“Good old boy” government is expensive and hiding those costs from the public depends on leaders agreeing not to ask questions after bestowing power to favorites.
The Truth or Consequences city commission doesn’t insist on hiring qualified department heads, make them report verbally or in writing, make them write asset management plans, make them explain how staff hours are spent or how or why equipment is needed or used.
The city commission also doesn’t require quarterly financial reports, not bothering to know if it is keeping to the budget it passed, which is based on little evidence or facts or reporting or monitoring or planning.
So it goes, year after year, and so it will go this year for the 2024-2025 budget soon to be determined. The city commission, insisting on ignorance, can only pass a budget in ignorance.
And the department heads, not hired according to their qualifications, not required to plan, report, keep records, or to analyze past performance, will again largely determine the budget. City Manager Angela Gonzales recently told city commissioners she’s drafting the budget with department heads, confirming that the same behind-the-scenes process is being used.
But I’ve noticed that the city is hiring and relying on professional services and outside contractors more and more to solve its problems and to carry on the needed work.
I went through the current 2023-2024 budget line by line to see how much the people are being charged for this outside help.
There has been no budget update or quarterly report since it was passed late July 2023 and the budget wasn’t posted to the city’s website until recently and only then because of citizen complaints.
Many and many budget adjustments have been approved since July by the city commission, so the numbers I give below are out of date. The budget could be much larger now. In February, Mayor Rolf Hechler, speaking during a senate committee hearing on the city’s request for $20 million for emergency waterline repairs, was asked by one of the state senators, “What’s the city’s budget?” Hechler replied, “$61 million.” “I’m surprised it’s as much as that,” the senator said.
The budget passed in July was for $48.2 million of which $25.8 million is for operations and $22.4 million is for capital projects. Capital-projects budget lines don’t give outside contracts and professional services details. Therefore only professional services and outside contracts for operations could be determined. I have rounded the numbers.
Nearly 11 percent of the operations budget or $2.8 million is to be spent on “professional services” and “other contractual services” and “contracts,” which are vaguely labeled in the budget. Professional services were about $1.3 million and other contractual services and contracts were about $1.5 million.
City Clerk’s Office: “maintenance contracts,” $6,000; “other contractual services,” $4,000
City Manager’s Office: “professional services,” $200
Administrative Services: “other contractual services, $21,000
Animal Shelter: “professional services,” $20,000
Police Department: “professional services,” $5,000; “other contractual services,” $239,000
Police Department Gross Receipts Tax: “professional services, $25,000
Community Development: “professional services,” $267,000, but please note that a recent budget adjustment last month added another $108,000 to this line item
Fleet Maintenance: “other contractual services,” $1,000
Facilities Management: “maintenance contracts,” $10,000
Hospital: “other contractual services,” $300,000
Lodgers Tax: “other professional services,” $29,000; “other contractual services,” $9,900; “audit contract services,” $8,000
Municipal Streets: “professional services,” $13,000 and $204,000 and $213,000; “other contractual services,” $4,000
Electric Department: “professional services,” $72,000; “audit contract,” $10,000
Water Department: “professional services,” $60,000; “audit contract,” $10,000
Solid Waste Department: “audit contract,” $10,000; “professional services,” $15,000; “other contractual services,” $211,000
Wastewater Department: “audit contract,” $10,000; “professional services,” $75,000, “other contractual services,” $60,000
Airport: “professional services,” $180,000
The solution?
The people should request that the city commission make operations-budget decisions based on departments’ five-year plans, asset management plans and regular records and reports that quantify the efficiency and effectiveness of staff time, labor and equipment use. The people should also request that the city commission ask about the use of outside services.
For the capital-projects portion of the budget, the people should request that the city commission hold substantive discussions, with their subsequent decisions based on asset management plans, engineering studies and other documents.
That’s why I voted no on the new police dept bldg. No plan in place just a bunch of new taxes. God knows what they’d do with the money. And for god’s sakes, why no effort to get money from the feds in an omnibus bill? That’s how fire stations get built!