Albuquerque committee approves budget committee substitute, preserves $8M for permanent supportive housing

The Albuquerque City Council Committee of the Whole voted to advance the city operating budget committee substitute (AR 25‑1‑32) to the full council after several hours of debate and a set of contested amendments. The committee also considered a separate objectives resolution (R 25‑1‑53); the objectives measure received committee approval and will move to the May council meeting.

The committee substitute, which adjusts appropriations for the 2025–26 fiscal year that begins July 1, 2025, passed out of committee on a 7–2 vote. Committee members debated dozens of line-item reallocations and several policy-linked amendments that would have cut fees, reduced staff funding in the CAO’s office, or shifted recurring dollars among departments.

Why this matters: the committee’s actions determine what the full City Council will consider for final adoption. Several amendments would have reduced fees or removed funding for positions; others redirected lodging‑tax money to tourism and events tied to the Route 66 Centennial and restored one‑time funding for after‑school youth groups. One vote during the meeting preserved an $8 million appropriation intended for permanent supportive housing providers, a decision city staff said would affect roughly 596 households currently in PSH programs.

Most significant votes and outcomes

- Committee substitute (AR 25‑1‑32) — The committee accepted the committee substitute early in the meeting and later voted to send the amended substitute to the full council; outcome: due pass out of committee, 7–2.

- Amendment 1 (legal services reallocation; moved by Councilor Bassan) — Reallocated several departmental attorney budgets into the Office of Legal Services; outcome: passed unanimously.

- Amendment 2 (duplicate COLA cleanup) — Removed a duplicated 2% cost‑of‑living increase already included elsewhere in total compensation; outcome: passed unanimously.

- Amendment 3 (lodgers‑tax allocations / tourism and youth groups; moved by Councilor Bassan) — Shifted lodging‑tax money to fund tourism projects including the Route 66 and other festivals and restored funding to four youth‑serving nonprofits; outcome: passed, 9–0 on the motion recorded when the item was taken.

- Amendment 4 (Route 66 Centennial / community events; moved by Councilor Pena) — Increased a transfer from the Lodgers Tax fund to the Arts & Culture community events program by $500,000 to support Route 66 Centennial planning; outcome: passed unanimously.

- Amendment 5 (fee reductions and CAO position defunding; moved by Councilor Lewis) — Would have reduced fee schedules (including aquatics daily admission and restaurant inspection permit fees) and defunded two positions in the CAO office to offset revenue losses. The administration and several councilors debated whether the changes would require separate ordinance action and whether cutting positions was appropriate without fuller departmental input. Outcome: failed, 2–7.

- Amendment 6 (reduce transit subsidy to offset $1 golf‑fee reduction; moved by Councilor Lewis) — Proposed moving $2,258,000 from transit subsidies to cover a $1 per round golf fee reduction. Transit Director Keener warned of active hiring and the department’s need to maintain for network implementation; the amendment failed, 3–6.

- Amendment 7 (reduce residential solid‑waste fee by $1/month; moved by Councilor Lewis) — Proposed a $2.1 million reduction to the Clean City program to allow a $1 monthly reduction in residential solid‑waste collection fees; outcome: failed, 1–8.

- Amendment 8 (cap citywide communications/PIO FTEs at 10; moved by Councilor Lewis) — Would have limited combined public information staff across departments; outcome: failed.

- Amendment 9 (protect transit marketing positions by shifting ABQ Bridal funds; moved by Councilor Fiebelkorn) — Reallocated $558,000 from ABQ Bridal to Strategic Support to preserve marketing positions in transit; outcome: passed.

- Amendment 10 (1% COLA reserve for all non‑IAFF full‑time employees; moved by Councilor Pena) — Sought to reserve $4,041,000 for a 1% additional cost‑of‑living adjustment; sponsors and administration debated which line items would be reduced to fund it, and committee members raised concerns about line‑number mismatches in last‑minute edits. Outcome: failed in committee.

- Amendment 11 (technical reallocations across library, professional accountability, mental‑health and homelessness programs; moved by Councilor Pena) — Corrected line‑item alignments and moved some funds into mental‑health and recovery programs; outcome: passed (roll call result 5–4 recorded at the time of vote).

- Amendment 12 (preserve $8,000,000 for permanent supportive housing providers; moved by Councilor Pena) — Sponsors argued that cutting the appropriation would ‘‘unhouse’’ people in existing permanent supportive housing contracts; Health, Housing and Homelessness staff said roughly 596 households (about 625 people) are served under the program. The committee approved language retaining the full $8 million appropriation for permanent supportive housing providers rather than placing part of it in reserve. Outcome: passed, 5–4.

Discussion highlights and direct attributions

Council and administration exchanges repeatedly returned to two central themes: (1) whether programmatic funds already committed to contracts could be shifted without disrupting services, and (2) whether fee reductions should be enacted in the budget or through separate ordinance changes.

Councilor Lewis defended fee reductions and described them as ‘‘putting some money back in the pockets of hardworking restaurant owners and food truck operators,’’ attributing the changes to the council’s authority to reallocate program savings. Councilor Lewis: "...making a pretty significant, you know, cut to some high fees that we added ... would put some money back in the pockets of hardworking restaurant owners and food truck operators." (Councilor Lewis, Committee of the Whole)

Transit Director Keener described active recruiting and training and warned of operational impacts if transit vacancies were effectively defunded: "I have 18 new MCOs right now that have been in training since April 5," she said, and described ongoing hiring and onboarding plans. (Director Keener, Transit)

Health, Housing and Homelessness Director Dr. Verplu told the committee that the permanent supportive housing appropriation supports case management and operational staffing required for providers and said the current contracts serve 596 households; she warned that halving funding would ‘‘unhouse’’ many participants. "If we don't fund this... half will be unhoused," she said. (Dr. Verplu, Health, Housing and Homelessness)

Process and line‑item concerns

Multiple councilors and the administration flagged a technical problem: last‑minute line renumbering in the committee substitute that produced mismatches between amendment text and page/line citations circulated to councilors. City staff acknowledged a clerical cleanup earlier in the day had shifted line numbers in the iPad/dais versions and said clerks and staff would reconcile line references before Monday’s full council meeting.

What’s next

The committee sent the committee substitute (AR 25‑1‑32) to the full City Council for consideration at the May meeting. The committee also approved the objectives resolution R 25‑1‑53 for referral. Councilors said they expected to return on Monday to continue the final budget adoption process and to consider any ordinance steps needed to implement fee changes.

Ending note

Committee members emphasized they intended to continue budget work before final adoption, including follow‑up on line‑number corrections, contract details for the permanent supportive housing providers, and any ordinance changes required to formalize fee reductions. Several councilors said they plan further amendments at the full council meeting.

Votes at a glance

AR 25‑1‑32 (City operating budget, FY 2026) — Committee substitute accepted and advanced to full council as amended; committee vote to report out: 7–2. R 25‑1‑53 (One‑year objectives for FY 2026) — Committee approval to send to full council; outcome: due pass. Selected amendment outcomes noted above; see the body for full list of recorded counts and sponsor names.