Bernalillo County commissioners on Sept. 9 adopted the county’s final 2026 capital outlay priorities, a list that will guide the county’s requests to the New Mexico Legislature. The board approved a staff-prepared list of countywide, district and public-safety projects and adopted two floor amendments: one to reference the governor’s recently announced special legislative session and a second to remove binding language tied to a district housing line item.

Kathy Court, the county’s capital-outlay coordinator, told commissioners the list draws from the county’s adopted ICIP and that staff will use the approved priorities to brief lawmakers and the county’s contract lobbyists. She said the capital-outlay process moves quickly in the 30-day session and: “so it goes really quickly,” urging the board to finalize priorities before the session.

Vice Chair Barbola offered a narrow amendment to remove the words “and to renovate a former clinic” from a district 3 priority to avoid overly prescriptive language that could constrain appropriations. Commissioner Barbara Baca successfully moved a separate amendment to add whereas and resolving language referencing the governor’s announced October special session and directing county advocacy toward healthcare, hunger and food-security priorities in that session. Commissioner Frank Baca also requested a small geographic clarification to a road project in District 2; the board approved that clarification.

The adopted priorities include countywide projects such as Mesa del Sol Phase 4 and county roads, public-safety items such as expansion of the youth services center intake area and the sheriff’s office training center, and district-specific projects including recreation, ADA sidewalk and storm-drain projects. Court said staff will update the printed booklet and post the approved list to the Legislative Council Service site and begin outreach to legislators and lobbyists ahead of the session.

The resolution was adopted with amendments on a 5–0 vote.