Nov. 18 – The city of Santa Fe has extended its contract with a fiscal agent to continue accessing millions of dollars in state investments for planned infrastructure projects.
City council members voted unanimously at a meeting last week to include 22 legislative appropriations from the 2024 session in the deal with the North Central New Mexico Economic Development District, an association of local government agencies and other organizations. The council also approved using some of the state funds for two projects: $5 million for improvements to Fort Marcy Park and $240,000 for the design of a new pedestrian bridge over the Santa Fe River at Shelby Street.
The city entered into a fiscal agency agreement with the association in 2023 at the request of the Ministry of Finance and Administration, following a series of missed deadlines for annual financial audits.
The city initially approved a contract with the economic development district in December 2023 for capital expenditures beginning in 2021 and earlier this year extended the contract with 2022 and 2023 dollars.
How long the city must cooperate with the tax agent will be determined by the Department of Finance and Administration, even though it is now aware of its audits.
The city filed its last delinquent audit in May and is on track to submit its fiscal year 2024 audit by the Dec. 15 deadline, Emily Oster, the city’s chief financial officer, said Monday.
“It remains our top priority in the finance department,” Oster said.
Submitting an audit in a timely manner — and hopefully with fewer audit findings than in the previous year — will be important to demonstrate to the state agency that the city is back on track, she said.
“It will be very important to get an audit on time,” she said.
Oster said the economic development district has been “great to work with.” The main reason the city wants to regain its own appropriations is financial: As part of the contract, the city pays the tax agent a fee of 1% of the dollar amount it spends on each state-financed project.
“It’s an additional cost that we have to pay, and we would rather spend those funds on other needs of the city,” Oster said, noting that the deal also makes the process a little slower by adding a new step.
The city received a total of approximately $18.9 million in capital expenditures during the 2024 session, including $1.6 million for the wastewater treatment plant at Paseo Real, $3.4 million for an expansion of the Municipal Recreation Complex’s Soccer Valley and $ 2 million for the Santa Fe Regional Airport.
Funding for improvements to Fort Marcy Park was not on the city’s request lists but was appropriated by Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, who secured $5 million for the beautification of the Fuego baseball team’s home and the annual burning of Zozobra.
“She really felt like this was a priority that she wanted to put her personal stamp on, and I appreciate that,” Mayor Alan Webber said after the session.
The project will be handled by the city’s Parks and Open Space Department, said Regina Wheeler, director of public works. Specific works have not yet been planned, but are likely to include significant infrastructure improvements.
“We’re really looking at upgrading the restrooms, the concession stands, all the entrances and walkways, and upgrading them and making them ADA compliant,” she said, referring to the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Wheeler said the design phase, which will include a public engagement process to solicit input on what improvements people would most like to see, will likely take about a year. Future legislative sessions may include additional funding for construction.
“We are communicating with the state about the plan for Fort Marcy,” Wheeler said.
The design process for the Shelby Street Bridge will likely have a shorter timeline, but will require a historical design review. The current bridge was closed by the city after it was determined to be unsafe due to deterioration of the concrete foundation.
