties. According to city documents, three different lots will be created at the water park site, with each seeing the construction of a one-story building. What is called Building 1 will measure 258,000 square feet; Building 2 will come in at just under 240,000 square feet; while Building 3 is set for construction at 190,000 square feet. The structures will be composed of tilt-up concrete panels painted in shades of beige and gray, with blue, grown, green, and white accents. Construction at the site is slated to begin next year. By Garry Boulard Phased-in improvements upgrading a popular El Paso Park in the Upper Valley North section of the city are expected to take around 10 years to complete. Located at 651 Gomez Road about 13 miles to the northwest of downtown El Paso, the Mary Frances Keisling Park was opened around two decades ago and features soccer fields, playgrounds, and walking paths. But city officials have long thought that the park, surrounded by acres of open space, could be more. After months of study with an emphasis on public input, the City of El Paso has now approved a master plan for the park calling for the building of a community center, sport courts, dog park, children’s play features, and desert gardens. The public input process, which started last spring, eventually included comments from nearly 1,000 residents. Altogether, it is thought that will cost around $126 million to complete all the upgrades and improvements recommended in the master plan. Improvements to the park will be taken on by the city’s Parks and Recreation Department, with funding expected to come from a variety of sources including bonds, the city’s general funds, and grants. By Garry Boulard Just under 4.8 million homes are expected to be sold within the calendar year of 2023, providing evidence of a buoyant market, according to new statistics released by the National Association of Realtors. During a recent annual summit held by the group, it was also predicted that the nation’s median home price will come in at $385,800, slightly up over this year’s $384,800 average. In addition, Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist and senior vice president of research, forecasts a bifurcated nation, with one half enduring small increases in prices, while the other half “may see slight price decreases.” More specifically, Yun points to the booming California market, and in particular San Francisco, where the average price of a home this year passed the $1.3 million mark. That market, he says, is “likely to register price drops of 10% to 15%.” The rental market may also experience a cooling off—at least to a degree. The economist, noting that rents have gone up by 7% this year, expects a smaller 5% increase in 2023. Part of an annual ritual, NAR also released a list of the top ten real estate markets to watch in 2023, a list that this year includes no cities located in the West. Instead, all the expected booming markets are located in metro areas in the South, with the growing Southeast cities of Raleigh, Atlanta, Charleston, and Greenville particularly well positioned. Factors contributing to a city being placed on the NAR’s top ten list include strong job and population growth; greater numbers of renters who can afford to buy a median-priced home; faster growth of active housing inventory; and smaller housing shortages. By Garry Boulard Plans are in the works for the construction of a five-story structure in Gilbert that will house up to 300 luxury apartment units. The project belongs to the Indianapolis-based Thompson Thrift Development and will include more than 200,000 square feet of what is described as “boutique restaurant and retail space.” To go up on a more than 35-acre site on the northwest corner of Val Vista Drive and Germann Road, the project, officially called The Gilmore, will also feature common area seating, covered walkways, and lush landscaping. In a statement issued on Thompson Thrift’s website, Chris Hake, a senior vice president with the company, predicted robust leasing at the site due to its “proximity to the Val Vista and 202 Loop exchange, strong daytime population, and the high-end residential neighborhoods that surround the site.” Those high-end neighborhoods have nearly sprung up in the last two generations, as Gilbert’s population has boomed from 29,000 in the 1990s to nearly 270,000 today. It is expected that the project will cost around $225 million to build, with work at the site beginning before next spring. Specializing in commercial and mixed-use development, and with a concentration in the Midwest, Southeast, and Southwest, Thompson Thrift has to date spearheaded nearly $4 billion in residential and retail projects. By Garry Boulard Preservationists in Las Cruces have until early next week to come up with a workable plan to save the nearly century-old clubhouse at the site of the Las Cruces Country Club. That single-story brick stucco structure was designed by the legendary El Paso architect Henry Trost and for decades served as a lounge for golfers, while providing meeting space for any number of community activities. The future of the Pueblo-designed building, which was built at a reported cost of $18,000, has been in question ever since the golf course itself closed in 2011, with work on a 30-acre medical campus beginning in 2018. Earlier this year members of the Las Cruces City Council voted in favor of rezoning the larger site, allowing for mixed-use development. But what to do with the clubhouse has remained a thorny question, with several community groups advocating for its preservation, and city officials noting that ultimately the matter remains in the hands of the developer. Now Mayor Ken Miyagishima has suggested that the city may be able to pay for half of the cost of moving structure to another location, if those interested in preserving it would come up with the other half. If any group wants to “form an organization, whether it’s a ‘Save the Las Cruces County Club LLC,’ or whatever it may be, and raise half the money, I will do my best to come up with the other half, whether it’s some other type of appropriation,” said the Mayor. Noting cost estimates, saying it will take around $290,000 to move the building, Miyagishima continued: “The current owner said he is willing to spend the amount he was going to use for demolition, which was $40,000 towards that $290,000.” That leaves $250,000. Miyagishima said the city could come up with $125,000 of that amount, leaving it up to those who want to save the building to raise the remaining $125,000. By Garry Boulard In its latest move to forestall continuing inflation, the Federal Reserve has announced that it is raising short term interest rates by exactly 0.5%. The announcement means the overall Fed fund rate is now in the 4.5% range, the highest it’s been in 15 years, with some analysts predicting it could hit upwards of 5.2% by the end of next year. Fed chairman Jerome Powell said the nation’s central banking system has spent the last year taking “forceful actions to tighten the stance of monetary policy. We have covered a lot of ground, and the full effects of our rapid tightening so far are yet to be felt.” Powell added, in a statement possibly suggesting further rate hikes in 2023, “We have more work to do.” Noting a decline in inflation as recorded in both October and November, Power also called that trend a “welcome reduction,” before adding, “But it will take substantially more evidence to give confidence that inflation is on a sustained downward path.” Powell also addressed the big recession question by remarking: “I don’t think anyone knows whether we’re going to have a recession or not. And if we do, whether it's going to be a deep one or not. It’s just not knowable.” While the 4.5% figure is high when looked in the context of the last two decades, it’s almost nothing, say economists, when compared with the historic rates seen in the late 1970s early 1980s. Then the rate meandered from around 13% to an all-time high of 19.1%, with the figure gradually declining to 8.2% by the end of the 1980s. The most recent rate hike, says the Washington Post, is evidence of uncertainty at the Federal Reserve. “How much pain is ahead for families and businesses remains to be seen.” Notes the Financial Times: “As the central bank’s actions have begun to have a noticeable impact on the economy, a debate has emerged about how much more restraint is needed to tame inflationary pressures that remain elevated in many sectors.” By Garry Boulard |
Get stories like these right to your inbox.
|