Robert Garza, the City Manager, pulls down the highest salary we have found so far among New Mexico local governments.  He receives $163,000 a year for managing a workforce about a third smaller than that of Rob Perry, Albuquerque’s city manager, who makes $20,000 a year less.  In our survey of local government salaries, Garza [...]

For a non-profit organization dedicated to public service, KNME-TV pays its general manager more than its faithful supporters might imagine.  Polly Anderson, the general manager of New Mexico PBS, receives $165,000 a year, plus benefits. Her non-profit salary is right up there with what for-profit corporations pay managers at far larger television stations.  Though her [...]

Santa Fe’s top salary goes to city manager Robert P. Romero at $130,567.84.  Next comes City Attorney Geno Zamora at $118,320.80.  The top 250 earners on Santa Fe’s payroll make above $61,000.  The salaries for all of Santa Fe’s 1641 municipal employees, ranked in descending order of compensation, is available at this link.
So far we [...]

The city of Albuquerque will no longer subsidize the operations of at least one public sector union.   The new contract with the union representing planners, mid-level managers and other members of AFSCME 3022 no longer permits employees to receive paid leave to conduct union business.  From now on, union representatives must use their own [...]

Two Arizona taxpayers aided by a free-market think tank have successfully challenged the practice of paying public workers to do work for their unions.  Represented by lawyers from the Goldwater Institute, they have won a precedent-setting court order ending paid leave for Phoenix police to perform union duties on the taxpayers’ clock.  The Arizona court [...]

The highest salary in Bernalillo County government goes to the County Manager,Thomas Zdunek, who pulls down ten cents short of $148,000.  He makes less than his predecessor, Thadeus Lucero, who received $150,000 annually.  But the county’s manager continues to make than man who manages a larger workforce and bigger budget at Albuquerque City Hall.  (See [...]

You pay them. You should know what you are paying. Here are the top 250 salaries for the City of Albuquerque. Fifty-eight people earn over $100,000. The rest of the top 250 earns above $81,600. We have broken out the top 25 earners separately below.
The list is on a Google spreadsheet. You will have to [...]

Santa Fe mayor David Coss is going to introduce a measure to save taxpayers some money. He wants to cut the city’s contracts for bottled water.
Here’s the story, reported by the Deming Headlight:
“Santa Fe has high-quality tap water, and there’s absolutely no reason our city should be buying bottled water,” said Mayor Coss. Supporting the [...]

KOB-TV covered the latest Albuquerque City Council meeting where councilors heard opposition to tax increases from the Albuquerque Tea Party as well as arguments for tax increases from city workers resisting pay cuts.