#Albuquerque Archives - City Desk ABQ

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 […]

A sign at the city's only Safe Outdoor Space located at the New Creation Church. (Jesse Jones)

Council said no to more safe outdoor spaces but Mayor Keller started one anyway. Now the funding and future may be in jeopardy.

By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — Almost a year ago, Mayor Tim Keller told reporters the city needs 100 more Safe Outdoor Spaces for its homeless population but the city council has never gotten on board with authorizing zoning and ordinance changes to get anywhere close. Even now, the city has only one privately run […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]