Council’s budget override brings unnecessary risks

It’s baffling that the Albuquerque City Council overrode the balanced, bipartisan compromise budget proposed by Mayor Richard Berry and two of their own in favor of a bill they know is up to $4.5 million short of projected revenues, might cut off longevity pay for senior police officers and could result in the city’s credit rating being downgraded.

The override, which garnered the required six votes to pass, defies logic unless, as Berry noted, it puts politics ahead of good government. More on that in a second.

Councilor Don Harris, who is seeking re-election, and other councilors who voted for the override said the “glitches” it includes can be fixed at later council meetings. Whether a projected $3 million to $4.5 million hole in the budget qualifies as a glitch is debatable, but let’s hope they can deliver before the deficit arrives, experienced cops quit over a broken promise, and bond raters pull out their red pens.

Four of the six councilors who supported the override — Klarissa Peña, Ken Sanchez, Diane Gibson and Harris — are seeking re-election in October. Dan Lewis, who also voted for the override, is running for mayor. (Berry has said repeatedly he will not run for mayor again, but his name has come up in discussions related to the 2018 gubernatorial election.)

Voting against the override were councilors Brad Winter, Pat Davis (a congressional candidate) and Trudy Jones. Davis, a progressive Democrat, and Winter, a Republican, worked with the mayor to craft a compromise $528.9 million budget after Berry vetoed the council’s initial $531.4 million plan.

The trio’s compromise budget boosted public safety funding, strengthened the city’s dwindling reserves, included a modest raise for city employees and made the city’s risk management fund — which pays for uninsured losses — a lot less risky — all without a projected deficit.

The budget approved by the council via the override includes a 3 percent raise for firefighters and a 1 percent across-theboard raise for employees represented by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union — moves that will likely earn them votes come October.

That is, as long as they “fix” the “glitches” before their budget takes effect July 1 and runs off the rails.