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TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES — The director of New Mexico's spaceport says Sierra County voters can take a step toward a place in world history by approving a tax to help fund the facility.

Steve Landeene, on the job since Jan. 7, spoke Thursday at a Sierra County Commission meeting and highlighted potential economic and educational benefits if a 1/4-cent gross receipts sales tax is approved April 22.

"This tax really holds the key to unleashing world history right here in Sierra County," Landeene said.

Not everyone welcomed the pitch. Leo Rivera, a retiree and former county commissioner, worried about the tax's effect on the elderly and said he'll vote against it. The area draws many retirees with its mild climate.

"I'm all for the spaceport but not for the tax," Rivera said. "Most of the people here are old. Many of them have very limited incomes. Sometimes they must make a choice between buying food or medicine."

Landeene said groceries and gasoline would be exempt, adding: "Nobody likes taxes, but you have to ask yourself, `What is the value proposition for Sierra County?' "

A vote in neighboring Do¤a Ana County won narrow approval last spring, passing by 270 votes among more than 17,000 cast. The county commission voted in October to delay the collection until a spaceport tax district is created.

But a district cannot be formed until at least two cities or counties approve a spaceport tax. That makes the Sierra County vote "kind of a linchpin," Landeene said.

The facility, officially known as Spaceport America, is planned on a site in Sierra County about 30 miles southeast of Truth or Consequences and 45 miles north of Las Cruces.

Landeene portrayed the spaceport as an investment in New Mexico's children, offering high-wage science and math jobs for future generations in an emerging commercial space industry.

The tax would add 25 cents to every $100 purchase and is expected to generate an estimated $300,000 annually for Sierra County during spaceport construction, he said.

The spaceport will boost the state's global profile, attracting business and tourism and exposing residents to a cutting-edge industry, Landeene said.

Rivera and others in the commission chambers snickered and shook their heads.

"If the big corporations are going to benefit from it, let them finance it," said B.T. Thedford, another retiree who opposes the tax.

Landeene said one study estimated the spaceport would generate $1 billion in economic development and 2,250 jobs within the first five years of operation. He noted the facility successfully launched two loads last year.

The "vertical launches" can continue during construction of the runways for "horizontal launch" aircraft that would take high-end tourists on space flights and lift payloads for high-altitude launches.

"We're open for business," Landeene said.