Town Council/Mayoral Candidate Forum Questions Submitted by the Public
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Subject: Poverty
At just $31,112 (U.S. Census Bureau), the median household income in the Town of Taos is 16% below that of Taos County ($36,582), 36% below that of New Mexico, and 54% below the median household income of the nation ($53,885). Why is this, and what could your administration do to improve incomes within the town?
Taos is a small town -roughly 6000 people living in 6 square miles. And we are a poor community by most standards. In 2019 Taos’ poverty rate was almost 30%, according to some sources, more than twice the national average of 13.4%, and even greater than NM’s 19%. Taos experiences many of the side-effects of poverty: drug and alcohol abuse, domestic violence, homelessness, school drop-out rate, etc. In the last couple of years, all this has been further complicated by Covid. As Mayor/Town Council member, what is one way you would begin to address the issue of poverty in Taos.
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