The Valencia County Commission last night unanimously agreed to pay the 13th Judicial District Court $50,000 so local courts can continue to offer alternative sentencing that help some offenders stay out of the county jail.

The funding will allow the district and magistrate courts to continue contract services provided by a probation officer who monitors roughly 75 offenders who might otherwise be in jail. The money will also pay for things like ankle bracelets.

The State of New Mexico cut the funding for the program for this fiscal year.

Had Valencia County not funded it, 36 to 40 of the offenders in the program would likely have ended up spending time in the Valencia County Detention Center, which is so overcrowded that this month nearly 30 inmates are being housed in Santa Fe and Cibola counties.

“The ‘no vacancy’ light is on,” said Commission Chairman Don Holliday.

According to Derek Williams, the jail’s warden, the county pays $85 a day to house the inmates in Santa Fe County and nearly $65 a day to house them in Cibola County. In-house, the cost per day is a minimum of $30.

Adding 36 to 40 inmates to the number already housed outside of Valencia County could cost the county much more than the $50,000 it’ll spend on program.

“There is an actual cost-savings to the county,” Commissioner Pedro Rael said.

Commissioner Ron Gentry, skeptical of committing money to the program, asked the commission to immediately identify how the county will fund the program.

The county was expected to hire four detention officers in August. The commission ultimately decided to fund the program by postponing the hiring of two of those four officers.

The City of Belen, Village of Bosque Farms, Village of Los Lunas and Town of Peralta all use the county jail to house their inmates.

Holliday recommended amending the county’s joint powers agreements with each of the county’s municipalities.

“Hit them up for a couple more bucks a day,” he said, an idea included in the motion approved by the commission.

Holliday said the municipalities should pay an additional $10,000 each.

Williams thought the county might have trouble collecting the additional $10,000 per municipality, noting that the City of Belen is six months behind on its payments to the county jail, owing nearly $17,000.

Filed under Budget, Services | Email Me

Valencia County brought more than $9.7 million in property taxes to the county’s budget during the last fiscal year, which helped the county end the fiscal year with an estimated $892,000 budget surplus.

County Business Manager Kenny Griego said Treasurer Dorothy Lovato and her office were responsible for the high property tax revenue.

During the final months of the fiscal year, Lovato implemented a tax collection program that targeted delinquent accounts.

“They did a great job,” Griego said.

He said the county is “suffering,” however, because the State of New Mexico is slowly reimbursing the county’s portion of the revenue. He also said gross receipts are down.

The county ended with total revenues, including gross receipts and fees, of more than $13.7 million.

Despite the good news, Commissioner David Medina urged caution.

“We’ve got to keep our expenditures down,” he said.

Filed under Budget | Email Me

The City of Belen is keeping a close eye on the use of city vehicles and overall gas consumption as one way to address continuing budget concerns.

In March, the city cut down employees’ vehicle use as one of several step to eliminating what was an estimated $3.5 million budget deficit. The policy keeps employees from taking city vehicles home, with the exception of the police department.

This month, the city council received a report detailing the gas expenditure within the police department.

During the month of May, the 11 officers who take city vehicles to their homes outside of Valencia County used 138.55 gallons of gas on average.

Among those 11 officers, the officer with the highest gas consumption used 247 gallons. The officer with the lowest used 21.7 gallons.

Also during that month, the 10 officers who take city vehicles to their homes within Valencia County used 100.8 gallons of gas on average.

Among those 10 officers, the officer with the highest gas consumption used 168 gallons. The officer with the lowest used 49.2 gallons.

The numbers don’t distinguish between patrol officers, detectives and others.

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The New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT) began work last week on a stimulus-funded pedestrian bridge near the Belen Rail Runner Express station.

The $2.4-million project is funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The city was awarded the money in June 2009.

When complete, the project will provide ramps and stairways from the station’s platform to the top of the Reinken Avenue overpass.

Pedestrians will be able to walk toward downtown, crossing the street on a pedestrian bridge over Reinken Avenue, and exiting the walkway near First and Second streets.

The project is being managed by NMDOT and the Mid-Region Council of Governments.

According to plans, Reinken Avenue will experience lane closure during the work, which is expected to be completed in the middle of November.

The entire roadway will be closed for a few hours one night while crews install the bridge’s main support beam.

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The Belen City Council last night approved a grant-loan for the purchase a fire truck and brush truck for the fire department.

The total cost allotted for the purchase is $460,000, though the trucks could cost much less after bids are received. The city will receive 15% of the total purchase as a grant.

The money for the purchase is coming from a special fund that can be used only for things like fire equipment and training, not for hiring new firefighters.

The city recently paid off a loan on another fire truck, which freed up money to be used to buy the new fire and brush trucks.

The purchase was recommended to the city council by Fire Chief Manny Garcia and Finance Director Michael Steininger.

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The Belen City Council meeting packet distributed to the city councilors for tonight’s meeting includes the agenda.

The council will discuss the possibility of buying new fire trucks, constructing a new fire station and issuing an industrial revenue bond for Fast Ditch Inc.

The meeting is at 5:30pm at Belen City Hall, located at 100 South Main Street in Belen.

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The Belen City Council voted 4-1 on Monday night to approve a change order that had sparked pointed questions about the process used to approve change orders.

According to Molzen-Corbin & Associates, the city’s engineer and project manager, the change order for $16,000 worth of work at Belen Alexander Municipal airport had been verbally approved by the former city manager, but there were no record of the approval.

In the meantime, based on the former city manager’s approval, the work in the change order was completed.

When it came time to pay for it under the new administration, the city’s finance director refused, wanting to either see documented approval or receive approval from the city council.

On Monday night, the city council voted 3-1 to approve the change order, understanding that the city would pay less than $400 of the $16,000, with the rest paid through a grant match.

While voting in favor of the change order, Councilor Lorenzo Carrillo expressed deep concern about the approval process for change orders.

Councilor Jerah R. Cordova voted against the payment, wanting to see records approving the work.

Mayor Rudy Jaramillo vowed all change orders would be brought to the city council to be approved.

Filed under Contracts, Infrastructure | Email Me

The City of Belen’s gross receipts tax revenue ended the current fiscal year down more than $549,000 from projections.

While each month’s gross receipts taxes varied in loss, February was the worst month with a 10-percent loss.

The loss in June was also significant — approximately $100,000 under projections. The total amount received in June was $391,000.

The budget for the fiscal year beginning in July, however, is based on gross receipts tax revenue averaged around $435,000 a month.

In other words, should monthly gross receipts tax revenue continue to come in below next year’s anticipated amount, the city will have substantial operational challenges.

Because of the June’s loss, on Monday night the Belen City Council approved furloughs for all city employees, including the mayor and city councilors.

The furlough days will be taken one day each month on the month’s first holiday, days the city government would normally be shut down. That allows for city services to remain mostly unaffected.

Each furlough day is expected to save approximately $11,000.

Filed under Economy | Email Me

The unemployment rate in Valencia County fell by one percent in April, the largest decrease in unemployment since the economic downturn in the fall of 2008.

The unemployment rate for April 2010.

The unemployment rate decreased from 10.5 to 9.5 from March to April, according to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics.

In April, the City of Belen and Los Lunas Schools approved layoffs due to deficits, yet the rate still shows a decline.

Exactly one year ago, the unemployment rate fell from 6.9 to 6.6 percent but has been on the rise since then.

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The Belen City Council tonight unanimously approved a resolution expressing support for a study that’s expected to help determine where to place a new interchange and bridge in Valencia County.

The study has two primary locations for an interchange still under consideration, either placing it near Morris Road in Los Lunas or near Miller Road, which could be within the area annexed by the City of Belen for the Rancho Cielo development.

The interchange would connect with a new bridge also near either Morris Road or Miller Road, extending to Highway 47.

The study continues to determine exactly where to connect to Highway 47. Right now, the connections are primarily north of Tome in the El Cerro neighborhood.

The resolution only approves of the progress of the study but doesn’t support a particular location for the interchange and bridge. The resolution also leaves open the possibility of a “no action” alternative, where no interchange or bridge would be built.

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