Mayor Susan Payne called a special City Commission meeting July 30 and the commission approved two finance resolutions that finalize the city's fiscal position for the year. The commission voted 7-0 to approve Resolution 2025-25, accepting the Department of Finance Authority quarterly report for the period ending June 30, 2025, and 7-0 to adopt Resolution 2025-26, amending the preliminary FY2025-26 budget to carry over fund balances and set the final budget.

Finance staff member Evelyn Huff presented the quarterly financials, saying the city ended the fiscal year with $96,403,576 in cash across its funds. "We did end the year with $96,403,576 in cash, spread across all of our various funds," Huff said. She told commissioners seven funds finished the year with negative cash balances, citing timing-related reimbursement delays in the grant fund, a debt fund, and Fund 91 (the airport), and shortfalls in the municipal court and the High Intensity Drug Task Force (HIDA) fund.

The budget amendment carries forward unspent capital project balances and outstanding purchase orders and adds specific new items to the FY2025-26 spending plan. The largest single new expense included in the adopted final budget is a $3,000,000 allocation in the general fund to reestablish the city's dispatch center after it is returned from the county; Huff said that amount accounts for equipment, software and projected salaries and benefits. The commission offset part of that cost by transferring $500,000 from the cannabis fund. Huff reported the cannabis fund began the fiscal year with $301,796 in cash and is projected to generate about $290,000 in FY2025-26.

Huff also reported that Fund 81 will include $27,000,000 in proceeds from a loan obtained from the New Mexico Finance Authority; the first planned use of those funds is the rehabilitation of the La Luz reservoir, which she estimated at about $3,900,000. Huff said the city revised its starting cash projection for FY2026 from an earlier estimate of $56,240,000 to roughly $96,000,000, a difference of $40,163,054, and that the adopted budget leaves about $64,100,000 in unspent cash across funds, much of it restricted or earmarked for capital projects, including roughly $10,000,000 in the water-sewer fund and a large balance in street capital outlay (Fund 109).

On municipal court finances, Huff said the municipal court historically routed most of its revenue to the general fund and that, in recent years, changes in caseload and judicial practice reduced court-generated revenue; the city updated the ordinance to raise fees and Huff expects FY2026 will be the first full year to reflect those changes. She cautioned that several negative fund balances reflect timing differences while the city awaits reimbursements from the state rather than permanent shortfalls.

Commissioner Warren Robinson moved to approve the DFA quarterly report; Commissioner Crystal Guthrie seconded the motion, which passed 7-0. Mayor Pro Tem Sharon McDonald moved to adopt the final FY2025-26 budget; Commissioner Warren Robinson seconded and the motion passed 7-0. Commissioners voting in favor were Mayor Susan Payne; Mayor Pro Tem Sharon McDonald; Commissioners Crystal Guthrie, Steven Burnett, Warren Robinson, Josh Reardon and Mark Tapley.

The meeting was a short special session convened specifically to complete the DFA filing and adopt the final budget; no members of the public signed up for public comment. Commissioners asked a limited number of clarifying questions during Huff's presentation; Huff said staff and outside consultants on IT and dispatch worked through equipment and software needs and that staff felt comfortable with the $3,000,000 estimate but acknowledged unforeseen costs remain possible. The commission adjourned after the budget vote.