On Sunday, May 17, the Albuquerque Journal, as part of its Election 2026 coverage of the June 2 Democratic Party primary, ran on page A-4, a news report on the ‘26 Bernalillo County Assessors Race between Democrats Incumbent Damian Lara and Deputy Treasurer Linda Stover. The article was written by Journal Staff Writer Gillian Barkhurst.
Following is the unedited article with the link to the article with photos:
JOURNAL HEADLINES: “Two candidates compete for Bernalillo County assessor seat”; “Incumbent faces former county clerk”
BY Gillian Barkhurst, Journal Staff Writer
“Two Democratic opponents are vying for the Bernalillo County assessor’s seat, and with no Republican or third-party challengers in the race, whoever wins the upcoming Democratic primary will go into the November election unopposed.
Incumbent Assessor Damian Lara, elected in 2022, faces off against challenger Linda Stover, former Bernalillo County clerk and current deputy treasurer.
The assessor is responsible for determining property values, which in turn can start or stall economic development and ultimately alter the county’s total tax revenue and budget.
Lara said his work speaks for itself, pointing to a lower mill rate for the largest bracket of residential properties and progress in economic development in Albuquerque.
“Both of my promises have been fulfilled,” he said.
Stover, however, accused Lara of enacting “unfair” policies that hurt Albuquerque’s business community rather than enlivening it. However, Lara stood behind his policies, saying reassessing derelict properties encouraged absentee owners to sell and stop using Bernalillo County as a “write-off.”
Voters can cast their ballots in the Democratic primary from now, during early voting, until Election Day on June 2.
THE INCUMBENT: DAMIAN LARA
Lara, an attorney, said his best quality is his “work ethic.”
Lara graduated from Brown University with a degree in political science and continued on to the University of New Mexico Law School. As an attorney, Lara practiced personal injury and immigrant rights law, according to the State Bar of New Mexico website.
Lara later served as Bernalillo County deputy assessor from 2013 to 2017 and deputy director of economic development at the city of Albuquerque from 2021 until winning the assessor’s seat.
Alongside his policies to reduce what he called “zombie” buildings in the county, Lara said he lobbied for tax exemptions for veterans at the Legislature and lowered the tax rate, called a mill rate, for residential properties within city limits.
According to campaign filings released Monday, Lara has outearned and outspent Stover in the race so far, with $40,133 in expenditures and $81,447 in total donations. His top donors include Double Eagle Real Estate, Teo-San Construction and the Local 244 Firefighters Union.
CHALLENGER: LINDA STOVER
Stover boasts a yearslong career in county politics. But before all that, she was a Realtor and worked in mortgage lending for rural New Mexicans.
County government, in a way, was her retirement project.
Stover attended both the University of New Mexico and Fullerton College, a community college in California. She worked for 33 years as a mortgage lender, a background she said gave her an intimate understanding of the state’s tax and assessment laws.
After retiring, Stover ran for county clerk in 2016. She won that race and was elected to a second term. She currently serves as deputy treasurer, although her hiring, just days after leaving office, drew criticism from the County Commission.
If elected, Stover said she would focus on fairness and restoring trust between the Assessor’s Office and the business community.
As for specific policies, Stover was unsure.
“I don’t know that because I’m not there,” Stover said. “I’ll have to get into the office and see what’s there, what’s actually been done.”
As of Monday, Stover had raised $43,905 in funds and spent approximately $36,628 on her campaign. She made a $13,450 donation to herself and also received a $4,000 donation from Treasurer Tim Eichenberg. Other donors include Presbyterian Health Corp. and Melloy Brothers Enterprises, also known as Melloy Autogroup.
INFIGHTING AT THE COUNTY
Though political opponents in the upcoming election, Lara and Stover are already on opposite sides of a power struggle between the assessor’s and treasurer’s offices over how to tax short-term rentals like Airbnb.
Lara has since filed a lawsuit against Eichenberg alleging he unilaterally changed the tax classification of more than 1,000 properties, causing the county to lose out on $1.8 million. Stover has staunchly defended Eichenberg, saying that the policies Lara enacted were unfair and outside his jurisdiction as a county assessor.
“I think people need to stay focused on what affects them, not this malarkey that’s being spread all around,” Stover said. “I think it’s a distraction.”
But that spat isn’t the first time Stover has followed Eichenberg into controversy. After her term as county clerk was over, Eichenberg offered her a job as second-in-command, violating the county’s code of conduct, which forbids elected officials from working at the county for one year after leaving office.
County commissioners challenged Stover, who continued to work as deputy treasurer while a legal battle ensued. The courts ultimately sided with the County Commission, as did the county’s independent Code of Conduct Review Board.
“I picked up my purse and I left and I stayed gone until January,” Stover said.
Eichenberg then rehired Stover after the one-year waiting period had lapsed.
In Lara’s opinion, Stover’s disregard for the county’s code of conduct is a preview into what she’d be like as an assessor.
“I stood up for what I thought was right,” Stover said of the hiring dispute. “So I’m not ashamed of that and I’ll never apologize for it.”
Lara disagreed, saying she blatantly violated the county’s transparency policies and only backed down when a judge commanded her to.
“I think voters need to know that,” Lara said. “And like she said when the Journal first interviewed her — she has to answer the voters for that.”
Gillian Barkhurst is a general assignment reporter for the Journal. She can be reached at gbarkhurst@abqjournal.com.
The link to the Journal article with photos of the candidates is here:
https://www.abqjournal.com/news/two-candidates-compete-for-bernalillo-county-assessor-seat/3042923
ASSESSOR LARA FILES CIVIL COMPLAINT AGAINST TREASURER EICHENBERG
On April 27, Bernalillo County Assessor Damian Lara filed civil Complaint for Declaratory Judgment and Injunctive Relief against Bernalillo County Treasurer Tim Eichenberg in State District Court. The civil complaint alleges:
- Eichenberg willfully and knowingly violated his obligations of his office as Treasurer.
- Eichenberg usurped the authority and duties of County Assessor Damian Lara.
- Eichenberg placed his own personal interests for financial gain above his duty to the public.
At the core of the legal battle between County Assessor Damian Lara and Treasurer Tim Eichenberg is how short-term rental properties should be classified for property tax purposes. The lawsuit alleges Eichenberg unilaterally changed property reclassifications of properties to commercial property made by Assessor Lara back to residential property for tax purposes. Lara’s lawsuit against Eichenberg alleges that following the Assessor’s transmittal of the certified tax schedule to the Treasurer’s office, Eichenberg unilaterally accessed a confidential county database and altered the valuation and classification of 1,047 properties that the Assessor’s Office Assessor had classified as nonresidential, reverting them to a residential classification and changing their valuation to their 2024 value thereby adversely affecting and reducing the county’s projected tax revenue collections by nearly $1.8 million.
ASSESSOR LARA FILES ETHICS COMPLAINT AGAINST TREASURER EICHENBERG
On April 27, Bernalillo County Assessor Damian Lara filed a formal complaint with the New Mexico State Ethics Commission requesting an investigation into suspected violations of the New Mexico Government Conduct Act (GCA) for personal financial gain by Bernalillo County Treasurer Tim Eichenberg. At the epicenter center of the ethics complaint file with the New Mexico State Ethics Commission is that Treasurer Eichenberg has a financial interest in the firm known as NM Property Tax, Inc. (“NMPT”). The firm is a private for-profit enterprise that represents property owners in appealing their property tax assessments in Bernalillo County and statewide. The ethics complaint alleges Eichenberg directly and personally benefited financially from the reduced tax assessments obtained for NMPT’s clients, whether through contingency fees, percentage-of-savings compensation, or other financial benefits derived from those clients’ reduced tax obligations.
Evidence submitted to the New Mexico State Ethics Commission proving violations of the New Mexico Government Conduct Act includes documents and recordings that Treasurer Eichenberg personally appeared on January 15, 2025 before the Sandoval County Valuation Protest Board representing Presbyterian Healthcare Services. The Sandoval Board made a specific ruling and a finding that the property owner Presbyterian Healthcare Services was represented by Tim Eichenberg and Carolyn Winter from NM Property Tax, Inc. (“NMPT”) and that they appeared in person before the Board. In a recording in another proceeding, Treasurer Eichenberg can be heard saying that he “negotiated a fee” with Carolyn Winter, implying that he was employed by her.
The postscript contains links to News and Commentary articles on the litigation and the ethics complaint.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The postscript provides a further summation of both the civil complaint and the complaint filed with the New Mexico State Ethics Commission by Assessor Damian Lara against Treasurer Tim Eichenberg. The summation of the litigation is in the postscript for the sake of brevity for this article and for clarity to the reader. The summary provides a necessary backdrop as to Eichenberg’s conduct and why he recruited and is supporting Linda Stover. Readers are encouraged to read the postscript on the litigation to gain a full understanding of what is going on with the power struggle between Assessor Damian Lara and Treasurer Tim Eichenberg.
STOVER CAMPAIGN DONATIONS
According to the most recent campaign finance report filed on May 9 by Linda Stover with the New Mexico Secretary of State Office, Stover has Total Contributions of $43,905.00, Total Expenditures of $33,628.12, In-Kind Contributions of $7,200.00, a Current Debt Balance of $18,450.00 and Current Cash Balance of $10,276.88. Linda Stover’s Top five Contributors are listed as follows:
- Linda Stover: $13,450.
- Presbyterian Health Corp: $5,000.
- Melloy Bros. Enterprises, Inc: $5,000.
- Moises Philip Griego: $5,000.
- Tim Eichenberg: $4,000
The link to the Stover finance report filed with the Secretary of State is here:
COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS
The Albuquerque Journal article down plays to a tremendous extent the political feud between Bernalillo County Assessor Damion Lara and Bernalillo County Treasurer Tim Eichenberg. The Albuquerque Journal article completely ignored and omits reporting on the ethics complaint filed with the New Mexico State Ethics Commission by Lara against Eichenberg. The ethics charges against Eichenberg as well as Stover should cause the most concern to Democrat voters in the primary. The litigation provides the necessary backdrop that must be taken into consideration and explains to some extent why Linda Stover is Tim Eichenberg’s candidate for Assessor given that she does not feel Eichenberg has done anything wrong and she is in full support of Treasurer Eichenberg usurping the authority of Assessor Damian Lara.
STOVER DONATIONS RED FLAG
The fact that Treasurer Eichenberg has donated $4,000 to the Stover Campaign is evidence that he has a vested interest in her becoming Assessor. The fact that Presbyterian Health Corp has donated $5,000 to Stover raises serious ethical red flag’s given the facts that Treasurer Eichenberg represented Presbyterian before the Sandoval County Valuation Protest Board in 2025. Presbyterian also has its main hospital and numerous Urgent Care facilities in Albuquerque all of which the property values are assessed by the County Assessor for tax purposes. Presbyterian Health Corp currently is appealing tax assessment valuations in Bernalillo County. The question that must be asked of both Eichenberg and Stover is if they jointly or separately solicited the Presbyterian Health Corp for $5,000 donation and if they made any promises or made any assurances to Presbyterian regarding its tax assessments or appeals?
STOVER GOES NEGATIVE
Deputy Treasurer Linda Stover has gone very negative in her campaign to unseat Assessor Damian Lara. Stover is attempting to mislead homeowners with her false accusations of “tax lightening”.
In recent direct mail flyers sent out to registered Democrats, Stover falsely accuses Lara of unlawful increases in assessments and goes so far as to portray Assessor Lara as the “King of tax lightening” depicting his picture with a crown superimposed on it.
By state law all residential property is on a 3% cap, unless a new owner purchases the home, there is a major upgrading remodeling or if there is a rezoning of the property. In such cases, the assessor is required by law to bring the property to its current and correct value and it is that which is sometimes referred to as “tax lighting.” The Assessor Office has no choice and is required by law to conduct yearly property value assessment for tax purposes. There is no similar limitation on property increases for nonresidential commercial properties.
Simply put, Stover’s campaign flyers are at the very least very misleading or at worst false. They are nothing more than a distraction from her and Treasurer Eichenberg’s real goal of taking control of the Assessor’s office.
FINAL COMMENT
Deputy Treasurer Linda Stover is heavily indebted to Tim Eichenberg for his hiring of her as Deputy Treasurer at a high paying salary after she left office as County Clerk. Stover wanted a high paying job and Treasurer Eichenberg had no problem accommodating the politcal favor despite the County’s code of conduct, which forbids elected officials from working at the county for one year after leaving office.
Bernalillo County’s Independent Code of Conduct Review Board found that both Bernalillo County Treasurer Tim Eichenberg and former County Clerk Linda Stover violated the code of conduct when Eichenberg hired Stover as Deputy Treasurer at an annual salary of $160,000 the day after Stover’s term as county clerk ended. The board declared in no uncertain terms that the hiring was unethical and in violation of county’s policies. The County Commission had no choice but to go to court and have Stover removed, but she soon returned after the one year had expired.
Links to quoted or relied upon news sources are here:
https://citydesk.org/2025/05/14/review-board-finds-deputy-treasurer-violated-ethics-code/
JOINED AT THE POLITICAL HIP
Eichenberg and Stover are joined at the political hip. Stover is willing to do whatever is necessary to help Eichenberg based on her friendship and blind loyalty to him and her indebtedness for her job. Stover staunchly defends her longtime friend and her boss Tim Eichenberg. Stover says that the policies Assessor Lara enacted were unfair when in fact he was following the letter of the law and doing what he is required to do by law. If Stover is elected, she will not be independent of Treasurer Eichenberg and Stover will no doubt cave into his demands and wishes on how the Assessors Office is run and how it functions.
POLITICS AT ITS VERY WORSE
Linda Stover falsely claims Damian Lara’s actions of classification of properties from residential to commercial is outside his jurisdiction as County Assessor. The truth is that it was Treasurer Eichenberg who exceeded his authority as Treasurer and usurped the exclusive authority of the County Assessor. Linda Stover simply went along with it.
The ongoing feud between County Assessor Damian Lara and Treasurer Tim Eichenberg is Bernalillo County politics at its very worst that voters resent and should not tolerate. It resulted in Eichenberg actively recruiting his Deputy Treasurer Linda Stover to run against incumbent Assessor Damian Lara.
The ultimate goal of Eichenberg and Stover is to take over the Assessor’s Office and allow the Treasurer to interfere or change tax assessments and have the Assessor’s office run by Treasurer Eichenberg and his political crony Linda Stover.
Ethics in government must matter! Please Vote on June 4 for Incumbent Assessor Damian Lara.
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POSTSCRIPT
At the core of the legal battle between County Assessor Damian Lara and Treasurer Tim Eichenberg and the ethics charges against Eichenberg is how short-term rental properties should be classified for property tax purposes. The lawsuit alleges Eichenberg unilaterally changed property reclassifications of properties to commercial property made by Assessor Lara back to residential property for tax purposes. Worth noting is the fact that most other counties in the state classify properties used primarily as short-term rentals as non-residential properties.
In 2025, following a lengthy and systematic review of properties operating as short term rentals within the county, including properties listed on platforms such as Airbnb, County Assessor Lara determined that approximately one thousand forty-seven (1,047) such properties were being used as commercial enterprises rather than as owner-occupied or as long-term residential rental dwellings. Pursuant to the exclusive authority vested in the Assessor under the Property Tax Code, the Bernalillo County Assessor’s Office undertook the annual assessment of property in 2025. As part of the property assessment, Assessor Lara reclassified the 1,047 properties from residential to nonresidential classification for tax year 2025 because the primary use of the property was the commercial use as a short-term rental. The change was consistent with the properties’ actual use and applicable classification standards.
Once the Assessor has completed his legal duty to classify properties by their use, and establish a valuation of those properties, the process for any owner disagreeing with the classification of their property or the valuation was to either file an appeal to a tax protest board or file a claim for refund with the District Court.
Lata’s complaint against Eichenberg alleges that following the Assessor’s transmittal of the certified tax schedule to the Treasurer’s office, Eichenberg unilaterally accessed a confidential county database and altered the valuation and classification of 1,047 properties that Assessor Lara had classified as nonresidential, reverting them to a residential classification and changing their valuation to their 2024 value. Eichenberg’s alteration of the tax schedule had the direct effect of reinstating the affected properties’ assessment at the 2024 taxable value and applying a residential tax rate to those properties. This substantially reduced the assessed values and the property tax obligations of the affected owners, adversely affecting and reducing the Treasurer’s projected tax revenue collections by nearly $1.8 million.
Lara’s complaint alleges that Eichenberg’s subversion of the statutory protest process began prior to the dissemination of the county 2025 tax bills. The complaint alleges that during the Bernalillo County Protest Board hearings on October 17, 2025, Eichenberg sat outside of the hearing room and distributed a document entitled “Affidavit” which attested that he had already identified those properties reclassified by the Assessor and “attempted to correct the classification…to residential.” This interference in the protest process had a chilling effect on subsequent protests, whereby property owners withdrew their protests in reliance on the Treasurer’s unlawful assertion that he had the ability and authority to “correct” their tax bills unilaterally, which he did not.
The complaint alleges that Eichenberg performed his valuation change and reclassification without any administrative proceeding, without authority under any provision of the Property Tax Code and without order of any court or the New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department (“TRD”). New Mexico statute explicitly enumerates the circumstances in which the County Treasurer may correct the property tax schedule after its delivery to him by the Assessor. Those circumstances are narrowly defined and ministerial in nature.
State law does not grant the Treasurer authority to change values nor reclassify a property’s use category or for that matter to override the Assessor’s determinations of classification and value. The statute specifically states that “obvious errors” does not include the method used to determine the valuation for, or a difference of opinion in the value of, the property subject to property taxation. Defendant Eichenberg’s actions therefor exceeded his authority under the law and his changes to value and classification were void by operation of law.
On October 27, 2025, Treasurer Eichenberg released a press release from his office stating that he unilaterally corrected “the classification of short-term rental properties on this year’s tax bill after they were reclassified as nonresidential by the county assessor.” In a related document titled “Affidavit” and signed by him, Treasurer Eichenberg states in pertinent part that “I am aware that the Bernalillo County assessor has reclassified 2,000 single family homes as nonresidential and removed the 3% cap assessed values.” Eichenberg further states “[i]n my current role as county treasurer and with authority given to me by state statute, I have attempted to correct the classification of nonresidential properties described as short term rentals by the county assessor, to residential.” State statute does not give Eichenberg such authority.
ETHICS VIOLATIONS ALLEGED
The May 17 Albuquerque Journal makes no reference and fails to report on the ethics complaint file with the New Mexico State Ethics Commission by Lara against Eichenberg.
The most serious allegations contained in the State District Court civil complaint and in the ethics complaint file with the New Mexico State Ethics Commission is that Eichenberg has a financial interest in the firm known as NM Property Tax, Inc. (“NMPT”). The firm is a private for-profit enterprise that represents property owners in appealing their property tax assessments in Bernalillo County and statewide. NMPT’s website at www.nmpropertytax.com identifies Treasurer Tim Eichenberg as an owner and lists his credentials, including his time as former Bernalillo County Treasurer and his prior service as New Mexico State Treasurer and Bernalillo County Deputy Assessor.
Among the properties whose values and classifications were unilaterally changed by Eichenberg to residential, eight were clients of NMPT who retained NMPT specifically to challenge or reduce their property tax assessments. These eight NMPT clients pursued formal protests of the County Assessor’s commercial classification through the administrative appeals process before the Bernalillo County Assessor’s Protest Board. One of these clients withdrew their protest prior to formal hearing with the Board. The remaining seven of these property protests were adjudicated and the appeals were denied, resulting in final administrative determinations upholding the nonresidential classification and increased valuation to reflect current and correct value pursuant to state statute. Despite those final adverse administrative rulings, Treasurer Eichenberg failed to correct the county database he had altered, effectively overruling final administrative decisions without statutory authority or court order.
The civil complaint and ethics complaint alleges Eichenberg directly and personally benefited financially from the reduced tax assessments obtained for NMPT’s clients, whether through contingency fees, percentage-of-savings compensation, or other financial benefits derived from those clients’ reduced tax obligations. Such an arrangement caused Defendant Treasurer Eichenberg to reap financial benefits from securing the lowest possible assessments for NMPT clients, including through the abuse, in this instance, of his official powers as Treasurer.
Both the civil complaint and ethics complaint allege that Eichenberg did not recuse himself from taking official action with respect to properties in which he held a financial interest through NMPT client relationships, in violation of his mandatory disqualification obligations under the Governmental Conduct Act or the Bernalillo County Code of Conduct. According to the complaint Eichenberg did not disclose his financial interest in NMPT to the Bernalillo County Assessor’s Protest Board nor to any other governmental authority prior to taking official acts affecting NMPT clients’ properties.
The lawsuit is asking the District Court to declare that the conduct and actions of Treasurer Eichenberg in changing property classifications from commercial to residential were beyond his legal power and authority. The lawsuit seeks a declaratory judgment that Eichenberg has a “conflict of interest” that precludes him from taking any official act for any property represented by a company known as “NM Property Tax” (NMPT) which he or family members have an interest in.
On May 1, Bernalillo County Assessor Damian Laura submitted evidence to the New Mexico State Ethics Commission proving violations of the New Mexico Government Conduct Act. That evidence included documents and recordings that show Bernalillo County Treasurer Eichenberg personally appeared on January 15, 2025 before the Sandoval County Valuation Protest Board representing Presbyterian Healthcare Services. The Sandoval Board made a specific ruling and a finding that the property owner Presbyterian Healthcare Services was represented by Tim Eichenberg and Carolyn Winter from New Mexico Property Tax, that they appeared in person and that they were informed of the relevant statutes and Property Tax Division regulations governing proceedings before the Board. In a recording in another proceeding, Treasurer Eichenberg can be heard saying that he negotiated a fee with Carolyn Winter, implying that he is now working for her.
On May 4, Assessor Lara filed a Motion for a Preliminary Injunction and then a permanent injunction allowing Plaintiff Assessor Lara to restore the nonresidential classifications and values of all properties improperly reclassified and improperly valued by Treasurer Eichenberg and enjoining Defendant Eichenberg from making further unauthorized and illegal alterations to the certified tax schedule. The motion is still pending.
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Link to related Dinelli News and Commentary articles are here: