Las Cruces outlines $11.5M first-year GRT revenue and $20M biennial bond receipts; council to refine project priorities after public engagement

City staff presented a framework for spending a recently approved increase in the city’s gross receipts tax at the Aug. 25 Las Cruces City Council work session, describing first-year revenue assumptions, bond proceeds, and candidate projects for streets, parks, public facilities and public safety.

Cynthia Lamillo, the city’s CIP manager, said the presentation was intended to “begin the conversation about identifying priorities” and to show how multiple funding sources would be leveraged to address capital and maintenance needs. Finance Director Leslie Doyle summarized the financial assumptions: “In year 1, we will collect 11,500,000.0 in GRT. We will receive $20,000,000 in bonds,” and staff said they assumed a 3% annual growth rate in GRT collections for planning.

Doyle and staff explained the debt service and spend rules. They said the city expects an $8.8 million annual debt service requirement; the difference between GRT collections and debt service is intended for facility maintenance. Staff noted bond proceeds are subject to spending and investment rules tied to federal tax regulations: 85% of bond proceeds should be spent within three years and fully expended within five years to meet IRS requirements for tax-exempt bond investments, staff said.

Scope of projects and timing Sarah Gonzales, interim community development director, said the GRT increase and the public vote that approved it specified four broad project categories: streets (including drainage, sidewalks and multimodal markings), parks (restrooms, playgrounds, shade, trails), public facilities (roofs, generators, ADA compliance, municipal court, water wells) and public safety (fire and police station renovations, a joint training facility and security upgrades).

Staff provided planning details and timing constraints: they described a 16-year financial summary used for modeling, noted design work typically requires 8–12 months and that large projects may need funding across multiple cycles. Gonzales said staff will return to council with project options and that public engagement is planned before the council adopts priorities: “We are now gonna go through the same process and say, now that we've identified some of these lists, what are the priorities of the community?” Staff said they expect to return with options in October and a resolution identifying priorities in November.

Council discussion and public comment Council members emphasized urgency, equity and maintaining current facilities. Mayor Pro Tem Bencomo said, “I feel like we are in an infrastructure emergency at the city,” and urged prioritizing urgent repairs and maintenance (fire stations, municipal court, sidewalks, bus shelters and road repaving). Councilors asked staff to apply an equity lens to prioritization so investment would serve neighborhoods with longstanding deferred maintenance.

Public commenters and stakeholders urged attention to libraries, trails, transit and public safety training. Linda St. Clair, president of the Friends of the Library, told councilors the library “is more than just books at the library, that we do provide lots of opportunities for people,” and she urged continued support for the library renovation design work already under way. George Pearson, a resident, asked staff to set aside funds to close trail gaps and extend the Mesilla Drain Trail. Chris Johnson, president of Las Cruces Professional Firefighters Local 2362, said a joint training facility “would address some of the logistics issues that we've been having for quite some time” and that the union “fully support[s]” the project.

Next steps and limitations Staff emphasized the need for community engagement and design-phase budgeting. Gonzales reminded councilors that large projects will require time for design and multi-year funding and that bond proceeds carry IRS investment and expenditure constraints. The city will prepare outreach and translate materials as needed, then return with prioritized options for the council’s October work session and a resolution proposed in November.

No formal vote was taken on project priorities at the session. Councilors directed staff to develop a robust community engagement plan, to provide scenarios (including more conservative revenue projections on request), and to return with draft priorities and a November resolution for formal consideration.