Roosevelt County Commission approves three-year in-kind services agreement with City of Portales

The Roosevelt County Commission voted 4-1 on March 25 to offer the City of Portales a three-year mutual in-kind services agreement covering Animal Control, Fire, EMS and Detention, with dispatch to be included beginning in fiscal year 2025.

Commission Chair Tina Dixon moved for the county to "offer the City of Portales an agreement for mutual in-kind services to include Animal Control, Fire, EMS, and Detention to take effect immediately," and said the county and city "agreed public safety and the constituents are top priority." Commissioner Roy Lee Criswell seconded the motion. The term specified in the motion covers FY-2024, FY-2025 and FY-2026 and ends June 30, 2026.

County Manager Amber Hamilton briefed commissioners on the fiscal background of detention costs. Hamilton said the city had been billed "$364,980.00 through the month of January" and that "February's invoice brings the unpaid balance to $449,218.00 for detention." She told the commission the county terminated a 20-year agreement in September 2022 and cited increases in per-detainee housing costs, from $55 per day in 2008 to $154 per day in 2022. Hamilton said the county's annual detention budget is just over $4.7 million and that detainee medical costs alone exceed $1,000,000.

Commissioner Rodney Savage opposed forgiving unpaid invoices, saying he was "not in favor of forgiving those unpaid invoices." Several commissioners said they wanted to move the negotiations forward and remove the perception of ongoing animosity between the city and county. County Attorney Michael Garcia, participating by Zoom, advised that specifying traded services ("x" for "y") without assigning dollar amounts would present fewer legal complexities.

The vote was Grider-Yes, Criswell-Yes, Dixon-Yes, Savage-No and Lopez-Yes, and the motion passed. The commission adjourned at 4:47 p.m.

Next steps discussed at the meeting included providing the City Councilors with this meeting record ahead of the city's meeting and continuing negotiations under the framework approved by the commission. No new dollar-for-dollar offsets were adopted at the meeting; the motion authorizes offering an in-kind arrangement for the agreed services.