Local state representatives and senator give verbal confirmation that T or C is to receive $20.4 million for emergency waterline repairs

I predicted that Truth or Consequences would not get either the $20 million or the $16 million requested for emergency waterline repairs in Senate Bill 95 and House Bill 148 respectively. The city had not turned in its 2023 annual audit—a prerequisite for legislative grants. The city turned in its audit March 6 (it was due Dec. 15, 2023) and the state grants were given.

I based my prediction on the Legislative Finance Committee’s fiscal impact reports on both bills.

For SB 95, the LFC said that the New Mexico Environment Department’s agency analysis pointed out that “Truth or Consequences has not submitted its 2023 annual financial audit and will not be eligible to receive legislative appropriations until its audit is finalized, submitted, reviewed and made publicly available by the Office of the State Auditor.”

Evidently state officials were O.K. with the city’s audit still being “in review,” according to the State Auditor’s website, and with its being publicly unavailable.

The LFC’s wording for HB 148 was less specific on city audit requirements, merely referring to state audit rules: “The projects included in House Bill 148 will be required to demonstrate compliance with regulations and laws such as water rights, drinking water regulations, and state audit rules, before funding is awarded by the [Water Trust] board.”

Verbal confirmation of the awards was given by Mayor Rolf Hechler, Senator Crystal Diamond Brantley, Representative Gail Armstrong and Representative Tara Jaramillo during the March 13 city commission meeting. Brantley, Armstrong and Jaramillo sponsored SB 95 and Armstrong was among the sponsors for HB 148.

Hechler invited local state representatives to the city meeting to allow them to announce the news and to be given credit where credit is due. The invitation corresponded nicely with state-primary candidate registration on March 12. Brantley and Jaramillo are running to keep their seats.

“I represent four counties,” Armstrong said, “and it is tough to make it even [the divvying up of her discretionary capital outlay funding]. But water was at the top of the list for New Mexico.”

“Without water,” Jaramillo said, “the schools and the hospital are done. My appropriations concentrated on water.”

Hechler said HB 148 came with a match requirement, which was satisfied by U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich’s federal grant of $1.6 million given last year to the city for emergency water repairs.

According to the LFC Fiscal Impact Statement, the average grant/match ratio for Water Trust Board funds in recent years has been 83 percent grant and 17 percent match. It looks as if the city was given another favor. Besides its late audit, its 10 percent match was deemed sufficient.

HB 148 dealt with the distribution of Water Trust Board funds in general. Its passage approved 65 water projects among 55 applicants (T or C’s request among them) for consideration. Total requests were about $275 million, which had to be winnowed to $115.7 million, the amount available in the fund this year. The New Mexico Finance Authority administers the fund. The bill included an emergency clause, which makes funds available upon award. The LFC fiscal impact statement said awards would be announced in May,  but local legislators obviously received the news earlier.

SB 95, if it had been approved, would have been a one-time award of $20 million from the state general fund. The bill never made it to the floor, but wheels turned behind the scenes. Hechler and fellow-Commissioner Ingo Hoeppner met with Governor Lujan Grisham for 40 minutes the same day they spoke at the senate committee hearing on the bill, Hechler said. Evidently Lujan Grisham sympathized with the city’s water crises.

Brantley confirmed that Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham agreed to give T or C $2.9 million from the state general fund if Brantley, Armstrong and Jaramillo gave $500,000 each from their discretionary capital-outlay funds, which they did. Therefore the city will receive an additional $4.4 million for emergency waterline repairs.

Last legislative session the city also made a $20-million request and Brantley alone sponsored a bill. When they met with local entities prior to the legislative session in 2023, Armstrong and Jaramillo said they received about $500,000 each in discretionary capital outlay for their whole  district and Brantley said she had about $1.5 million. If the amounts are the same, Jaramillo and Armstrong gave most, if not all of their capital outlay to T or C and Brantley gave one-third.

To see the engineering report that details how the $20.4 million will be spent, please see the Citizen’s prior article: https://sierracountycitizen.org/t-or-cs-legislative-request-for-20-million-in-emergency-waterline-repairs-the-engineering-plan/