Day Three: Making a Budget
Day Three: Making a Budget
Notes from the final day of Cloudcroft Village Council's Open-to-the-Public Budget Retreat
Hannah Dean reports on the final day of the Village of Cloudcroft Council Budget Retreat. This year’s retreat was the first live-streamed and open to the public at the Village Office.
The last day of the budget retreat ended on time, with a zero-dollar deficit.
And, no, this isn’t a satirical column.
As with the two previous days, budget talks launched with a departmental report.
Vyanca Vega, the Village Project Coordinator, presented on the village’s grant funds, loans, and ongoing projects. She reported that 3 Capital Outlay grants were reauthorized for $1,952,264, and the plan is to spend it all by June 30th, 2025.
Other grants on track for the village included the Creative Industries Grant, the Corona Water Line Replacement, Heavy Equipment grants, and a Land Acquisition Grant.
The land acquisition addresses the village’s permitted use of Forest Service land on which the wastewater treatment plant rests. The grant was received in 2021 after a change in federal policy, but the village has yet to pull the trigger on the purchase.
The council must decide by the end of 2025, but Mayor Craig Turner said, “We’re not gonna drag our feet on this.”
Trustee Tabitha Foster asked for an overview of the PURe Water Project, a grey-water reclamation initiative started under former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson.
Trustee Jim Maynard gave a brief history of the project and said, “It got into water storage, which is probably the best benefit to our community today.” He later said of the grey-water project, “If we had a six-month ‘proof of concept’…is it taking grey-water and putting out high enough quality to blend back into the mountain?” He elaborated on the village’s grandfathered-in basin-exchange water filtration (we currently send our grey water “down the canyon,” where it is eventually filtered by the earth, which no longer meets Environmental Department Agency’s standards.)
Maynard argued for a proof of concept, maintaining that it “would stop engineers from redesigning the wheel.”
The discussion turned to the new village's plans to use grey water to treat wastewater rather than fresh water, saving approximately 1.5 million gallons of drinking-quality water per year.
Little surprises left over from previous administrations were unearthed throughout the day, some issues straddling multiple village eras.
The council requested Vega present deadlines to them at regular meetings to “avoid what happened with the Recreation Grant.”
In recent history, the Recreation Grant funds have been unused and precariously close to spending deadlines, creating concerns that Cloudcroft’s grants relationship with the State of New Mexico might be jeopardized.
For now, the grant is on track to pay for the remaining costs of the new ice rink bathrooms at Zenith Park. The grant also funds the new playground equipment for Deer Park (located behind Future Real Estate).
Grant money is used to fund extensive roof repairs for the Old Red Brick Schoolhouse building, with construction slated to begin soon. The American Plan Rescue Act (ARPA), a post-covid federal relief fund, will last one more financial cycle.
After Vega’s department presentation, the council made a game plan to reconcile the budget. They even agreed on how to proceed if and when they couldn’t agree.
The plan: start at the beginning, include all requests, and cull from there.
The team took a quick break after the pep talk and resolution to zero out the budget efficiently. Upon returning, the remainder of the day was filled with the furious clacking of Clerk Shae Hemphill’s keyboard as she updated the budget, answered questions, and delivered fresh stacks of paper reflecting the rearranged and adjusted financial plan.
The village’s projected income trend lines show sustained financial growth over the past few years. Still, the council chose to keep a conservative estimate of our revenue when balancing the budget.
Turner recently met with each department head and asked them to present their requests in order of greatest needs. We’ll start with a short list of cuts: the concrete pad for a new salt barn and the purchase of enough plastic parking bumpers for Burro Avenue.
Some notable requests that made their way into the intended plans, mostly for Public Works and Wastewater Management, were the purchase of 20 Kennedy fire hydrants, two new maintenance vehicles, the lease for a road grader, 132 cellular-read-capable water meters, wastewater management supplies, and updated safeguards for chlorine storage.
Plans to change police schedules to ensure “true 24-hour coverage,” a few substantial raises, and purchasing GIS software were tabled for further discussion, though the council seemed to favor these changes. The impacts of the reduced police hourly schedule will be addressed to ensure salaries remain stable.
The GIS budgetary changes are flexible and depend on how many departments the council approves GIS mapping. Trustee Timothy King is waiting to hear back on a grant that could fully fund the project.
After talks of subtle raises, morale, and upcoming HR development, Turner ended the session promptly at 4 o’clock, stating, “We balanced our budget—we’ve done a hell of a job,” and the room broke out in applause.
With the draft budget now complete, the final votes should be in before the budget is submitted for state approval by June 1st, 2024. The next fiscal year begins July 1st of this year.
Kudos to the staff and Council for pulling off three days of successful collaborative budgeting in the open, broadcast live.
Here’s hoping all decisions work so well.
Check out our Day One and Day Two reports. We'll spread the word after the Village Council approves a final budget.
Read Interview with Mayor Craig Turner, Part One.