Taos County adopts cautiously built fiscal 2025–26 budget after final quarter review
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Summary
After a presentation of the county's fourth-quarter financial results, the Taos County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved the fiscal year 2025'26 operating budget, maintaining reserves while adding targeted staffing and a 3% cost-of-living adjustment.
Taos County commissioners on July 29 unanimously approved the county's fiscal year 2025'26 operating budget after receiving a final review of the fourth-quarter financial report.
The 5 percent increase in budgeted expenditures over the prior year includes a 3 percent cost-of-living adjustment for county employees, targeted new positions in the Sheriff's Office, Planning and Zoning and the Assessor's Office, and a $300,000 set-aside for emergency preparedness.
County finance staff presented the fourth-quarter recap before the vote, highlighting that recurring revenues generally met recurring expenses for the year and that the county closed the fiscal year with cash across all funds. "We ended our year with 16,026,990 in cash," finance staff said during the presentation. The presenter also reported a positive net position of $7,404,447.57 at year end.
The review covered core funds including the general fund, solid waste, public works, 9-1-1 dispatch, senior services and the adult detention center. Notable fund details presented: the solid waste fund had higher revenues following a rate increase and closed the year with a positive cash balance; senior programs received ARPA dollars and ended the year with higher-than-budgeted revenues; and public works required a transfer from the general fund because state Title 3 revenues were smaller than expected.
Commissioners discussed multiple operational pressures while reviewing the budget. On the adult detention center, commissioners and staff noted a persistent deficit driven in part by healthcare and payroll costs. A county official said they are "looking at one of the contractors that may be doing something different, and try to save money", and that a retreat on the detention center was being scheduled to explore options.
On state-level risks, commissioners raised concern about possible shifts in state Medicaid and other program funding that could increase county costs. Finance staff and commissioners said they took a conservative approach to revenue projections to allow flexibility if federal or state funding changes. The budget materials note a conservative 2 percent estimate for gross receipts tax (GRT) growth and a 5 percent property tax increase in line with assessor valuations.
The board took several formal votes tied to budget procedures during the meeting. A motion to approve a Department of Finance and Administration (DFA) adjustment to fiscal year 2024'25 budgets under New Mexico statute section 6'6'6 passed by roll call earlier in the meeting. Later, commissioners voted to approve resolution 2025'39, the final quarter financial report, and then moved and seconded a separate motion to adopt the fiscal year 2025'26 operating budget (resolution 2025'40). The final budget adoption passed on a unanimous roll call.
Why it matters: The budget sets the county's spending priorities for the coming year and includes pay increases and new positions intended to address long-term staffing and service needs while retaining contingency for state and federal funding uncertainty.
The county will next implement staffing changes and budget allocations during the new fiscal year, and commissioners said they expected follow-up briefings on high-risk funds such as the adult detention fund and EMS billing changes.
