BY RANDALL RYTI
Los Alamos County Councilor

Starting on Monday, April 22 at 6pm and continuing for up to three more nights (Tuesday and Monday/Tuesday the next week), the Los Alamos County Council will consider and ultimately adopt a budget for our fiscal year (FY) 2025 that starts July 1, 2024. This is my sixth time representing the community in these hearings.

For the last two years, Council’s strategic priorities include five goals:

 Quality Governance
 Operational Excellence
 Economic Vitality
 Quality of Life
 Environmental Stewardship

Under each of these goals are listed from four to six priorities for a total of 23. The budget hearings are organized by County Department. Each department may have budget options in addition to their current FY spending levels and assumptions regarding salary and benefit increases for County Staff. The budget options are distributed through the Department section of the Budget Book but you can see a two- page summary of these options as Attachment D to the agenda package for the hearings. If you do not see a budget option then the assumption is that current funding and staffing is adequate to address our priorities from housing, transportation, facility maintenance, to social services, just to name a few.

Capital improvement projects planned for FY25 or the immediate future will also be of interest to the public. There is a section in the Budget Book on Capital Improvements starting on page 274 with pages 281-284 having a summary of projects. One notable project is Broadband, which would likely be fiber infrastructure owned by Los Alamos County.

We will also consider a revenue option starting in FY27 to increase the Gross Receipts
Tax (GRT) rate by a 0.25% increment. While this measure would likely come to Council for action in early 2026 it is necessary to determine if such an increment should be included in the long range financial plan. The reason is that taxable revenues from Triad are projected to decline about that time and a GRT rate increase is one option to maintain revenues and services. I’ll note that the assumed GRT increment is smaller and delayed from what was being consider one year ago. There is also information in the agenda package on some other options to address the projected shortfall and mechanisms to fund Broadband infrastructure.

If you have any comments on the County budget and how it reflects our collective priorities, please join us at the Council meeting in person or remotely on April 22 at 6 p.m. Please note that time is reserved for public comment at the beginning of the meeting or shortly after 6pm. You can also send your comments to the entire Council
(~CountyCouncil@lacnm.us) or to me directly (randall.ryti@lacnm.us).