#Albuquerque Archives - City Desk ABQ

Albuquerque City Councilor Brook Bassan, co-sponsor of a resurrected $113 million gross receipts tax increase. The council voted 5-4 on June 15 to kill the measure, keeping the massive tax hike out of voters' hands this November. (Jesse Jones)

Denied again: Why the ABQ City Council killed the same sales tax hike twice

By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — Burqueño voters will have one fewer question on the November ballot after the City Council narrowly rejected a proposed $113 million gross receipts tax increase, marking the second defeat for a measure that had already been revived once. The City Council voted 5-4 Monday to kill Resolution R-26-43, a […]

Albuquerque’s record $1.5 billion budget heads to the state, without Keller’s signature

By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — Burqueños and city workers can breathe a sigh of relief as the city’s new $1.5 billion budget becomes law without the stroke of the mayor’s pen. The plan avoids resident trash fee hikes, locks in funding for core community services from public safety to senior programs and includes upcoming […]

Civic Plaza in downtown Albuquerque with the City Hall building pictured in the background. (Roberto Rosales)

Why did the city cancel 311 on Sundays? Councilor quizzes mayor’s office after getting no answer

City Desk ABQ: How that story came together Jesse Jones is a local government reporter with City Desk and The Paper. This column covers his work uncovering what’s behind a news tip he received about City Hall. Whether you’re reporting graffiti, looking for a swimming pool schedule, seeking homeless services or trying to track down […]

A storefront for Smokers Town sits across from the University of New Mexico campus along Central Avenue. Under a newly proposed city ordinance, future smoke shops would face strict buffer zones preventing them from opening near existing cannabis dispensaries or other nicotine retailers. (Jesse Jones)

How a new zoning ordinance could send future Burque smoke shops up in smoke

By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — Smoke shops and cannabis dispensaries have become a common sight in many Duke City shopping centers, but city leaders may soon make that boom go up in smoke. Concerned about the increasing concentration of 21-and-over shops, a city councilor is proposing new zoning rules that would limit how many […]

An Albuquerque Environmental Health Department employee deploys a mosquito surveillance trap. The city's five-person Urban Biology team uses data collected from these traps to monitor roughly 20 local species and track high-priority public health threats like West Nile virus. (CABQ)

Return of the ‘ankle-biters’

By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — Duke City residents looking forward to patio season may think they got through an unusually quiet spring bug season unscathed, but Albuquerque — currently ranked 38th on Orkin’s Top 50 Worst Mosquito Cities List — local health officials expect to see a spike in mosquito populations very soon. The […]

A man is forcefully removed by police following an explosive public comment period at City Hall. Behind the commotion, Councilor Rogers is seen covering her face, while Councilor Telles follows the group out to speak with the man and defuse the confrontation. (Jesse Jones)

Albuquerque, Jobs, Workers & Economy, Local Government, NM.news

City Council ejects speakers in raucous debate, before approving new Albuquerque minimum wage

by Jesse Jones June 2, 2026June 8, 2026

By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — Burqueños workers making minimum wage have something to be excited about – if they have patience – after the Albuquerque City Council approved a $3 increase to the city’s minimum wage Monday night after a packed and at times raucous meeting that drew so many people that some were […]

Saggio’s restaurant near UNM placed a hiring sign Tuesday afternoon. Photo by Roberto E. Rosales for the Paper

Wages vs. Rents: Albuquerque council set to vote on historic $15 minimum wage overhaul tonight

By Jesse Jones, City Desk in The Paper. — Burqueño workers and small business owners could soon feel the impact in their wallets as the City Council prepares to vote tonight on an overhaul of the city’s minimum wage law. As written, the proposal would break from the state’s minimum wage base for the first […]

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.

ABQ tries to break its heavy metal habit with new copper theft law

By Jesse Jones, City Desk in The Paper. — Drivers and pedestrians are navigating dark stretches of East Central Avenue after copper thieves have ripped wiring from streetlights, prompting a pair of city councilors to tighten Albuquerque’s scrap metal recycling laws in an effort to curb the vandalism. Rather than creating a new law, Councilors […]

Residents offload waste at the city's Eagle Rock Convenience Center. (CABQ)

NM.news

Councilor eyes higher fees for nonresidents dumping trash in ABQ city convenience centers

by Jesse Jones May 26, 2026May 26, 2026

Staff report, City Desk in The Paper. — Just days after the City Council stripped similar fee hikes from the citywide budget, one city councilor is proposing a targeted $12 trash surcharge for nonresidents aimed at funding taxpayer-funded convenience centers while keeping local disposal costs at $5. Sponsored by Klarissa J. Peña by request, O-26-35 […]

Albuquerque, Local Government

After Lindy’s collapse, Councilor Baca pushes $5,000 vacancy fines, maintenance rules for Downtown buildings

by Jesse Jones May 26, 2026May 26, 2026

By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — Residents and visitors can’t help but notice the empty buildings Downtown; the sudden structural failure of the Lindy’s building made those eyesores into a public hazard. Now, a councilor who pushed for stronger regulations on vacant and unkept properties Downtown other councilors removed from a prior bill. Sponsored by […]