If you haven’t voted already, I strongly recommend printing up your sample ballot before heading over to the polls. If you live in Bernalillo County, you can download your sample ballot here. The federal office races may get the lion share of attention, but you’ll find they only make up a small portion of the ballot real estate.
In fact on my ballot there is no less than a whole page of 12 bond and levy proposals to consider – plus five constitutional amendments. With the market continuing on its downward spiral, and the news of a worsening economy leading off every news hour, you have to wonder who in their right mind would vote to increase property taxes (mill levies) or authorize more government borrowing (bonds).
The problem with the latter is that in a recession, government revenues will drop (think $10 million budget shortfall for Bernalillo County), and when there isn’t enough money coming in, you can bet your last dollar that it won’t be long before your friendly local government entity will come after you and I with tax increases to make up the revenue shortfall.