Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Affordable Housing Trust Fund topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Santa Fe finance panel approves $3.07 million transfer to reconcile Affordable Housing Trust Fund
Summary
The Finance Committee approved a $3,070,059 budget amendment to align prior budgeted allocations with actual transfers into the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, creating budget authority to cover prior-year obligations and current award recommendations while staff warned projections from new excise-tax receipts remain uncertain.
The City of Santa Fe Finance Committee voted to approve a budget amendment resolution to transfer $3,070,059 from prior-year general fund balances into the Affordable Housing Trust Fund (AHTF), bringing the total transfers into the fund to $16,500,000 as previously described in prior budget books.
Finance Director Emily Oster told the committee that staff separated AHTF activity from a larger Community Development Fund this year and reconciled prior-year activity. "As we were reconciling the activity... the additional transfer of $3,070,059 into the fund is what would be needed," Oster said, explaining the change was necessary to align amounts shown in prior budget documents with what was actually transferred and recorded.
Nut graf: The amendment is bookkeeping and budget-authority corrective action intended to ensure the AHTF reflects the full allocations shown in prior budgets and to provide the authority to pay prior-year obligations and newly recommended awards. Staff emphasized the adjustment does not itself create new program spending but allows the city to draw down funds already committed through past grant awards.
Staff presented a multi-part reconciliation: a review of beginning balances and revenues (fee-in-lieu, infrastructure loan payments and land sales), a list of outstanding contractual obligations of about $1.32 million from prior-year awards, and recommended current-year grants totaling $3,675,000. Finance noted an unaudited balance of roughly $2.35 million as of Nov. 12, 2025, but stressed that several items below that line were projections, including an estimated $1.5 million from the newly enacted excise tax on high-end home sales.
Oster cautioned that projected year-end balances are uncertain. "We really don't know exactly what to expect yet because that is a brand new tax," she said, noting the city had collected about $60,000 so far and that other inflows (fee-in-lieu, reimbursements from the state for grants) depend on timing and project activity.
Councilors asked how past allocations were handled under the prior accounting method. Staff said when AHTF activity was commingled in the Community Development Fund, any unspent amounts accumulated in the broader fund balance or remained in the general fund; under the new separate-fund model, excess will be carried forward specifically in the AHTF and be easier to track.
The committee also heard that outstanding unexpired contracts with the Civic Housing Authority total roughly $1,000,000 for two projects (Country Club Apartments and Okate Apartments) and that the Casa Connections grant of $2,000,000 has been paid to the housing authority while state reimbursement remains pending.
The committee approved the BAR by roll call. The action establishes current-year authority to make transfers that staff say are necessary to meet prior commitments and to fund recommended awards; staff warned that without the BAR the fund could lack sufficient authority to cover obligations should projected revenues not materialize.
Next steps: With the BAR approved, staff will proceed to finalize transfers and to execute grant awards recommended by the Community Development Commission. Finance staff will continue quarterly reporting on AHTF balances and receipts to the governing body.
