By Jesse Jones, City Desk in The Paper. — Albuquerque city workers filled the City Council chambers hoping a new tax would fund long-awaited raises, but they left empty-handed.
Councilors voted 8-1 Monday night to kill a proposed gross receipts tax increase before the state deadline, shelving a plan meant to fund community projects and boost employee pay.
The ordinance met a dramatic and unexpected demise. Sponsored by Councilors Brook Bassan and Joaquín Baca and backed by Mayor Tim Keller’s administration, the measure would have raised the city’s GRT by 0.4875%, bringing the total rate to 8.113% and generating about $119 million a year for capital projects and raises.
Councilor Tammy Fiebelkorn successfully pushed floor amendments that changed the revenue split from 50-50 to 70-30, dedicating 70% of any increase to employee pay and cutting the proposed tax hike to just 0.1275%.
Fiebelkorn said the changes would protect low-income households, arguing the city should not fund “vanity projects” on the backs of its poorest residents.
Baca and Bassan fiercely opposed the amendments and eventually withdrew support from their own ordinance. Bassan said the slashed rate would fail to deliver vital infrastructure, while Baca said the last-minute changes stripped away the “spirit of this bill.”
For nearly two hours, dozens of city employees pleaded for livable wages to combat burnout and severe understaffing. Meanwhile, taxpayers and advocacy groups warned that a regressive tax would crush families struggling with inflation.
The altered ordinance failed with only Fiebelkorn in support. With no new tax revenue to fund raises, the council and the mayor’s administration must now search for alternative funds during the upcoming fiscal year 2027 budget process.
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