Municipal Judge receives raise

The City of Socorro meeting on July 15 covered a fourth-quarter budget report, the Puerto Seguro Safe Harbor funding and a raise for the municipal judge.

During the discussion on a salary for the judge of $3,516 per month an approximate 30% raise. Councilors also raised questions about the municipal court and its budget.

Mayor Ravi Bhasker provided historical context about previous judges and the transition from part-time to full-time status. He stated that the city has been running a deficit to support the municipal court, with the general fund covering the shortfalls.

“I have very specific rules administratively about how we interact with the court. I mean, it’s very strict that we stay out of it and keep it very separate,” Bhasker said. “If you take that $79,000, the question is, can you put it somewhere else for better use? I wouldn’t ask the judge to try to break even, but my job is to try to break even.”

Bhasker confirmed that after setting the judge’s salary, the council has no control over court operations and emphasized the importance of the separation of powers.

“Four years ago, they gave municipalities the option of not having a municipal court, and I’ve thought about that, but at this point, we have an active judge, and you really can’t do that now, you have to do it at election,” Bhasker said.

Councilor Anton Salome said he felt that the council should examine the municipal financial impact and determine if it was worth it to the taxpayers to continue supporting it.

“We need to see those numbers and decide as a council whether the value that the city taxpayer is funding with the general fund to put into the Municipal court. Is it equal to the value that they’re receiving?” Salome said.

Salome gave the example of the city pool, which loses money, but the value to the taxpayers comes from the public having a safe place to enjoy.

“Now that question is the value of the $94,000 that the tax payer is funding of the deficit for having a municipal court? Is it worth it to the taxpayer?” Salome said.

Council Joel Partridge said he thought the question and discussions were important to continue. However, he said, the issue at hand is the salary for the judge, which he supports a raise for, noting that the vast majority of city workers have been receiving raises.

“I would be in favor of seeing that position get paid more, as everybody else,” Partridge said.

The council unanimously voted on the raise. The new salary would take effect in January 2026.

Puerto Seguro Safe Harbor

Shay Kelley, Puerto Seguro Safe Harbor (PSI) board chair, shared the PSI services, which include hot meals, showers, laundry, and a safe place to spend time on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

She said she understood that the city was trying to reduce the number of encampments, but without any sort of emergency overnight shelter in place, it was likely that people would simply relocate their camps.

“And these are local folks, something like 80% of the people that we service at Puerto are local Socorroans, and so we just wanted to be able to offer them this life-saving service and keep people from dying of exposure or dying from heat stroke in the summertime,” Kelley said.

Bhasker said he was aware of several encampments and hoped that an alternative would help alleviate the issues.

“Our hope is also that, you know, in the winter we’ve had fires in these abandoned homes, that that would hopefully try to be proactive. We’re still going to be working with encampments and stuff is that, and we’re not going to allow that,” Bhasker said.

Fourth Quarter Financial report

Ruby Lopez, City Finance director, provided an overview of the city’s financial status for the fourth quarter and fiscal year 2025. She reported that gross receipts tax (GRT) revenue was up 24% compared to the previous year, while expenditures were 1% less than budgeted. Major projects included the Evergreen wastewater expansion, Beltpress, Manzanares and ongoing engineering for road projects. The city invested in infrastructure such as a hydraulic lift for auto maintenance, fire station remodels, heart monitors and new ambulance equipment.

Joint enterprise revenue was 7% less than budgeted, but expenditures were 10% less, with an overall outlay of $1.1 million and about $500,000 spent on repairs and system maintenance for utilities. The Senior Center successfully expended all its funding, and all grants (fire, EMS, law enforcement, etc.) were fully utilized. Lopez also detailed increases in salaries, health insurance, and liability insurance, as well as capital outlays for various city departments.

She listed several funded projects, including:

Road improvements: Manzanares, Center, Church Park, Fowler, Otero Cuba CDBG. Police-Building ($1,300,000), Police Cars ($240,000), Rodeo Sound system, Heat/Cooling, Club House, Quality of Life grant, Transportation 1 Van FY 26 awarded 20%( $38,000 match) Spec Building Eagle Picher ( $700,000), I-25 Exit ($250,000), Finely Gym, Law Enforcement Projection ($111,500), Law Enforcement recruitment 3rd year ($56,000), EMS/Firefighter 2nd Year ($56,250), Ambulances ($346,000 and $206,000) and Senior Center ($37,000)

The city received a $1.66 million grant for a CNG upgrade. Lopez also noted that the Senior Center’s funding was matched by the county in the amount of $25,000. Her report concluded by highlighting the city’s grant management and ongoing efforts to maintain and improve city infrastructure and services.

The next city meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. August 19 at City Hall.