The county commission will meet beginning at 9:45 am on Tuesday December 19, 2023 in their chambers at 1712 N. Date Street in Truth or Consequences. The early start time is to give county residents fifteen minutes to give comments on two proposed ordinances. The commission will vote on those ordinances at the end of the regular meeting.
Public comment on the proposed ordinances may be presented orally or may be sent via email to county Manager Amber Vaughn (avaughn@sierraco.org) or Executive Assistant Jessica West (jwest@sierraco.org). Emails must be received by the managers office no later than 5:00 pm on Monday December 18. Those comments will be read into the record during the hearing.
The first ordinance, “23-005 Codifying the New Mexico Enabling Act”, gives the county the right to not enforce any laws, mandates or orders that it determines violates or is contrary to the 1910 act. We have previously posted information on that proposed ordinance.
The second ordinance is “23-006 Indigent Healthcare”. The county is required by law to provide indigent health care. The new ordinance will update previous ordinances to establish the maximum income of anyone seeking assistance and establish the rules for that assistance. The entirety of the ordinance can be read beginning on page 4 of packet for the meeting.
According to Amber Vaughn, county manager, the ordinance will also allow the county to provide care to those arrested by the Sheriff’s department. She said that the previous ordinance included county detainees but not individuals arrested by the Sheriff. In fiscal year 2023 the county spent $9,433 from the general fund to pay for Sheriff arrestees health care needs.
Indigent health care is paid for by ⅛% of the gross receipts tax. This year the county spent $474,617.02 from the IHC fund. The bulk of that money goes to county supported medicaid and the safety net care pool. In addition, Vaughn said that “the County paid $93,299 on the incarcerated out of the IHC” this year. Another $5,400 paid for indigent burials. Any unused funds must be rolled over to the following year and cannot be used for any other purpose.
In addition to the Indigent Health Care ordinance, the commission is schedule to approve a resolution to establish a policy for cremation of indigents and unclaimed decedents.
The commission will sign a number of contracts to provide work in the county. These will include work on the fairgrounds and Arrey ball field.
Contracts focussed on the Sheriff’s office will include preparations to move the department to the former administrative building at 855 Van Patten. First steps include $68,498 for dirt work and drainage and an estimated $75,000 to $90,000 for roof restoration. There is also a contract to purchase a $334,953 armored truck for the Sheriff’s office. The funding for these projects and truck will come from the federal Local Assistance and Tribal Consistency Fund. New Mexico legislative appropriations will also be used in the truck purchase.
The Flood Commissioner’s office is scheduled to give their annual report during the Presentation/Reports segment of the regular meeting.