Hobbs City Commission approves budget adjustment, lodgers-tax allocations and new intelligence-center video wall

The Hobbs City Commission voted unanimously Tuesday to adopt a midyear budget adjustment, allocate lodgers-tax funding for community events and buy a new video wall for the Eagle Intelligence Center.

The commission approved Resolution 7608, a budget adjustment that reduces the general-fund reserve from 58% to 56% and reallocates roughly $598,000 in increased revenue to cover about $2.6 million in additional expenditures largely tied to enterprise fund needs and a planned water-line replacement. Finance staff said the package includes personnel reclassifications, overtime adjustments for the Hobbs Fire Department and transfers to ensure compliance with the New Mexico Department of Finance and Administration (DFA).

Why it matters: Commissioners said the adjustments keep the city in compliance with DFA rules, maintain enterprise-fund solvency for water and sewer work and preserve a high reserve level well above the state minimum. Finance staff described the enterprise fund as self-supporting through user rates; capital work for water-line replacement was funded from that fund rather than property-tax revenues.

The commission also approved Resolution 7609, which authorizes lodgers-tax allocations for events through mid-September 2025. Staff reported the lodgers-tax fund held about $1.9 million as of March 31 and projected roughly $1.7–$1.8 million in annual receipts. Notable allocations in the package include the EDC airline subsidy and marketing bucket and awards to local events such as Lee County Fair & Rodeo, Hobbs Airfield Speedway, Juneteenth and others. City staff recommended a lower award for one newly requested event (True Roping Pro Productions) than the applicant sought, citing estimated overnight stays and prior experience.

Separately the commission approved the purchase of a replacement video wall system for the Police Department’s Eagle Intelligence Center from ActiveView Corporation for $474,851.69. Police IT staff said the current 3-by-2 array (six screens) dates to about 2014, several panels are already nonoperational, and the new configuration will expand to a 10-screen array with software-driven distribution so content can be streamed to other city conference rooms.

Votes at a glance - Approval of minutes for 04/07/2025 regular commission meeting — Motion: approve minutes; Mover: Commissioner Girth; Second: Commissioner Penick; Vote: unanimous (Commissioners Smith, Mills, Fields, Calderon, Penick, Girth; Mayor Sam D. Cobb — all voted yes). Outcome: approved. - Consent agenda — Motion: approve consent agenda; Mover: Commissioner Calderon; Second: Commissioner Girth; Vote: unanimous. Outcome: approved. - Resolution 7608, adopting Budget Adjustment No. 4 for FY2024–25 — Motion: approve; Mover: Commissioner Penick; Second: Commissioner Fields; Vote: unanimous (all commissioners and mayor yes). Outcome: approved. - Resolution 7609, lodgers-tax allocations for FY2025 events — Motion: approve; Mover: Commissioner Calderon; Second: Commissioner Girth; Vote: unanimous. Outcome: approved. - Purchase of Eagle Intelligence Center video wall from ActiveView Corporation, $474,851.69 — Motion: approve purchase; Mover: Commissioner Penick; Second: Commissioner Girth; Vote: unanimous. Outcome: approved.

Discussion and next steps - Budget: Finance staff said the enterprise fund will carry the full cost of the water-line replacement; staff noted projected cash balance and potential carryovers at fiscal year end. Commissioners asked for additional context (for example, the percentage of total assessed property value represented by the reported fire losses) and recommended staff return with follow-up data where requested. - Lodgers tax: staff explained the fund’s four-bucket ordinance (airport/EDC, city/county events, nonprofit/for-profit grants, and a separate marketing bucket) and said awards are constrained by the ordinance’s limits for specific event types. - Video wall: Police IT said the chosen solution is software-driven and allows remote viewing of the video wall content on other city networked computers; staff noted the existing system is no longer supported and several screens are offline.

The commission recorded each vote on the record; no motions failed or were tabled during the meeting.