Las Cruces unveils FY25 proposed budget with higher general-fund spending, new positions and CIP changes

The City of Las Cruces presented the city manager’s proposed fiscal year 2025 budget at a work session on April 22, with officials highlighting higher general-fund spending, a reorganized capital improvement program and a handful of new positions.

Budget and Grant Administrator Jacqueline Rubalcava said the FY25 proposed general fund is about $166.7 million, up from a FY24 revised $151.8 million (a roughly 9.8% increase). Citywide all-funds totals shown in the presentation were approximately $589.5 million for FY25, down from a FY24 revised $613.2 million, reflecting carryovers and reclassifications across enterprise and capital funds.

Rubalcava and CIP staff said personnel and operating increases account for most of the general-fund growth: personnel increases were listed at about $10 million and operating increases at roughly $7.9 million, while capital spending was reduced compared with the FY24 revised figures. The presentation also budgeted a 3–4% general wage increase and factored in an insurance-premium rise of about 12%.

City staff identified 13 new positions in the FY25 request across departments (examples included custodial positions for Facilities, a logistics specialist in Transit, a Sustainability Specialist, an Application Analyst in IT, and three park rangers in Police). Several positions were described as budgeted at 50% for the first year. Brad Douglas, representing the legal department, said a full-time municipal public defender was a reclassification rather than a net new position and that the person would be funded from the legal department and would not report to the city attorney to avoid conflicts of interest.

The proposed FY25 CIP incorporates new project evaluation criteria aligned with the city’s comprehensive plan and three program buckets—Complete Streets, Active Transportation and Resiliency—intended to prioritize projects and improve monitoring. Cynthia Campo (CIP analyst) said the FY25 CIP listing contains mostly carryover and annual projects this year; 39 projects are newly requested but no newly funded projects were included in the FY25 column at the time of the presentation.

Council members pressed for more detail on several line items. One councilor asked whether the $350,000 legislative appropriation for active transportation had preselected projects; staff replied those funds remain 'pending' and projects will be proposed when the city receives the appropriation. A councilor asked for a block-level estimate for sidewalk repairs; Public Works Director David Zedillo offered an example estimate of about $110,000 for a curb/gutter/sidewalk block with driveway pads replaced.

City Manager emphasized internal reductions and asked department heads to trim noncritical requests (a 3% reduction exercise) before the budget is brought back for formal adoption. Staff indicated they plan to return with a refined package ahead of adoption, with budget adoption targeted for the May 20 meeting.

The work session included public comment urging library and housing funding and questions about long-term revenue strategies. The meeting adjourned by motion at the session’s close.

Next steps: staff will refine numbers and return to council for the May adoption process.