Official: Not much change in county budget

The first draft of the county's fiscal 2014 budget shows an expectation of very little change from the fiscal 2013 budget, according to County Manager Richard Primrose.

QCS Photo: Steve Hansen

Quay roads 64 and AI are the only two in the county that are fully paved, County Manager Richard Primrose says. Quay Road 64 was paved last year with federal block grant funds. Quay Road AI is where Tucumcari Airport is located.

Primrose presented the budget to the Quay County Board of Commissioners on May 28.

The proposed budget calls for about $8 million in cash that includes $1.5 million in property taxes and $1.3 million in hospital revenues, budget documents show.

Other money sources include shares of New Mexico gross receipts tax funds and capital outlays apportioned by the state legislature, Primrose said.

In the preliminary budget, nearly $8.6 million in expenses are expected, led by $2 million in general fund expenses, nearly $1.2 million in road expenditures, $1.1 million in county expenses at Dan C. Trigg Memorial Hospital, the county hospital, and $1 million to run the county jail, according to budget documents.

Primrose said the county plans to close out a recent $300,000 Community Development Block Grant allocation that was used to pave Quay Road 64, making that road one of only two county roads that are fully paved. The other is the Airport Road, Quay Road AI.

The county intends to apply for another $500,00 in federal CDBG funds to pave Quay Road 63, Primrose said.

Two capital outlay allocations approved by the New Mexico Legislature will be used for air conditioning in the County Jail ($50,000) and replacing windows at Trigg Hospital. The replacement windows, Primrose said, will provide insulation that will save heating and air conditioning costs.

Primrose also said the county's 72 employees will receive a 2-percent across the board raise, but nearly three-quarters of that raise will cover increases in retirement program costs.

The raise, Primrose said, accounts for most of a $72,000 increase in salaries expected for fiscal 2014.