Ordinance will allow city to proceed with program started in 2018, which addresses properties in disrepair
After more than six years, the City of Española’s program to clean up abandoned properties is moving into its final phase.
The Española City Council passed an ordinance at their meeting on Feb. 11, which will allow the city to proceed with its Clean and Lien Program that it started in 2018.
The program began with a list of more than 40 properties within city limits with damaged and dilapidated structures, vehicles and other materials that needed to be demolished and cleaned up.
City Attorney Frank Coppler said they will first file foreclosure documents and then file the summons with the First Judicial District Court. Then the last known property owner will be sent a letter at their last known address alerting them of the summons.
The passed ordinance lists each property address, its owner and the total amount owed. As listed, the property owners owe the city $202,677.58. Costs range from $755.15 for the cleanup of a property at 1015 West Bond Street to $79,684.99 for a property at 2227 North McCurdy Road.
Coppler said the city must also alert the New Mexico Department of Taxation and Revenue and Rio Arriba County.
Prior to any filings, the city will verify that the price listed includes the correct cost to clean up the property, allowable interest, a $15 filing fee, taxes and reasonable attorney fees.
Mayor John Ramon Vigil asked Coppler to start with 10 properties, and believes all the owners listed are all deceased.
If a property owner is interested in keeping their property, Coppler said, they can come to the city and ask to discuss all charges within the lien.
“We sit down with them and go through those calculations, and then if we can make a deal, if they want to buy it back, they have the right of redemption,” he said. “That’s what it’s called in the law. So they can buy back their property by paying back the lien.”
If a property owner does not pay back the lien, he said, it then goes up for public sale.
“People can come in and bid the amount or bid higher than the amount if someone believes the particular property is worth more than what is open quote against it,” Coppler said. “That would include what is owed to us, what is owed to the County (and) what is owed to the state tax department.”
If no one bids, the city owns the property outright.
Española City Manager Eric Lujan said during the meeting that there is a second option for the city to obtain ownership of a property.
“We can actually pay off the taxes and own them outright, and property taxes aren’t high in Rio Arriba County, so we may want to look at that option as well, mayor,” Lujan said.
Coppler said it would be smart to look at each individual property and determine its value to the city.
“Some of these properties may be worth more than the total amount against them,” he said. “Some of them may be worth less, and after we make that determination, we go forward.”
Any money generated by the public sale of these properties or payment of the back-owed taxes and liens should go into a revolving fund, Vigil said. This money would then be used to pay for future clean and lien projects so that the city can continue to demolish derelict buildings and clean up the abandoned properties.
This happened when the city demolished the Arrow Motel in January 2018.
Coppler said the Garcia Automotive Group paid the city $225,000 for the property, which it then sold to Santa Clara Pueblo.
While future Clean and Lien programs would have to be created by future city councils, Coppler said, the discussion in 2018 was to create this revolving fund so that they would have a way to continuously fund them.
Price Discrepancies
The city does not expect to make back all the money it paid for the properties to be cleaned up.
Vigil said the property owned by Polk Taos Properties LTD. at 803 S. Riverside Drive costs thousands of dollars more than the $3,215.25 listed in the ordinance.
The former gas station costs more than $20,000 to clean up and remediate, Vigil said, plus the cost of putting out a fire at the property that broke out in 2024.
Coppler said he believes they can complete the foreclosure and summons process for all 10 properties listed in the ordinance within 10 months. Notice of the ordinance will be published in the Rio Grande SUN about two weeks after its passage on Feb. 11.