Committee of the Whole Meeting on 2025 GO Bond Program and Decade Plan, February 27, 2025
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Committee of the Whole Meeting on 2025 GO Bond Program and Decade Plan
The City of Albuquerque Committee of the Whole met on Thursday, February 27, 2025, from 5:00 PM to 11:34 PM in the Vincent E. Griego Chambers to review the Mayor's proposed 2025 General Obligation (GO) Bond Program and the 2025-2034 Decade Plan for Capital Improvements. The meeting featured presentations from the Chief Financial Officer, the Chief Operating Officer, and 17 city departments, followed by public comment and council discussion. At the end of the meeting, the council voted 8-0 (with one excused) to postpone the capital budget resolution (R-25-117) to the March 6, 2025, Committee of the Whole meeting.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Janet Sayers (Library Advisory Board, District 9 resident) expressed support for the bond issue, specifically the $3 million for library materials and the $7.6 million for rehabilitation of cultural facilities, stressing the needs of 19 library branches.
- Anami Dash expressed strong support for the Albuquerque Community Safety (ACS) department and public art, but raised concerns about a drastic decrease in ACS allocation in the 10-year schedule, suggesting APD does not need as many replacement trucks and that ACS needs more support.
- Jamie McQueen (League of Women Voters of New Mexico, affordable housing advocate) expressed full support for the $10 million capital request for affordable housing in R-25-117, noting the League's housing position and the economic multiplier effect of affordable housing (citing a $3.60 return per $1 invested). She urged the council to support the full $20 million needed for affordable housing in future years.
Discussion Items
- CIP Overview and Bonding Capacity: Kevin Soraso (CFO), Patrick Montoya (COO), and CIP staff presented the proposed $175 million bond program. The breakdown: approximately 58% for basic services ($101 million), 26.8% for community facilities ($47 million), and 15.2% for mandated programs ($26.6 million). They noted that 90% of the program is targeted for rehabilitation/deficiency correction, with 55% for rehabilitation. Director Turner (DMD) highlighted construction cost escalation: materials up nearly 60%, installation up over 10%, overall construction cost growth nearly 40% in recent years. New construction costs now $800–$1,400 per square foot and rehab $300–$600 per square foot.
- RBC Capital Markets Presentation: Eric Harrigan (RBC) explained the bonding capacity of $175 million based on the city's tax rate of $4.795, noting potential future impacts from two constitutional amendments increasing veteran property tax exemptions.
- Department Presentations: Each department presented its capital requests. Key themes included:
- Municipal Development (DMD): $12 million for storm drainage and MS4 compliance, $37.856 million for streets, including $8.556 million for street rehab, $4.3 million for sidewalks/medians, $6 million for street lighting, and $1.925 million for trails/bikeways. Councilor Lewis criticized the project labor agreement for delaying the Paseo del Norte/Unser widening project, while Councilor Rogers pressed on how the department uses the social vulnerability index to prioritize investments.
- Parks & Recreation: $7.8 million request for aquatics, open space, irrigation, playgrounds, and equipment. Director Simon noted 90% of residents live within a 10-minute walk of a park and highlighted the need to replace aging infrastructure.
- Albuquerque Community Safety (ACS): Director Jody Escobel requested $1.5 million for facility renovation and vehicles, citing a 35% vacancy rate and the need to house specialty teams. Councilor Rogers argued ACS should be funded more equitably as a third public safety arm.
- Fire (AFR): Chief Emily Jaramillo requested $2 million for apparatus replacement and $2.5 million for facility rehab, noting engine costs rose from $750,000 to $1.1 million and ladder trucks from $1.5 million to $1.9 million. Councilor Sanchez asked about response coverage near Community Stadium.
- Police (APD): Chief of Staff Michael Hernandez requested $5 million (originally $8 million) for facility renovations and fleet. Councilor Lewis and others questioned why APD's request was reduced while other departments received increases. Councilor Champine and Councilor Rogers noted the absence of the APD Chief.
- Transit: Director Keener requested $1.75 million for vehicles, facility rehab, and improvements. She explained the need for local match to draw down federal FTA funds and noted a $7 million deficit. Councilor Sanchez asked about bus security following a recent homicide; Councilor Rogers asked about shelters and trash cans.
- Office of Emergency Management (OEM): Deputy Director Joseph Lopez requested $1 million for a permanent unified command post at Balloon Fiesta Park, to be designed and planned, with full funding anticipated in 2028. Councilor Bassan and others questioned the addition to the decade plan and lack of neighbor outreach details.
- Health, Housing & Homelessness (HHH): Director Gilbert Ramirez and Deputy Director Joseph Montoya requested $10 million for the Workforce Housing Trust Fund (capped by ordinance) and another $10 million for facility improvements. Councilor Fiebelkorn challenged the cap, and Councilor Rogers asked about permanent supportive housing for seniors. Discussion revealed a need for over 30,000 housing units.
- Animal Welfare: Director Carolyn Ortega requested $1.5 million for facility rehab and $200,000 for vehicles, noting 10 vehicles with over 100,000 miles. Councilor Sanchez suggested reducing take-home vehicles to save costs.
- Arts & Culture: Director Shell Sanchez requested $7.85 million for facilities and $3 million for library materials. Councilor Bassan raised concerns about the scope listing Casa San Ysidro (outside city limits) and the lack of voter guarantee on fund allocation. Councilor Rogers asked about the International District Library HVAC.
- General Services (GSD): Director Nathan Martinez requested $9.185 million for building improvements, $250,000 for facility condition assessments, and $200,000 for fleet replacement. Councilor Rogers noted GSD does not use the social vulnerability index.
- Planning: COO Patrick Montoya presented a $934,000 request for technology and equipment for the planning department, including support for the new ABQ Plan permitting system.
- Senior Affairs: Director Anna Sanchez requested $5.5 million for facility improvements and fitness spaces. Councilor Rogers raised the need for senior homelessness prevention and rental assistance.
- Technology & Innovation (DTI): Director Mark Leach requested $400,000 for cybersecurity, network switches, and application integrations. He noted the average cost of a data breach now $4.5–$4.8 million.
- Youth & Family Services (YFS): Associate CAO Carla Martinez requested $4.75 million for facility renovations and $2.5 million for fitness/wellness equipment, including some funds for the North Domingo Baca Aquatic Center.
- Gateway Facility Questions: Many councilors asked whether any department funds would go to Gateway facilities (homeless shelters); most directors answered "none" or "no."
Motions and Votes
- Motion to suspend rules to extend meeting to 11:30 PM: Passed 7-1 (Rogers against, Lewis excused).
- Motion to suspend rules to extend meeting to 12:00 AM: Passed 7-1 (Rogers against, Lewis excused).
- Motion to postpone R-25-117 to March 6, 2025: Passed 8-0 (Lewis excused).
Key Outcomes
- The council postponed action on R-25-117 to March 6, 2025, to consider amendments and committee substitutes. A second Committee of the Whole meeting will be held then, with no live public comment but written comments accepted. The final capital budget will be sent to the March 17, 2025, City Council meeting for adoption.
- Multiple councilors expressed the need for specific project lists rather than broad categories, indicating they would not pass a CIP budget without clear project-level detail.
- The council committed to following up on several requests for data, including APD fleet costs, AMAFCA funding splits, social vulnerability index usage, and affordable housing funding options.
Discrepancy Note
The agenda was not provided, and the action summary lists a start time of 5:00 PM while the transcript indicates the meeting began with a call to order (likely later). The meeting adjourned at 11:34 PM per the action summary, and the transcript reflects the council extending the meeting to midnight, but the actual adjournment was 11:34 PM. The discrepancy is noted without resolution.
Meeting Transcript
Hi there. I call this meeting to order. This is the first of two committee of the whole meetings for the mayor's proposed 2025 general obligation bond program and the 2025 to 2020 2034 decade plan for capital improvement. All counselor counselors are present. Councilor Lewis is on its way. Members of the public, city staff, and the media have the ability to view this meeting in person and on live streams through four different platforms DevTV on Comcast Channel 16, the Gov TV website, YouTube, and Zoom webinar. The live streams can be accessed from most smartphones, tablets, or computers. Also, this meeting is closed captioned, and you may enable those closed captioning services on your television or device at this time. The video recording of this meeting will also remain available for viewing at any time on the council website. Council staff is available via telephone. If members of the public need assistance finding the videos online, please call 5057683100 for assistance during business hours, which are Monday through Friday, 8 to 8 to 5 p.m. Members of the public have the opportunity to address the committee if they have a signed up for the public comment for the rules published on the agenda and on our website Friday. The council will hold a second committee of the whole meeting for the 2025 Geobond program on Thursday, March 6th to consider amendments and committee substitutes to the bill on tonight's agenda. No live public comment will be taken on the March 6th meeting, but we will accept written comments. At the end of the March 6th meeting, the capital budget, as amended or substituted, will be sent to the Monday March 17th City Council meeting for adoption. Public comment will be taken at the March 17th council meeting. Tonight we will be hearing from city departments who are requesting capital funding. To start us off with a brief presentation. Joining us tonight are the city's chief financial officer, Mr. Kevin Soraso, the Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Patrick Montoya, and 17 Department Directors or Chief and their staff who are here to present their programs, and after each presentation, we'll be available to answer your question. Thank you for the opportunity to present Mayor Keller's proposed 2025 general obligation bond program and decade plan. I would like to thank the excellent staff at CIP, the departments, and the staff review committee members for all their hard work in helping make this program happen. The CIP division is responsible for implementing the city's capital improvement ordinance. That ordinance sets our highest priority as the rehabilitation of capital assets of the city. It also establishes the framework for the approval process for the general obligation bond program. City Council consideration of the Geo Bond Program and Decade Plan is the final step in the city's capital planning process before submission to the voters in November. The process began about a year ago with City Council adoption of the criteria resolution R23194 that can be found on page C1 if you have the printed version of the binder or page 190 if you have the electronic version. This resolution established policy and specific criteria for evaluating projects proposed for inclusion in the 2025 program. The program is then reviewed and evaluated by several different committees prior to submission to City Council. One of the three specific policies established in the criteria resolution states that a goal of approximately 90% of the program shall be for rehabilitation and deficiency correction projects, and that of that 90%, 55% should be for rehabilitation, echoing the priorities set by the CIP ordinance. This puts focus on preserving our existing capital assets, which in turn helps us lower future capital costs by decreasing cost escalation from deferred maintenance and limiting new capital assets coming online. Deferred maintenance is a topic CIP and GSD hope to engage with both the council and the administration on in greater depth, but it is a much longer and more in-depth topic than we can discuss tonight, unfortunately. Reducing future capital needs is of great importance to CIP because our bonding capacity for this cycle is projected to remain flat while construction costs have rapidly increased the past few years. This means the departments have had much less effective ability to address their capital needs, be those rehabilitation or otherwise. Director Turner from Municipal Development will discuss this in more detail in just a moment. As I mentioned earlier, this cycle, our financial advisors at RBC Capital told us we can bond to a capacity of 175 million dollars, the breakdown of which is as follows. Basic services is allocated about 58%, just above 101 million dollars of the proposed program. The community facilities group is allocated a little more than 26.8%, just shy of 47 million dollars, and mandated programs not including trails and bikeways make up 15.2%, a little more than 26.6 million dollars of the proposed program. You can see the full breakdown of these groups on page two of the printed binder or page five of the electronic version, and also on the upcoming slides. The remaining slides are all breakdowns of those groups showing specific recommendations to departments and mandated projects. Public safety is a group that is broken out on the next slide. We can see the breakout of community facilities groups. And finally, the mandated programs. Public art was increased from 1% to 1.5% by 02236 at the very end of the last GO cycle. Open space land acquisition was increased from 2% to 3% by 02383 passed in October of 2023. So this is the first cycle that that increases in effect. Also, 02381 will increase the mandate for council neighborhood set aside to 15.75 million next cycle in 2027 and 18 million in 2029 and future GO cycles. One mandated project is not listed here, and that's the 5% of the streets bond purpose for trails and bikeways. Because that amount is not based off of the total value of the geobond program, like these are, but varies by the streets bond purpose question, it is tracked separately under DMD Streets requested allocation and is currently a bit over 1.9 million dollars.
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