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A major consideration for relocating in New Mexico is the state's tax system affecting retirees. Among the most equitable in the country, the states tax structure for retirees competes favorably with other tax systems in the United States. Property taxes are among the lowest in the U.S. New Mexico ranks 49th in the country on property tax burden. Individuals with a modified gross income of up to $16,000 can receive a tax credit rebate of up to $250.00. Personal income tax also is low for senior citizens in comparison with other states. Taxable income is based on federal adjusted gross income with reductions for personal exemption allowances, standard deductions and excess federal itemized deductions. Beginning at age 65, all taxpayers qualify for a state $8,000 exemption in addition to the federal exemption. The state exemption starts to level off as adjusted gross income climbs above $30,000 for married taxpayers filing jointly (at $18,000 for single taxpayers). Other tax laws of interest to retirees include the state's estate tax gross receipts tax and succession tax. The estate tax is a 10 percent credit against the federal tax and is imposed on the transfer of the net estate in the amount equal to the federal credit. The succession tax applies only to those estates where the deceased died before 1972 and there is land involved. It does not affect new retirees. A state gross receipts tax of 5 percent is levied on all receipts of tangible property sold or leased and services sold. Local add-ons could add up to as much as 2.8725 percent more. There is no gift tax.
The town of Deming offers an invigorating climate-high desert with warm days and cool nights, perfect for year-round activities. We have fresh, clean air and excellent water for those seeking a healthier lifestyle. The town was named for Mary Ann Deming. The town of Deming was born when the Southern Pacific and Santa Fe Railroads came together here in 1881. Santa Fe coaches were painted bright yellow and the trains formed a picturesque sight as they skimmed over the prairie with the engines spewing smoke. The distance from Kansas City to San Francisco was 2,358 miles, five days in transit. It required three nights and two days from Kansas City to Deming and three days and two nights from Deming to San Francisco so Deming became a natural stopping point on route. Because of hotel demand the next year the Harvey House was built and served as the union station, restaurant and local hotel. For almost a half-century it attracted the famous and the infamous, from presidents to revolutionary leaders. Luna County was formed in 1901 and was carved from parts of Grant and Dona Ana Counties. Deming became the county seat. The Deming Luna Mimbres Museum is the most famous building on the famous Deming Silver Strip. A wing from the rear of the main building stretches south to Maple Street. A recent addition projects from there back to Silver Street, forming a horseshoe enclosure around Veterans Park. The phenomenal growth of the museum has attracted national attention and earned it the reference as "The Little Smithsonian." Military encampments played an important part in the city's history. Camp Brooks was a summer camp in 1914 for the New Mexico state guard and federal troops from Fort Bliss. That success influenced the location of Camp Deming and the subsequent site of Camp Cody during World War I. World War II brought the Deming Army Air Field into existence with an estimated 12,000 Army personnel passing through the station. In the early days, the downtown area of Silver Street had many saloons. These served as a rendezvous for the drovers and cowboys who came to town. This part of town had a colorful past. Today Deming is a relaxing place to visit, raise a family, retire and spend your winter season. You can truly wrap yourself in the beauty of our landscape. Come and see why we are the best kept secret in the Land of Enchantment!
Individuals claiming land on the Maxwell Land grant found that it was impossible, without plenty of money, to litigate questions of law and of fact in the courts against the counsel employed by the Grant Company. Maxwell Land Grant troubles, open and frequent charges of fraud and corruption, of descriptions that were "vastly expanded upon and enlarged," it was claimed, raised such a stink in New Mexico and in Washington that finally the court of Private Land Claims was established in New Mexico. The New Mexico land grant problem was brought to the attention of President Grover Cleveland as early as 1885. President Cleveland appointed George W. Julian as Surveyor-General of New Mexico. Julian, seventy years old at the time of his appointment, entered upon the duties of his office with the zeal of a crusader, on July 22, 1885. Arriving in Santa Fe, Julian asked nothing of any man and feared no one. He had the full power and support of the Presidency behind him. He discovered that when New Mexico had been ceded to the United States by Mexico, the estimated area of the land grants made under Spanish and Mexican rule was 24,000 square miles, or something over 15,000,000 acres, equal in size to the land surface of Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Vermont; found that the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo of 1848, and the Law of Nations, obligated the United States to protect the title to all of the grants, so far as found valid under the laws of Spain and Mexico; found that the Congress of the United States had passed the Act of July 22, 1854, creating the office Surveyor-General of New Mexico, making it his duty to "ascertain the origin, nature, character and extent" of land grant claims, and to report his findings to the Congress for final action. Surveyor-General Julian worked daily and night in his new position. He blasted the "grant ring" of certain powerful men every chance he got with articles printed in New Mexican newspapers and nationally known magazines. Julian wrote a series of articles for the North American Review in 1887 and in his final recommendation he cited many instances of fraudulent grants and recommended that all land grant cases be referred to the Secretary of the Interior for final consideration. He concluded that Congress itself by "slipshod legislation in dealing with these grants, has surrendered to monopolists and thieves millions of acres of the public domain." Much is owed to Surveyor-General Julian for his efforts in solving the early land grant mess in New Mexico.
For years the Plains Indians considered as their own the country in New Mexico and southern Colorado which we call the Maxwell Land Grant. Thousands of the Plains Indians had been killed in inter-tribal wars, in battles with Mexican settlers and later American pioneers. The Indians had been pushed back from the Plains country further and further into the interior of New Mexico. For several years prior to 1861, the Mauche Utes and the Jicarilla Apaches had wandered about the northeastern part of New Mexico as if they were lost. The relations between the Indians and the American settlers were never good and on January 6, 1852, the second Legislature of the Territory of New Mexico adopted a memorial to the Congress of the United States, stating the situation from the viewpoint of the lawmakers. "Since the entrance of the American Army under General Kearney," the memorial recited, "this Territory had been a continual scene of outrage, robbery, and violence, carried on by the savage nations by which it is surrounded; our citizens, both native and adopted are daily massacred before our eyes, our stock driven from our fields, our property taken from our dwellings, our wives and daughters violated, and our children carried into captivity." The decree continued, "the presence of the powerful and well armed tribes of the Utahs, Kiaways, Shienes, and Jickorias on the north; the Comanches and Pawnes on the east tne southeast; the Mescalaras on the south; and the Gila and Coita Apaches and Navajos on the west and southwest, render it impossible for our citizens, unarmed and improvised as they are, to resist, avert or prevent these evils." The Legislature recommended to the federal government a policy of force, a war of extermination, to be carried on against the Indians. The federal government was asked to permit New Mexico to raise two regiments to be placed in the field and maintained at the expense of the United States to fight Indians. In the Territory of New Mexico for the years 1848 to 1868, the federal government expended large sums of money in an attempt to subdue the Indians. It was estimated that since acquiring New Mexico, the military expenditures connected with Indian affairs have exceeded $4,000,000 annually which was a staggering sum at the time. During the 1860's the United States Army in New Mexico announced a war of extermination against the Apaches and Navajos. Bosque Redondo, at Fort Sumner, later the home of Lucien B. Maxwell, was the sorry place, of all places, chosen for the future home of the Indians. Apaches were first impounded there, and later the Navajos. At one time some nine thousand Navajos were virtually prisoners at Bosque Redondo. The attempt to later have the Utes and Jicarilla Apaches live ona part of the Maxwell Land Grant in the manner devised by the government had proved a complete failure. The project was abandoned sixteen years later. Today, there are a number of large, successful Indian Reservations in this area, including hotels and gambling facilities.
Portions of the material throughout this website were taken directly from the Luna County Visitors Guide. Our sole purpose is the promotion of Luna County and no other intentions are expressed or implied.
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