Santa Fe County commissioners approve FY24 audit, multiple design and construction contracts, grant applications and authorize condemnation proceedings

Santa Fe County's Board of County Commissioners on Jan. 14 approved the county's fiscal year 2024 audited financial statements and issued a series of contracts, grant endorsements and authorizations aimed at advancing transportation, trail and public-safety projects and completing utility infrastructure needed for a regional water system.

The board voted to acknowledge and approve the fiscal year 2024 audit after a presentation from Moss Adams and county finance staff that included five non-material findings under state audit rules. The board then approved a variety of procurement and grant-related items on the consent and miscellaneous agendas, including professional design agreements, a construction contract for a fire station apparatus bay expansion, multiple-term office-supply contracts and a request to apply for a federal Recreation Trails Program grant.

Why it matters: The fiscal audit approval clears the county to finalize its public financial reports and shows auditors issued unmodified opinions for the financial statements and the single-audit portion of the review. The assortment of design and construction approvals funds near-term capital projects (road design, trail design, a fire-station expansion) and supports county efforts to improve transit and broadband access. The board's authorization for condemnation proceedings addresses delays on the Pewaukee Basin Regional Water System by allowing the county to acquire small permanent utility easements where negotiations have stalled.

Key approved items and outcomes - Fiscal year 2024 audit: The board acknowledged and approved the FY24 audits after a presentation by Moss Adams (reporters: Corey Hogan, Jeff Roybal). Auditors reported unmodified opinions on the financial statements and single-audit; five state audit-rule findings were disclosed and management provided corrective schedules. Motion to approve: passed by voice vote.

- Letter of support for NCRTD grant: The board approved a letter to the U.S. Department of Transportation supporting the North Central Regional Transit District's application for Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) funding to build a rural transit facility in Santa Fe County. Motion to approve: passed by voice vote.

- Resolution to accept FY24 audit (Res. 2025-005): Motion made and passed by voice vote.

- Lodgers-tax compliance sampling: The board approved a sampling plan to audit approximately 10 lodging entities (about 20% of regular reporters for FY24) for compliance with Lodgers Tax Ordinance 2023-02; staff will select vendors at random and coordinate audits with Moss Adams. Motion to approve: passed by voice vote.

- Contracts and agreements approved (motions passed by voice vote): - Agreement 202040264PW with Horrocks ($526,443.35) for Encantado Road paving design. - Agreement 2024-0219 with Wilson & Company ($260,221.42) for Avenida Azul multiuse trail design. - Construction contract with JDR & Associates LLC for Chimayo Fire Station apparatus-bay expansion (amount in staff report: $1,109,868, exclusive of GRT); motion included delegation of signing authority to the county manager. - Multiple-source, multiple-term office-supplies agreements (4-year IFB price agreements) and delegation of authority to the county manager to sign purchase orders. - Permanent utility easement agreement 2024-0108PW with the U.S. Department of Energy / NNSA to maintain a traffic signal and electric line at the Los Alamos County line.

- RTP grant application (Res. 2025-006): The board approved staff's submission of a Recreational Trails Program grant to the New Mexico Department of Transportation for preliminary engineering of an approximately 1-mile rail-trail segment (segment 7), requesting $427,200 with a local match of $72,800 (total project $500,000). Motion to approve: passed by voice vote.

- Commitment of Federal Home Loan Bank and county developer funds (Resolution 2025-007): The board approved committing $1,855,000 in awarded Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas funds and $530,000 in Santa Fe County developer assistance funds to the Nueva Seca 9 senior housing project, contingent on tax-credit funding. Motion to approve: passed by voice vote.

- Acceptance of dedication for Tierra Antigua subdivision utilities (Res. 2025-008): The board accepted water delivery infrastructure and utility easements and the required 10% warranty bond. Motion to approve: passed by voice vote.

- Authorization to pursue condemnation (resolution number listed at meeting): After a closed session on acquisition of interests for the Pewaukee Basin Regional Water System, the board voted to authorize the county attorney to initiate and prosecute condemnation proceedings to acquire specified permanent utility easements for the regional water system where negotiations had stalled. Staff said the easement areas are small (examples described as roughly the size of a dining-room table or area rug) and that estimated compensation is based on fair-market value; the motion passed by voice vote.

Details and clarifications: Most motions were approved by voice vote after the mover and a second were identified; recorded roll-call tallies were not provided in the meeting minutes for routine consent or miscellaneous items. Where the transcript recorded abstentions (notably the approvals of historical meeting minutes), commissioners stated specific abstentions during the vote calls; for other items the board used the standard "all in favor, say aye" voice call and there was no recorded opposition.

What commissioners said: Commissioners and staff repeatedly emphasized the public-service value of approved projects: transit facility support to expand rural bus service and charging for electric buses, design work on roads and trails to advance ICIP priorities, and guaranteed-savings approaches described later in the meeting to reduce operating costs (see separate article on the county's energy performance contracting presentation). Auditors, and county finance staff, noted five state audit-rule findings but said several had been or will be addressed within the fiscal year.

Next steps: Staff will execute agreements and proceed with project design and public-grant application submittals. For the condemnation authorization, the county attorney's office and real-property staff will proceed with notices and any court filings as required if easement negotiations remain unresolved.

Ending: The board handled the array of business items on Jan. 14 in a single afternoon meeting that combined routine approvals with a handful of capital project decisions and a reporting-back from auditors that allowed the county to finalize its FY24 financial package.