Your water rates may soon be going up. Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority will be asking for a 12% rate increase. The water utility staff presented their Fiscal Year 2025 budget to the governing board asking for a water and sewage rate increase at their meeting held Wednesday What does this mean for you? […]
Local Government
Posted inFederal Government & Congress, Housing & Homelessness, Local Government
The mayor said the city needs new 5,000 homes. His budget proposes less than 200.
In 2022, Mayor Tim Keller announced his goal to have 5,000 housing units across the city by 2025 to help with the city’s affordable “housing crisis.” So far 165 affordable units have been built and the next fiscal year’s budget includes funding for 195 housing units — still far short of the goal. Katie Simon, […]
Posted inFederal Government & Congress, Housing & Homelessness, Local Government
City survey shows residents concerned about direction city is headed
Albuquerque residents say they’re concerned about the city’s direction, and although many feel that city leaders have put forth good ideas on how to address those issues, 61% of residents polled feel the city is unresponsive to their concerns. That’s the gist of the city’s annual survey, released Tuesday. When asked how they feel about […]
Posted inFederal Government & Congress, Local Government
Family summer plans get more expensive under mayor’s budget
Summer plans are about to get more expensive with Mayor Tim Keller’s proposed budget seeking more money from golfers, swimmers and animal lovers. The mayor’s proposed budget is $23.7 million higher than last year’s budget of $1.37 billion. Almost $2 million of that will come from proposed fee hikes on some of the city’s most […]
Posted inFederal Government & Congress, Housing & Homelessness, Local Government
Councilors hear pleas for ceasefire
City Councilors made some changes to how the city will handle the administrative side of all the grants that it processes. But it was pleas for a resolution calling for an immediate Israeli ceasefire in Palestine that dominated public comment at the April 15 Albuquerque City Council meeting. Read about how city councilors decided to […]
Posted inFederal Government & Congress, Housing & Homelessness, Local Government
City plans to install 50 pallet homes at former MVD site
In a close vote, the Albuquerque City Council agreed to allocate about a fifth of the opioid settlement funds the city has received so far toward developing a transitional recovery housing campus featuring pallet homes. The $5 million allocation passed in a 5-4 vote at an April 15 meeting. Councilors Joaquín Baca, Klarissa Peña, Brook […]
Posted inLocal Government
Could County Commissioners face fines for violating the Open Meetings Act?
At last Tuesday’s Bernalillo County Commission meeting, Commissioners Steven Michael Quezada and Walt Benson alleged they were not included in decisions regarding selecting a new county manager. These complaints reached the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government in the following days. City Desk ABQ asked Melanie Majors, executive director of the Foundation for Open Government […]
Posted inFederal Government & Congress, Housing & Homelessness, Local Government
WHAT TO EXPECT: Council may debate spending $5M in opioid funding
City Councilors will debate whether to approve an expenditure of $5 million of opioid settlement dollars. According to the request, there is a lack of transitional recovery housing facilities in Albuquerque and these funds will allow Family and Community Services to coordinate the acquisition, renovation, or expansion of transitional recovery housing facilities. In other city […]
Posted inFederal Government & Congress, Housing & Homelessness, Local Government
Deaths at the Westside shelter are increasing
On Jan. 28, 2023, a 53-year-old woman was staying at the Westside Emergency Housing Center with her husband when she died. According to an incident report, Gina Kirwin’s husband told staff that she was not breathing and when they went to check on her she was already cold to the touch. Kirwin’s husband told police […]
Posted inLocal Government
Commissioners accused of violating the Open Meetings Act
Did Bernalillo County Commissioners violate state law? The Foundation for Open Government (FOG) — an advocate for transparency in government — has asked the New Mexico Department of Justice to investigate whether the Bernalillo County Commission violated the Open Meetings Act by engaging in a rolling quorum before it met this week. A rolling quorum […]