Albuquerque City Councilors Monday night approved a $1.5 billion city budget that none of them seemed to love.
Perhaps the council’s biggest disappointment was an inability to provide the pay hike they wanted for city employees. The budget, as amended, calls for many workers to receive a 2.5% pay raise.
Mayor Tim Keller’s proposed budget for the 2026 fiscal year included a 2% raise for employees. The council then approved an amendment adding another 0.5% after voting down another that would have increased the total to 3%, but devoted less to libraries, open space management, after-school programs and other priorities.
The raises apply to employees not associated with the firefighters’ union, which had negotiated a separate deal. Their total cost is just over $2 million, about half of which was freed up when the U.S. Department of Justice ended federal oversight of the Albuquerque Police Department.
Workers in the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees may get larger pay increases, as the budget brings all employees in that union up to the minimum negotiated rate.
The final budget comes more than two months after Keller sent his proposal to the council.
Councilor Renee Grout chairs the Committee of the Whole, which considers the budget and the capital improvements program proposed by the mayor. She said councilors had little to work with, but were able to support key goals.
“The passage of the FY 2026 budget and the adoption of our one-year objectives … demonstrate the council’s dedication to both sound financial management and a focused approach to addressing the needs of our growing community,” she said. “These actions provide the framework for how we intend to serve Albuquerque residents in the coming year.”
Grout said she’s hopeful the city sees revenues pick up, giving councilors the opportunity to give employees a mid-year pay hike.
Councilor Louie Sanchez said the final budget includes some items that were important to him and his constituents, but leaves the city with a bloated administration and little left over to support rank-and-file employees.
The council approved a Sanchez amendment that guarantees $250,000 for a domestic violence sexual assault commission.
Councilor Dan Lewis said there are a lot of good things in the budget, but that it also misses the mark in important ways.
“We could have given a significant amount of increase to the people who do the most work in this city, but we didn’t do that,” he said. “There’s not a whole lot in this budget that I can support, and I don’t think it serves the people of the city very well.”
Lewis said “all the wrong departments” have grown during Keller’s tenure and that the budget doesn’t include money for the police department to hire enough new officers to adequately address the city’s crime problem.
Councilor Tammy Fiebelkorn said she’s proud of the budget and that Grout tried very hard to get some of each councilor’s priorities into the spending plan.
“We were able to get a two-and-a-half percent raise for all the staff … while also maintaining funding for really important programs that help children get jobs and protect our Bosque and all of those things that are very, very important to our city.”
The budget passed on a 6-2 vote, with Lewis and Councilor Klarissa Peña opposed and Council President Brook Bassan absent.
After the council vote, a Keller news release said the budget passed with strong support and minimal changes, maintaining key investments in public safety, homelessness response, and family services.
The budget prioritizes youth and family services, job readiness and small business support, and long-term investments in community resilience, the release states.
“This budget builds on real momentum, lower crime, more shelter and treatment options, and stronger support for working families,” Keller said. “Together, we’re investing in a safer, more compassionate, and more resilient city.”
Top spending areas in the fiscal year 2026 budget:
Albuquerque Police Department ($273,975,000).
Albuquerque Fire Rescue ($128,682,000).
Group self-insurance fund ($101,735,000).
General obligation bond debt service ($97.46 million).
Department of Municipal Development ($50,617,000).
The budget dedicated almost $4.6 million in opioid settlement money to support and expand the capacity and sustainability of existing service providers focused on treatment, prevention and intervention. That allocation includes one-time grants for improvements and equipment purchases to enhance service delivery and $1.8 million to expand the Crossroads prevention and intervention program at Albuquerque Public Schools.
Council Spokesperson Vince Higgins said the assistance will allow APS to increase its number of Crossroads counselors and expand the program’s reach to additional elementary and middle schools.
The budget continues the expansion of the Gateway Network, which connects people experiencing homelessness to shelter, behavioral health services, and permanent housing, city administrators say, and adds resources for officer training, retention, and neighborhood-based response.
“We’re protecting the core services our residents count on every day while preparing responsibly for economic uncertainty,” city Chief Financial Officer Kevin Sourisseau said. “This budget holds the line on our values and ensures we keep moving in the right direction.”
