Town of Bernalillo officials hosted legislators on Dec. 4 at the Martha Liebert Public Library, spotlighting completed projects, plans, and key legislative and policy requests. Top priorities included funding for police recruitment and retention and water infrastructure.
At the breakfast, Mayor Jack Torres outlined the town’s achievements and priorities for legislative support to State Reps. Derrick Lente, Kathleen Cates, and Ebony Rencher, a field representative of U.S. Rep. Melanie Stansbury.
“I appreciate the mayor’s tenure here and his leadership, friendship, his mentorship and everything that we worked on together,” Lente said. “He always approaches everything with a very calm demeanor in a way that everybody respects.”
Torres opened the meeting by outlining several completed projects funded through capital outlay, including over $700,000 in two separate appropriations for law enforcement vehicles and equipment, $400,000 for renovating the Bernalillo Community Museum, $450,000 for improvements to the Wastewater Treatment Plant, $125,000 for playground equipment at the newly completed Bosque Park and $100,000 for youth mentoring and development programs in the town.
“The town has always looked forward to the future — seeing what Bernalillo could be and what it’s turning into,” Lente said. “Yet always making sure that we don’t lose our identity as a very local community with traditional ties with culture and tradition and languages that are really exclusively Bernalillo.”
According to Torres, the town’s “absolute top priority” is addressing rising law enforcement salary costs, which he said is a statewide issue. He explained that raises for State Police and larger city forces, like Albuquerque’s, create a “domino effect” that forces smaller communities to raise salaries to retain officers.
Torres said urgent legislative solutions are needed to prevent further strain on smaller communities, which lack the oil and gas revenues that help fund pay increases in larger jurisdictions.
He also cited an idea from Tim Johnson, the public safety director of the New Mexico Municipal League and former state police chief. Johnson proposed that schools hire police officers for security. This would help address staffing shortages and offer officers benefits.
This approach, which once reduced vandalism and responded to alarms, could support law enforcement if the state backs similar programs for communities across New Mexico.
“It’s a complex situation, and I understand the problems that might be challenging for them to offer money to the smaller communities but not to the larger communities,” Torres said. “But there needs to be some serious look at how we deal with the problem. Because every time people throw more money at the problem, it just makes it worse and worse and worse, and it can’t continue.”
Torres outlined the town’s initial legislative requests in the Infrastructure Capital Improvement Plan (ICIP), totaling $37.15 million.
The top priority is a new fire station, to be located next to the library and the current station attached to the town hall. The town’s initial request for the project was $7 million and $2.6 million has been secured to date.
The town has requested $16.5 million for improvements to the Wastewater Treatment Plant, but only $500,000 has been appropriated so far.
Another key priority is the town’s water system, for which $3.15 million has been requested. Torres called it just the “tip of the iceberg” for the necessary upgrades. The project has been tackled in phases, with funding from sources like the Community Development Bureau grant.
“Interestingly enough,” Torres said. “The main reason Bernalillo incorporated, according to all the news stories we’ve been able to find, is because the residents knew they needed a long-term water system because they couldn’t [rely on] individual wells.”
Additionally, the town is requesting $5.5 million to renovate the old Molino building and convert it into the Bernalillo Community Museum, which will also serve as a venue for community events. They are also seeking $5 million to make energy-efficient solar improvements to town buildings.
Lente — who is the chairman of the House Taxation and Revenue Committee, a member of the House Business and Economic Development Committee and a voting member of the Legislative Finance Committee — reported that the state has a surplus of $660 million over the previous year, driven by oil and gas revenues. However, he warned that this trend is expected to plateau soon, requiring a shift in how the state manages its finances.
“I’m happy to continue discussions with the town on those policy changes, especially as it relates to tax policy changes because I think those things are things that we’re looking at as well in the legislature,” Lente said.
Torres said there is a need for comprehensive tax reform that addresses both state and local government needs and raised concerns about the current system’s reliance on gross receipts tax. While not proposing specific alternatives, he emphasized creating a balanced system with safeguards to protect communities from unintended consequences.
According to Lente, municipalities must ensure their projects are shovel-ready to secure funding, as legislators are unlikely to fund projects that sit idle for years. He also noted that around $6 billion in capital outlay funds remain unspent in the state.
To address this, he said, a subcommittee within the Legislative Finance Committee has been formed to explore ways to utilize the funds, with communities like Bernalillo ready to use them immediately.
“Over the past two years, the capital outlay bill has been about $1 billion of capital outlay for all of our communities across the state,” Lente said. “It sounds like a lot but in reality, it’s being divided up amongst all of the communities in this state.”
Cates echoed Lente, saying that it is important to present projects ready to start immediately. She suggested breaking down large projects into smaller phases to demonstrate progress and make them more appealing for funding.
According to Lente, the state faces uncertainty about the impact of what he called the “Trump Effect,” particularly regarding its reliance on federal funds and the potential cuts under a new administration.
He said labs like Los Alamos and Sandia may benefit from continued funding for new technology, but other sectors, such as agriculture and oil and gas, may face challenges.
Lente pointed out discussions in the Legislative Finance Committee about preparing for potential changes, including mass deportations, and how the state might support its agricultural producers and attract workers for critical sectors. He emphasized the importance of setting aside funds to train people for police positions as part of the preparation for these changes. While acknowledging potential challenges, Lente said it’s uncertain how a new federal administration will affect New Mexico.