The Sun reported the McKinley County Board of Commissioners approved a resolution related to the annual joint agreement with the City of Gallup for use of the Liquor Excise Tax funds during its Aug. 4 meeting.

The other party in that agreement had its own discussion of the LET during the Gallup City Council’s Aug. 11 meeting.

The city’s resolution, similar to the county’s resolution, allows for the allocation and distribution of LET revenue for Fiscal Year 2021. The item was read by City Attorney Curtis Hayes.

“This is the local Liquor Excise Tax that is only collected in Gallup and McKinley County. We’re the only county in the state allowed to have this tax,” Hayes said.

The local Liquor Excise Tax revenue is allocated to the City of Gallup and McKinley County based on the recommendations of the LET Task Force, a committee comprised of both city and county officials.

“As long as the voters keep approving this, we’ll have this money to wrangle with the county about every year,” Hayes said.

The final revenue count for the Fiscal Year 2020 is estimated to be about $1.25 million. As a result, the LET Task Force designated the following amounts for several city and county programs:

$835K to the city to pay for the operation of the detox facility

$200K to the county to operate the Juvenile Substance Abuse Program

$100K to the county to operate the McKinley County DWI Program

$115K to the county to pay for detox and substance abuse treatment in the jail

The amount for the detox facility, Na’nizhoozi Center, Inc., is set at the highest amount as the facility was designated the highest priority for the city, Hayes added.

The resolution was approved with a 5-0 vote, which means the county will take the designated funds from LET revenue first and then pass along the remaining amount to the city to continue operation of NCI.

By Cody Begaye
Sun Correspondent