The City of Española Finance Committee will re-examine a resolution the city council passed in 2024 to increase utility prices by 5% each year through 2030.
The increase is for residential and commercial customers and will impact water, wastewater and solid waste rates. The council passed the resolution on Nov. 12, 2024 and it will go into effect on July 1.
Committee Chairman and District 4 Councilor Samuel LeDoux did not support the ordinance and is very concerned about how the increases will impact the community, especially senior citizens. He was the only councilor to vote against the passage of the ordinance in 2024.
“That’s part of the reason why I voted against this ordinance when it first came to us,” he said. “The city of Española on a per capita basis, the average resident in our city makes around $27,000 a year,” he said.
Residential Rate Changes
The price for 1,000 gallons of water for residential customers rose $1.14, from $3.46 to $4.60.
The ordinance also includes an increase to the monthly service fee. This will rise from $3.46 to $24.63, about an 611% increase.
Wastewater prices will increase about $1.58 and will go from $31.60 for the first 3,000 gallons to $33.18. Every additional 1,000 gallons used will cost $7.32, or a 35 cent increase compared to previous rates.
Trash rates for residential customers will also increase. The new price for a single poly cart will be $23.06 per month or $276.70 per year with a $52.50 deposit. This is compared to the current rates of $21.96 per month or $263.52 per year with a $50 deposit.
Commercial rates for utilities will increase 5%. The monthly fee increases for water and wastewater are less than those for residential customers. In the case of one type of Class I commercial customer, their monthly fee will go from $54.94 to $57.69 — about a 2% increase. In the case of a Class III customer, their rate will go from $293.07 to $307.72 — a 5% fee increase.
District 2 Councilor Peggy Sue Martinez made the motion to pass the ordinance in 2024.
During the May 18 finance meeting, she said she believes she phrased her motion to pass the ordinance to state that the cost increase was for 3,000 gallons of water, and not 1,000.
“I’ve had different discussions with different people and they’ve said, ‘Don’t say anything, don’t say anything, we really need the money, we really need the money,’ “ she said. “You know that? That’s not what I voted for. That’s not the way that it was presented to the public.”
This change is not noted in the minutes for the Nov. 12, 2024, meeting.
LeDoux requested that the audio from the meeting be presented at the upcoming Finance Committee meeting scheduled for June 17.
At that time, District 3 Councilor Felicia Archuleta-Toya made a motion to amend the ordinance to state that it would go into effect on July 1, 2026, and then annually thereafter, according to the minutes.
The price will increase through 2030.
Ordinance
The ordinance laid out a number of factors justifying the need for the price increase.
Since the last rate increase for water and wastewater in 2019, the ordinance states, city operational costs for these services had risen 138%.
It also cites supply chain disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and rising steel costs caused by the destruction a steel production plant in Ukraine during its war with Russia.
The ordinance also lists money it owes to area pueblos. This includes $1.4 million owed to Santa Clara Pueblo for utility right-of-way use prior to June 2022. This will cost the city $70,000 a year, paid over 20 years. The city must also pay Santa Clara Pueblo $2.5 million at $7,500 a month until 2047 for future use, as well as $40,000 each year to Ohkay Owingeh.
The New Mexico Department of Finance and Administration’s Local Government Division must approve the city’s budget each year. According to the ordinance, utility expenses are part of the city’s enterprise fund, which means they cannot be subsidized by the city’s general fund.
The enterprise fund includes money the city generates from fees for services or utilities.
During the 2024 meeting, then-city attorney Frank Coppler said the city needed money for the wastewater plant and other infrastructure to be in compliance with Environmental Protection Agency standards and other requirements, the minutes state.
“We are not even close to having the money to pay for the regulated improvements,” the 2024 minutes state.
At the committee meeting, LeDoux said he understands the city is in a difficult situation due to inflation, but he is concerned this additional revenue would be used for employee salaries.
“When we passed the union agreement, that was part of the way that they justified that they were going to pay for it, right?” LeDoux asked Finance Director Patrick Varela during the meeting.
Varela confirmed this.
“That’s correct,” LeDoux said. “So that is the reality is that some of this money could have already been, it’s basically already accounted for.”
The city also needed money to pay for taking over trash services.
Finance Committee meetings were not broadcast on Zoom during former mayor John Ramon Vigil’s administration.
Martinez thanked LeDoux for putting the utility discussion on the agenda and for transparency with constituents.
“I want to say thank you to you, Samuel, for having the gumption to put this on the agenda,” she said. “You know, sometimes these are difficult conversations to have, and the reason is, is, because the city is in dire straits financially. I understand that totally, but at the end of the day, I really believe that we need to do our due diligence and do right by the constituents also.