Albuquerque council approves amended fiscal 2027 budget after marathon debate

The Albuquerque City Council approved the city's fiscal-year 2027 operating budget late Wednesday, concluding an hours-long session that included dozens of floor amendments, heated exchanges over priorities and repeated public pleas to protect housing and street‑safety funding.

Councilor Brook Grout, the budget sponsor, told colleagues the committee's work responded to errors found in the administration's submission and to community input. "We found two major errors," Grout said during her opening remarks, listing an $11.8 million omitted projected fund balance and an unplanned operating need related to a shelter program. "This is a working document; it will never be perfect, but we're working together to make it more excellent," she said.

The final package included restorations and new appropriations that council members said targeted low-paid city employees, transit, open space and housing programs. Councilor Rogers, an outspoken advocate for social services in the debate, pressed for funding continuity to support programs serving people experiencing homelessness and highlighted a locally run guaranteed basic‑income pilot. "We promised these families the money," Rogers said during debate, arguing an amendment was necessary to maintain payments to households enrolled in the city's pilot.

Members also clashed over how much automated speed-enforcement revenue should remain dedicated to Vision Zero street-safety projects. Dozens of public commenters urged the council to keep that funding intact for engineered safety fixes; advocates described recent pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities and said engineering investments, not short-term staffing changes, reduce deaths. "Vision 0 means zero traffic fatalities," one speaker told the council during public comment.

The budget debate produced a long list of floor amendments that reallocated funds among priorities: a mix of one‑time and recurring changes for guaranteed basic income, housing vouchers, street lighting, urban forestry grants and other items. Several amendments explicitly prioritized housing voucher funding and directed midyear prioritization if additional housing voucher funding were required. One amendment also directed the administration to report on recruitment and academy outcomes for the police department after members proposed modest reinvestments for youth and violence-prevention programs.

Public testimony that night focused heavily on homelessness and shelter funding. James Freeman, speaking as secretary of HopeWorks' board, urged adoption of an amendment that would add $100,000 for HopeWorks' day shelter to sustain services that the speaker said serve about 300 people each day. "These needed funds will ensure that Hope Works sustains the services that it provides to an average of 300 homeless and near‑homeless people each day," Freeman said.

The council voted to adopt the budget as amended. The final recorded vote was 7 in favor and 2 opposed. The council will publish the amended ordinance and forward it to the mayor for signature or veto review consistent with the city charter. Councilors said they expect additional midyear adjustments and oversight reports on key line items in the months ahead.

The council recessed after passage and moved to other calendared items, including several separate ordinance and resolution matters scheduled for future hearings.