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Mesilla trustees approve preliminary FY26–27 budget, ask staff to add stipends and on‑call pay
Summary
The Mesilla Board of Trustees on May 11 approved a preliminary FY2026–27 budget for staff to begin system entry, and required staff to add specified stipend and overtime/on‑call amounts for firefighters and public works before the final submission.
The Mesilla Board of Trustees approved a preliminary FY2026–27 budget on May 11 but attached a condition that staff return with detailed stipend, overtime and on‑call figures before the town submits final numbers to the state.
Mayor Russell Hernandez presented the budget workbook and said staff will begin inputting numbers into the state system if trustees felt comfortable with the overall figures. Hernandez told trustees the town is forecasting a $4 million beginning cash balance and described a plan to move $500,000 from reserves into state investment accounts to earn interest while keeping a $200,000 general‑fund cushion.
Trustees pressed staff to add specific allocations for known shortfalls and personnel costs. Trustee (speaker 9) asked that the budget include stipends already discussed for volunteer firefighters and for the planning and zoning commissioners; Hernandez confirmed planning & zoning stipends were included as a $100 per commissioner per meeting line under community development. Trustees also asked staff to build into the general‑fund assumptions additional overtime and on‑call pay for public works and marshals, and to provide estimates comparing peer municipalities.
At the meeting, trustees voted to approve the preliminary budget with the explicit condition that staff add the stipend and on‑call/overtime lines and present the updated figures for review before the final budget filing. Gloria (town finance staff) will begin entering the preliminary numbers so the town can meet the end‑of‑month upload deadline; trustees may request further adjustments at a follow‑up meeting prior to submission.
Why it matters: approving a preliminary budget starts the state reporting process, but the board required the additional line items to ensure staffing and fairness decisions are explicitly funded and reviewed before the final budget is adopted.
Officials said the board will revisit the numbers and that the budget must be uploaded by the end of May; the board will consider any required amendments when it meets again prior to the filing deadline.
