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DFA proposes flat FY27 budget, highlights system upgrades and audit work
Summary
Department of Finance and Administration Secretary Wayne Props told the Legislative Finance Committee DFA will request a flat FY27 general‑fund budget and described completed audits, a planned migration of the 20‑year SHARE system to the cloud, a new capital funding module, and a public dashboard to track capital projects.
The Department of Finance and Administration will ask the Legislative Finance Committee for a flat FY27 general‑fund budget, Secretary Wayne Props told lawmakers, framing the request as a deliberate pause to prioritize spending amid changing economic signals.
Props, appearing at the panel’s November session in Santa Fe, said DFA has administered roughly $2,500,000,000 in appropriations during his tenure and that the department has “significantly reduced the number of findings” in recent audits. He credited Mark Melhoff, DFA’s financial control division director, for the improvements.
The secretary described a package of internal upgrades the department says will improve transparency and financial control. DFA completed the first audit of the 20‑year SHARE human resources and financial system and — after a multi‑agency review — concluded the state does not need to replace SHARE at a potential cost of roughly $200,000,000. Instead, Props said, DFA plans targeted upgrades and a migration of SHARE to a cloud environment at an estimated cost of about $1,000,000.
“We will soon launch a dashboard. I think you could be very, very pleased with that dashboard. You’re gonna be able to go in and see what is happening with your projects, what has been spent, what is being spent on,” Props said.
DFA also described a new capital funding module already live within the agency and a budget‑adjustment request tracking system designed to reduce duplication of paper BAR requests. Props said those tools, together with a new executive‑order tracking system, will support quicker, more accurate reporting to the Legislature and the public.
On credit‑rating concerns, Props acknowledged Moody’s had upgraded New Mexico’s outlook but said Moody’s is waiting to see legislative action in the upcoming session before moving on the state’s bond rating. Props urged caution on turning nonrecurring dollars into recurring obligations and said the department will focus future requests on “a few critical needs.”
The committee asked DFA to provide additional detail on dashboard timing and the SHARE migration plan; DFA said it will follow up with timelines and cost breakdowns. The hearing moved on to other agency budget and capital items after the presentation.
