Committee authorizes amendment to remove fiscal-year cap on utility consultant contract

The Santa Fe Public Works and Public Utilities Committee approved amendment No. 1 to a professional services contract with Financial Consulting Solutions Group, Inc., removing an annual fiscal-year cap on amounts payable to the contractor while retaining the contract’s total four‑year cap.

Director Roach told the committee the original contract had an approximately $600,000 total cap across four years and an annual cap of about $150,000. Roach said the city is up against the current year cap and wants to strike the sentence that limits spending this fiscal year so staff can access unused contract capacity remaining under the overall cap. “We wanted to strike that so that we could access more of the available contract capacity,” Roach said.

Councilor Michael Garcia and other members asked for specificity about how much unspent capacity remains and what deliverables the contractor will produce before additional spending occurs. Roach estimated the additional spend for the remainder of the fiscal year would likely be “on the order of $50,000” but told councilors she would obtain a firm estimate from the consultant.

Councilors also asked staff for a report on work completed under the contract to date, including which cost-of-service studies have been performed in prior years; Roach agreed to provide that summary. Committee members discussed the timing: staff said tentative plans include a wastewater rate change as soon as July and a water rate change as soon as January, which drove urgency for analysis.

Councilor Lee Garcia moved to approve the amendment and Councilor Alma Castro seconded. The committee took a roll-call vote; the amendment was approved with three votes in favor and one opposed. Councilor Michael Garcia voted no, citing insufficient written justification and a wish to see deliverables and consultant estimates before removing the fiscal-year cap.