Council approves budget adjustments, grants, CIP amendments, body‑camera contract and small‑business safety pilot

The Las Cruces City Council on Oct. 20 approved a slate of fiscal and program measures including first‑quarter budget adjustments, two grant acceptances, amendments to the capital improvements program, authorization to continue using a state contract for Axon body‑worn cameras and the creation of a $100,000 Small Business Safety Improvement pilot.

The measures, presented by city staff, updated available balances and added funding carried forward from 2025, new federal and state grants, and capital project adjustments. Vanessa Perez, a city budget analyst, walked council through general fund and departmental adjustments including ambulance‑billing revenue changes tied to the end of an American Medical Response contract and vehicle rollovers for the fire department. She told council the fire department anticipated increased billable ambulance trips and that overtime budgets had been reduced after a citywide review.

Council approved the following formal actions (motions and roll‑call recorded at the meeting). Each motion was adopted by unanimous roll‑call votes of the seven members recorded in the transcript (Councilor McClure; Councilor Matisse; Councilor Graham; Councilor Koran; Councilor Flores; Councilor Bencomo; Mayor Enriquez). The vote counts below reflect the roll‑call recorded during the meeting.