County Tax Goes to Support Spaceport

Voters in Doña Ana County, New Mexico, have approved a new 1/4 percent tax increase which will go to support infrastructure development at Spaceport America.

"This positive vote ignites the final design, engineering and construction of Spaceport America," said Rick Homans, chairman of the New Mexico Spaceport Authority and the state's cabinet secretary for economic development. "We can now say that Spaceport America is ready for blast off -- all systems are go. New Mexico is prepared to launch a whole new era of discovery, exploration and commercial activity in space, on the Moon and beyond. We have nothing but beautiful black sky ahead of us."

The tax is expected to generate approximately $6.5 million a year for 20-years. Up to 25-percent, $1.6 million, of the revenue will be used to fund math and science programs in the county school system. The other 75 percent, $4.9 million, will be used as a revenue stream to bond approximately $50 million towards the construction of Spaceport America.

Homans said the next two critical milestones for Spaceport America will be the Record of Decision (ROD) on the Environmental Impact Statement, and then receipt of the site operator's license from the Federal Aviation Administration, expected in the first quarter of 2008.

The unofficial tally of votes, released by the Doña Ana County Bureau of Elections, showed that the tax passed by a margin of only 270 votes.

"Winning this election was one of the biggest hurdles we faced when we proposed this project in December 2005," said Homans. "All of us involved with Spaceport America extend a major thank you to the voters of Dona Ana County for the confidence they have expressed in this project and our ability to make it happen."

The spaceport is expected to be operational by late 2009 or early 2010.

KW