Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Lea County commissioners create permanent fund, approve income fund and multiple contracts
Summary
The Lea County Board of County Commissioners on June 1 approved a permanent fund ordinance and companion income fund, renewed a $2.31 million detainee medical contract, awarded an $807,936 HVAC contract, approved a $1.25 million regional grant and adopted a 4% cost‑of‑living increase for full‑time employees.
Lea County commissioners unanimously approved an ordinance to establish a permanent fund and a companion income fund on June 1, creating a voter‑protected corpus and a separate account to collect interest that the county may use following later decisions.
At a public hearing, county counsel John Caldwell explained the statutory basis for the permanent fund, citing New Mexico law (‘‘this ordinance will establish a permanent fund’’), and told commissioners that money placed in the fund’s corpus could not be spent except after voter approval. Commissioners asked clarifying questions about governance and signaled support before voting to adopt the ordinance.
The board also approved County Ordinance 103 to create an income fund that would receive interest earned on the permanent fund; the income fund’s use will be decided by the commission at a future meeting.
On financial and procurement items, the commission voted to:
- Renew the county’s agreement with Roadrunner Health Services to provide detainee medical,…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
