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After a year of negotiations and resistance from the Keller administration, the Albuquerque City Council voted 8-1 Monday night to overhaul how the city builds its $1.5 billion budget and require the mayor to give council more insight into how programs and staff perform.
The changes introduce new transparency rules designed to provide residents with a clearer understanding of how tax dollars are spent. The reforms eliminate “negative programmatic appropriations,” budget line items councilors said obscured actual spending, and require the mayor’s administration to provide detailed financial data, organizational charts and performance metrics during budget development.
The new rules take effect in July 2026 and will shape the fiscal year 2028 budget process. Councilor Tammy Fiebelkorn cast the lone vote against the overhaul.
The ordinance, O-24-67, sponsored by City Council Vice President Klarissa Peña, requires the administration to provide vacancy data, salary breakdowns and department organizational charts within seven business days of submitting a proposed budget. It also eliminates “program savings” budget lines that Councilor Dan Lewis said reflected “an average of the last 30 years” rather than actual planned spending.
The changes add mid-year study sessions where councilors can dig into departmental operations before the formal budget process begins and give Council Services staff read-only access to the city’s financial databases and budget calculation systems.
Chief Administrative Officer Samantha Sengel raised concerns throughout the year-long development process that the ordinance violates the separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches.
The council approved 13 amendments at the Dec. 1 council meeting as councilors and the administration negotiated final language. At the meeting, Sengel said directing “the administration on how to formulate the proposed budget … to me, is a general violation of the charter and how we think about the function of the executive versus the legislative.”
She also warned that the requirements would create “a significant level of work” during the busiest time for budget staff.
The reforms come amid ongoing tensions between councilors and the Keller administration over budget transparency. Councilors have repeatedly said they have difficulty accessing clear spending data, particularly for major programs like the Gateway Center homeless services system.
Councilor Renée Grout, who sponsored amendments creating the mid-year study sessions, said councilors “want to be able to ask questions a little more freely and just learn more and be more fiscally responsible with the task that we’ve been given.”
During the debate, Councilor Nicole Rogers said that after two budget cycles, “there’s not a lot of collaboration on council” and councilors need better information to make the “tough budget decisions” expected next cycle.
Councilor Joaquín Baca told City Desk in August he was “tired of funding stuff and having no idea” what outcomes the city is getting, echoing frustrations that likely drove support for the changes.
The measure takes effect July 1, 2026, with full implementation required before the fiscal year 2028 budget process begins in April 2027. The administration must submit a compliance report by Dec. 15, 2026.
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