+News Archives - City Desk ABQ

The Albuquerque City Council debates the city budget during the May 18 council meeting. (Jesse Jones)

After mayor warns of budget woes, Council OK’s city’s biggest budget ever

By Jesse Jones, City Desk in The Paper. — The City Council passed the city’s largest-ever budget, $1.5 billion, Monday night overcoming earlier warnings from the mayor that future spending would have to be cut to meet slower economic projections. The spending plan, passing 7-2, with councilors Brook Bassan and Dan Lewis voting against it, […]

Restaurant workers continue to work the lunch hour at Frontier Restaurant near UNM Tuesday afternoon. Photo by Roberto E. Rosales for the Paper

Councilors will push $15 min. wage, increased tipped wage to meet affordability crisis

By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — Burqueños struggling to keep up with rising rent costs may soon see relief as a bloc of city councilors pushes to raise Albuquerque’s minimum wage amid an expanding affordability crisis. The ordinance would address Burque’s widening affordability gap, where average earnings per job are about 20% below the national […]

Renée Grout was reelected chair of the Committee of the Whole on Monday, a role that oversees the city's $1.5 billion budget and capital improvements program. Grout previously served as council vice president in 2023 and 2024.

Council says it found $11 million budget error by mayor. He says they don’t understand the budget.

By Jesse Jones — City Desk in The Paper. — Division has split Albuquerque City Hall as a clash is erupting between the City Council and Mayor Tim Keller’s administration over an $11.8 million discrepancy council staff uncovered in the city’s financial projections while reviewing the mayor’s proposed $1.4 billion fiscal year 2027 budget. It […]

Albuquerque, Local Government

Council introduces changes to mayor’s budget, restoring cut positions and striking fees on residents

by Jesse Jones May 13, 2026May 14, 2026

After weeks of public hearings, Committee of the Whole Chairperson Renée Grout introduced the City Council’s substitute budget for the 2027 fiscal year, and opening the process for final council-sponsored amendments to finalize the budget before a June 1 deadline. Grout’s version follows Mayor Tim Keller’s budget proposal from earlier this year, but includes changes […]

Parts of the Rio Grande flowing through Albuquerque will go dry again this summer, water managers warned Wednesday — repeating a pattern that has now struck the region multiple times in recent years — unless monsoon conditions improve significantly. (Roberto E. Rosales)

ABQ now pumping 100% groundwater as river sets 30-year drying record

by Kevin Hendricks May 13, 2026May 13, 2026

Albuquerque stopped drawing water from the Rio Grande on April 24 and processed its last surface water three days later — leaving the water authority running entirely on groundwater reserves months before summer heat peaks, a water authority spokesperson confirmed Wednesday. The early shift marks a significant milestone in what water managers are calling one […]

In downtown Albuquerque, The Alvarado Apartments is among 148 properties with multiple violations the proposed ordinance would target. (Staff photo)

City Council considers stricter repair timelines for ‘Bad Actor’ landlords

By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — City councilors and landlords all agree that a handful of “bad actors” are giving landlords citywide a bad image, but a proposal before the city council to increase fines and require faster repairs by the worst offenders faced challenges in it’s first hearing. The city received more than 2,111 […]

Pictured is the new Albuquerque Community Safety (ACS) headquarters located at 1210 San Mateo Blvd. SE. The new 10,800-square-foot facility is located in the International District, and along with housing ACS staff and programs, will also serve as a space for community resources and gatherings Photo by Roberto E. Rosales/City Desk Abq.

ABQ moves to permanently fund new safety branches without a rate hike

By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — Albuquerque voters may soon decide whether to modernize how the city’s Public Safety Tax is spent, all without seeing any increase in their actual tax rate. We all already pay the Public Safety Tax – 1/4 of 1%, or 25-cents on each $100 transaction – as a part of […]

New ABQ RIDE Routes for the South Valley beginning May 16, 2026 (City courtesy photo)

Albuquerque, Local Government

South Valley gets new “microtransit zone” with new bus lines and door-to-door service

by Pat Davis May 11, 2026

South Valley residents relying on public transit, or wanting to, will soon see more buses as a part of an expansion of the city’s ABQ RIDE Forward program creating a “microtransit zone” for the area. Changes Starting May 16: “This phase will better connect the South Valley,” said Transit Director Leslie Keener. “The area will greatly […]

The Bernalillo County Commissioners unanimously approved the FY27–FY28 Biennial Budget (Jesse Jones)

Bernalillo County, Local Government

As City works to plug budget hole, County approves record $1B budget with surplus

by Jesse Jones May 11, 2026

By Jesse Jones, City Desk in The Paper. — Unlike councilors in the City of Albuquerque who are trying to plug a $30-ish million budget hole tied to slower economic activity, Bernalillo County will start the year with a $70 million budget surplus thanks to increasing property tax revenue which funds the majority of county […]

Albuquerque, Congress & Federal Gov., Courts, Justice & Safety

Feds. sue New Mexico, Albuquerque to block anti-ICE laws

by Pat Davis May 8, 2026May 8, 2026

Albuquerque — The U.S. Department of Justice late Friday sued the state and City of Albuquerque to pause enforcement of local legislation the federal government says would impede federal immigration enforcement in the state. Federal officials asked a federal judge for an injunction prohibiting the state from enforcing House Bill 9, the “Immigrant Safety Ordinance” […]