City approves applications to New Mexico Finance Authority to finance vehicles and refinance USDA interim loans

The Truth or Consequences City Commission authorized staff this week to submit applications to the New Mexico Finance Authority to pursue financing for municipal fleet replacement and to replace higher‑cost interim loans on USDA water projects.

City Manager Gary Whitehead told commissioners staff would seek a loan structure that allows a rolling replacement of police vehicles over three to four years, noting several patrol cars exceed 190,000 miles. He said the intention is to use the police department gross receipts tax as the repayment source and that the plan would not require new taxes.

“We would reauthorize that as the payment source,” Whitehead said, adding the city recently set aside roughly $200,000 in this year’s budget tied to the police department renovation and that vehicle purchases likely would begin in the next budget cycle.

On related financing, Assistant Manager Alvarez described efforts to use the Finance Authority to provide interim construction loans that could replace more expensive bank loans for two USDA‑funded projects (identified in staff remarks as Wispy 1 and Wispy 2). Staff said the Finance Authority could reduce interest costs — citing examples of substantially lower rates and a 0% allocation for a small project in the presentation — and that any loan authorization would return to the commission for final adoption of documents.

Commissioners approved resolutions authorizing application submittals (Resolutions 29‑2526 and 30‑2526). If the Finance Authority approves the applications, staff will bring final loan documents, terms and any purchase requests back to the commission for formal approval.

What’s next: staff will submit applications to the New Mexico Finance Authority and, if approved, return with loan documents and proposed procurement schedules for vehicle purchases and construction loan placement.