Rents were generally pretty stable
between 2015 and 2020 and the same was
with um home prices. They decreased
through the financial recession
um and then were pretty stable through
2020 and then we see that in both um
rents and prices, there was a big jump
of about a 50% jump between 2020 and
2023 2022 and then prices begin to
moderate again and this trend um we see
across the country's not just specific
to Las Cruces.
And then in terms of vacancies, we see
that there was a very um high vacancy or
higher vacancy environment in 2010 and
in 2017 but that's really turned in 2024
um
for rental vacancy rates, we would like
to see them around 5% to um
be able to allow the churn in the market
that allows renters to you know find
housing and um
at the price that they want and be able
to have options and that's um in Las
Cruces it's at 3.5 so that's
significantly lower and then on the home
ownership side, we would expect to see
about a 2% um vacancy rate and that's
also below the 2% mark. So we're seeing
um that the vacancy show tight markets
in Las Cruces and then the analysis has
more um
data shown
uh by different price levels and at
lower levels there's even tighter
vacancy
trends and I'll pass it to Heidi to talk
about the um survey findings that we
conducted for both the consolidated plan
and the
uh affordable housing plan.
Thank you, Avilia. Uh I'm going to speak
a little bit about some of the
engagement that we did to support these
two plans and then I will pass it back
to Avilia to talk about projected needs.
So, she's going to get into a deep dive
in terms of what to expect in the future
and the types of housing that people
will need. They're going to come back to
me for a bit of a wrap-up. So, to
support the consolidated plans of the
HUD required plan as well as the state
plan, we conducted a resident survey. We
got a really good response, almost 800
responses. Of 70% of them lived in Las
Cruces, so we have a really good sample
to analyze about needs.
Your homeowner, the share that we're
homeowners is pretty much on track with
your homeownership rate. 25% are
renters. If you're doing some math, and
you figure out that doesn't add up to
100%. The balance of those are people
who what we call are precariously
housed. So, they're overcrowded, they're
living with friends or family, they
might be in a tent, they're living out
of their car. They're people who are
very housing unstable.
About a third of respondents were over
65. Another third or the similar third,
there's some overlap there, had a
disability. 13% single parents. 29% said
they lived in an overcrowded household.
60% 62% identified as of Hispanic
descent. And a little more than a third
were very low income, so had incomes of
under 25,000.
We ask a number of questions that are
captured the in total in total analysis
is captured in appendix A of your
packet, but just to give you a highlight
of some of the most important takeaways
from the survey. I wanted to start with
those living in poor or fair housing
condition. We ask people to self-assess
the condition of their housing. Then we
also ask them if they say, "I live in
poor or fair housing condition, what
improvements are needed?" This gives you
what we call a cross tab. So, those
responses by demographic groups.
The headline here is that precariously
housed and single parents reported the
highest rates of living in poor or fair
housing condition. 40% of respondents to
the survey that were either single
parents or precariously housed said they
live in poor poor or fair condition
housing.
We asked what people need, they said
cosmetic improvements, cooling systems,
interior walls were a pretty high need,
particularly among people living in
mobile homes.
And um
when we talk about we ask people with
disabilities what type of accessibility
improvements they need, the top needs
were grab bars, ramps, alarms to notify
if somebody with a cognitive or
behavioral disability leaves the house.
We also give a ask a question about
displacement. We don't use the term
displacement, but we ask people, "Have
you needed to move or had to move in the
last 5 years when you didn't want to?"
Overall, 13% of respondents to the
survey said they did have to move in the
last 5 years when they didn't want to.
Those who are currently precariously
housed, renters, single parents, and
those with a disability had the highest
rates of displacement in response to
this question.
On the right-hand side here under the
reasons for displacement, I would invite
you to take a look at that box. We had
an unusual response based on surveys we
do these types of surveys all over the
country. We learned in Las Cruces the
top reason for being displaced was
losing a job or having hours cut back.
Almost typically I typically or almost
always see the the most uh common reason
being that rent increased. So, we're in
an interesting economic situation right
now, and we definitely are seeing that
reflected in the displacement question.
We also ask people, "What do you need to
feel more secure in your housing?" And
this shows you those responses by
household type. Uh many, many people
said, "I need rental assistance. I need
help paying rent." That was true of
people with disability, people living in
overcrowded households. But, we also saw
that people said they needed to make
critical money to make critical repairs.
And that was true of our large
households, people of Hispanic descent.
You'll notice here in the over 65, of
the senior population and the
non-Hispanic white population, the
majority of folks said I don't need
anything. That tells us that those folks
are more likely to be housing stable
than other demographic groups.
With that, I'm going to pass it back to
Avilia and she's going to get into some
of the data findings and projected
needs.
Um thank you. So, in terms of
affordability, this um
figure here shows
what um the average annual wage is in
the county for different industries, as
well as what can afford what can they
afford to rent and to buy, and then how
does that compare with what we are
seeing in the market in terms of the
median or the typical rent and home
prices.
So, here we can see that at the average
wages with one earner, people are
generally able to afford the median
rent. However, there are a few
industries including leisure and
hospitality where that is not the case.
And these industries don't represent a
like a really small share of the county
jobs. They actually represent around
close to 20% of county jobs on the
rental side. And then, when things get
really dim is on the purchase
affordability. So, with one earner um at
the average annual wage, none of the
industries can afford to transition to
home ownership. Um and then with two
earners, now we're seeing a few
industries financial activities,
professional business and public
administration being able to afford
this, but these are not the industries
that are expected to grow a lot in the
future or that have been growing a lot
in the past. Um
Um so, yeah. So, so things are really
tight on getting this um renters into
the home ownership side.
And then the next two exercises are
called um
market [clears throat] gaps. They we did
it both in the rental and in the
rental-to-own um um
market. Um and it shows the distribution
of renters by income as well as a
distribution of units that are
affordable to them by income. And then
the the shortage of the surplus for each
of the income levels. So, we can see
here that in 2024, there was a rental
gap of almost uh 4,500 units in Las
Cruces for households earnings up to 30%
AMI in the county. Um this uh gap was a
little bit higher, but most of the gap
is concentrated in the city. And it's
really concentrated on the 0 to 30% AMI.
So, those very very
um
low-income households that need um
rents at the sub-500
um level. It's important to note that at
the 120 and over 150% of the area median
income, those red numbers don't mean
that these people are um cost-burdened
or that they don't have units. What it
means is that they are occupying units
that would be affordable to lower-income
households. So, then that creates
another sort of distortion in the
market.
Oh, I don't know what happened to the
ownership side, but I do have the
numbers if we want to discuss them
later. Um
In terms of population projections, um
we see that the county is continued to
it's expected to continue to gain
population through 2040 with the slight
decrease in 2050. Um and we also see
that the number of residents under age
20 and young adults is expected to keep
decreasing while the population age um
35 to 64 will remain the largest. Um but
we are going to see a significant
increase, particularly of those age 75
and older. And again, this is in line
with what's happening at the state level
and at the national level as well.
What does that mean in terms of
projected affordability needs? We did an
analysis where holding the share of the
population that lives in the city
constant, so around 51%
if we assume that the city will hold to
that share of the population within the
county, then um based on the household
formation rates by age in 2023, these
are the number of units that we would
need to accommodate the growth in
household if the city were to continue
to keep its AMI distribution. So,
basically without displacing all the
low-income households. Um so then um
you would need four units below 30% AMI,
675 rental units, and 225
ownership units, and this is between
2025 and 2045, so in the next 20 years.
And then for 30 to 50%, 420 units and
ownership units for 50 to 80%, we have
521 rental units and 375 ownership
units.
And for households with incomes between
80 and 100%, um 193 rental units and 245
rental units. Some of these units will
become affordable as older residents age
in place, and this is specifically the
case for the very low AMI ownership
units. We don't expect um those units to
be produced um by the market, but others
will require tenant subsidies. Those are
the um
lower AMI rental units, and others will
need to be added through new
construction of affordable units and
filtering of older units into more
affordable price brackets. In terms of
how this compares to the city's building
permit rates in the last couple of
years, it's actually very um it looks
very good. You've been building more
than what's projected to be needed. The
problem is reaching those affordability
levels, especially at the 0 to 30% AMI.
And then we'll leave you with the
um consolidated plan update.
So, I'm going to wrap up with some of
the events that are happening the next 2
days. Before I do that, I do want to
acknowledge um all the great things that
the city's been doing. You definitely
are
a model for the types of units that
you've been building, the kind of
investments you've been making to help
stabilize very low-income individuals,
and you see that in the data. Your needs
are going down. You still have them, and
we're we're up here uh presenting the
negative because we're telling you what
people told us they still have in terms
of needs, but I don't want that to
overshadow all the wonderful things the
city's been doing.
The consolidated plan, as Avi mentioned
earlier, is the HUD-required plan. Uh it
is out for draft comment now. There's a
30-day comment period that is required
of the federal government. And this is a
plan that tells the community how you
propose to spend your block grants.
Those are the community development
block grant and the home investment
partnerships program. So, you're
required to come to the community and
let them know how you intend to spend
those dollars, what your vision is over
5 years, and how you propose to spend
them the next year.
One
um
specific requirement of the consolidated
plan is that it has to meet critical
needs. And in terms of critical needs,
we often look at that in terms of
poverty. I had talked a lot earlier
about what people told us their needs
were. Avelia talked a bit about what the
the community survey out of the census
is telling us, and this gives you a
sense, it's a more sort of dialed-in
specific need for the consolidated plan.
These data pieces are connect They're
They're coming from different sources,
but they're they're all uh telling us
the same thing, which is single moms,
single parents have very high rates of
poverty and are very likely to be
housing unstable.
Uh your poverty rate went up a little
bit um over the last 5 years, but you
have done a really nice job when you
think of looking at that gap that Abby
talked about, providing housing and
stability for those people who are
making less than 30% of the AMI.
People with disabilities also have very
high poverty rates, and as we saw in the
survey, they need accessibility
improvements and rental assistance to
become housing stable. And that's what
the consolidated plan focuses on.
This gives you the 2026, so the 1-year
funding allocation that is proposed for
the CDBG and the HOME program. Those
federal programs have a specific
requirements about the activities that
you can invest in, and this is the
city's proposal to distribute those
funds across a wide vi- or wide variety
of categories. CDBG would primarily be
invested in home rehabilitation
activities, as well as public
infrastructure and public facilities, so
improvement of a playground, some
weatherization improvements. A portion
of CDBG, 15%, 15%, can be used to help
social service providers
uh who work with special needs
populations and people with with uh
people experiencing homelessness or at
risk at home of homelessness stabilize
their population. Starting with the
Mesilla Valley Valley Community of Hope,
you see the proposed allocation of CDBG
dollars to public service activities to
be able to assist those high-needs
individuals.
For HOME, that that's the ho- housing
program, so those dollars are invested
in both the creation of new
homeownership opportunities. Las Cruces
is pretty innovative for that use of
HOME. A lot of our clients pair HOME to
provide um more leverage to create
low-income housing tax credit projects.
You here are proposing that a share of
those dollars go toward homeownership
opportunities, and Avilia talked about
that need. The balance of those home
funds will be allocated or proposed to
be allocated to tenant-based rental
assistance. So, thinking back to one of
the top needs in the survey, rental
assistance was a very high need among
the lowest income populations, and the
distribution of home dollars would help
address that.
So, your input is next, but before we
transition to that, I just want folks to
know
there are four opportunities for input
for the consolidated plan and the 2026
proposed spending plan.
Two of those are tomorrow. Two of those
are on Wednesday.
They will be held at Sage Cafe at the
Senior Center, at the Community of Hope,
and then closing out on McLure Road.
We're We're holding those in the
afternoon as well as in the evening to
give people a variety of opportunities
to come. There's also an opportunity to
email us, email Natalie, call us, give
us public input over the next 30 days.
Following that public input, the end of
that public input, we will consider any
comments, make any changes to the
consolidated plan, and then submit that
to HUD. That is required to be submitted
by May 15th.
So, with that, we'll take questions
and open it up to discussion.
Councilor Harris?
Um
Thank you.
Thank you Mayor Pro Tem. So, yeah, very
very interesting presentation. It's nice
to see kind of the general feeling of of
living in this town
um actually with some actual numbers
behind it. Um I have
few comments and questions. Um so, on
slide
four
our packet here I think is one off from
yours. Um, so 14 or 15 maybe.
Yeah, okay. Um,
so
yeah, I think this should be a pretty
eye-opening slide for everyone who lives
or wants to live in town
uh that
nobody can afford a median home in this
town, right? That's kind of the
takeaway.
Um, unless you have two incomes and then
only in in certain industries.
Um
I personally probably I would struggle
to afford my own house again.
Um, I bought it in 2017 and it would be
very challenging for me to afford that
um at its current value.
Um
so yeah, I think that's that's very
eye-opening and just
want want to let the the true meaning of
uh this slide sink in.
Um,
so I guess related to that I think on 15
so when we're talking about the gaps
here
um I think you said that
in
so 121 and over 150% AMI there's red
numbers which are a negative gap which
means that if
theoretically if we had more high-end
higher-end units
um that those that there are folks who
would be able to afford
$2,000 a month in rent and and would pay
it
and if we had 3,000 more like
I guess I would say luxury apartments
like they would move there instead of
where they're currently at and that
those would trickle down. Is that kind
of the
It's a there's a a quite
Mr. Mayor and council members um to
answer that question, there's quite an
an ongoing debate about that, whether or
not something called filtering. So, do
would people move into the right priced
housing for their income if those units
were available?
Uh, a lot of times with folks who are
earning that much money, they tend to
rent down because they're saving, uh,
trying to get a down payment saved for a
house. They may have other They may have
child care needs. They have medical
needs.
So, in theory, yes, there is an
opportunity to provide housing at that
level. Whether or not people would take
advantage of that and move into those
higher priced units would be their their
personal preference.
Yeah, okay. That's that's kind of what I
was thinking. Um,
you know, back when I I rented for a
very long time and
I kind of did that personally. Like, I
moved up into a
what was at the time a very expensive
apartment for town, um, which is now
barely on this list.
[laughter]
Um,
which is quite quite unfortunate. Um,
and
but [clears throat] yeah, you know, I I
could have probably moved and
so I
I would also
I was just asking if that's what the
takeaway should be and I'm hearing that
it's probably not what the takeaway
should be cuz it's debatable and and I
think from my own personal experience, I
would I would agree that that's probably
not what we should take away from this.
Um,
um, so
I guess with that in mind, um, what
would you say some of the blockers are
for
creating like if we wanted to create
housing at a certain price point?
Um,
do you have suggestions about what we
can do or that's or is that not really
in the scope of this report or
It is in the scope and it's forthcoming
as we wrap up the uh, affordable housing
plan. It's not necessarily captured in
the HUD document or required of the HUD
document cuz that's real specific to
those funding sources.
[clears throat]
The city has an investment strategy that
has guided its work over the last few
years that I think um is fair to say has
been very successful. So, the city's
been really um
strategic about using city dollars and
also state dollars, applying for funds,
leveraging those, and then keeping that
money flowing
um by trying to structure properties in
a way that they're not they don't have
so much debt that you can roll over
those those grant funds and keep
applying and keep building homes. So, I
would I would argue that um the the
city's recent track record of of of
building, investing in the right types
of housing, and building housing that's
needed, and I think Natalie can speak
more to the lease-up rates, but I would
argue that they're showing that that's
very successful.
In addition to continuing to invest in
low-income homeownership opportunities
to create more stable stable housing, um
and and move people into homeownership
who want to achieve that
are really uh central to to being able
to meet needs.
That 0 to 30% though in those truly
housing um unstable folks who are moving
a lot, who are precariously housed, need
both housing and supportive services.
So, they need a little more of a sort of
a bigger package of delivery of housing.
So, public services are key for that. Um
one of the one of the I I would say
challenges to being able to meet their
needs in particular is
the federal funds that came in after the
pandemic to stabilize the economy were
really useful and were put to great use
for um
a lot of different housing
opportunities. Those obviously are going
away. There may not be funds like that
in the future. So, that just the funding
constraint to be able to continue the
good work the city's doing, uh
particularly from the federal level, I
think will be a big challenge.
Okay. And and I guess more broadly
speaking um
are there
policies that the city should consider
enacting to
stabilize prices to or to
influence the private markets of
housing. Um I guess my you know, back to
the affordability example,
that apartment that I lived in
when I moved in, the rent actually went
down in the 9 years that I lived there.
[laughter]
Um
and, you know, since then it has
doubled. And that owner built the
property with a certain business model
and certain rents. And like I said, even
during that time they reevaluated
everybody's rents and were like, "You
know what? Maybe we don't actually have
to be charging some fees that we're
charging." And got rid of those and then
in 8 years
they're just like, "Well,
cool. Rent is now twice as expensive. Um
thanks."
So.
And and I invite Evangeline to talk a
little bit about this, but one of the
things you can do, which she
acknowledges, keeping up with demand.
So, you have done a really good job. The
city's pretty unusual relative to a lot
of cities and in in building, in in
permitting units, in keeping up with
your household growth. Evangeline talked
a bit We've talked a little bit earlier
though about um some of the comments
that she had received from interviews
that she'd done.
Evangeline is doing work in Santa Fe as
well, where we had developers say, "Just
model Las Cruces. Las Cruces' new
comprehensive plan and your code." Um we
have some some minor recommendations for
changes to the code, which will come out
with the affordable housing plan, but
for the most part, it feels like those
changes have been very well received and
you're seeing that in the return of of
uh development, appropriate development.
Nice. That's that's great to hear. And
yeah, I I think the new code is is a
model for
for cities everywhere and sounds like
we're getting that feedback. Um
so, I guess to that end,
when So, the some of the highest needs
were
repairs, interior and exterior repairs,
um
was there concern
I guess what are the blockers there? Is
it more money? Is it permitting? Is it
we want to
I want to add on a little bit, but you
know, it's hard to get it permitted or
or maybe was difficult to get it through
the new code and it maybe we're doing
stuff that's helping now.
We ask people why haven't the repairs
been made? And most people say I
couldn't afford it. Um
occasionally among renters, people say
they are afraid to tell the property
owner for fear of being evicted or the a
rent increase. And so there is a segment
of of the renter population, largely
low-income renters, who
uh will just tolerate um units in fair
or poor condition because they're afraid
their rent rent will go up.
Yeah, that's um that's something I want
to
I hope to be in the report and something
I want to look at is
ways that we can, you know, kind of
encourage landlords to improve their
properties, um but at the same time
assuage fears of rent increases and make
sure that, you know,
this if we want people to live in a
certain minimum standard, that that's
not an excuse for somebody to be like,
"Well, I need to, you know, spend an
extra thousand dollars to upgrade this
unit, so I'm going to double your rent."
Um you know, we want to make sure that
doesn't happen, but be interesting to
see in the report. Um all right, I've
taken a lot of time, so I'll give it up
for now. Thanks.
Other questions or comments?
Councilor Kremer.
Thank you. Thank you for this
presentation and super
interesting information, I think, in
terms of
compelling us to keep moving forward.
And I know um I really appreciate
hearing seeing the affordability index.
I know I hear that from my students all
the time, like I will never buy a house.
That's not a thing that will happen for
me, and I teach at the community
college, and that's pretty depressing,
you know, uh
especially when in theory you're
training folks to get a better wage, but
that wage will never match the
the cost of buying a home. It's It's a
bleak picture that I'm glad that we're
making efforts to to address, but um I I
was wondering if you could speak about
two specific things or one thing and
then a secondary thing,
uh
I think home and CD CBGB CD
however it is, you know, uh
[laughter]
uh
are both up for some discussion in the
federal sort of
uh funding
area just this I think right now. I'm
wondering if you can talk a little bit
about what that means in our context
specifically or if you have a sense for
what that means in our context. And then
secondly, I think part of the question
about mobile homes and and/or livability
in places that may not be traditional
homes in the way we set think of them or
large apartment complexes in the ways
that we think about them.
Um I don't know that they have the same
access to certain types of funding or
support at at historically or or
um
if I misunderstand that, but I don't
think we can use some of that federal
funding in the case of supporting people
who have mobile homes uh the same way we
could for someone who who has a home
that they're trying to improve or make
live more livable um that's on a
foundation. So, I'm wondering if you can
talk about those two things, the federal
funding thing, and then also a little
bit about mobile homes. I think mobile
home
I feel like we have a little bit of a
blind uh uh
spot in our plan or work that mobile
home folks are really particularly
vulnerable in a lot of cases. So, I'm
hoping that you could talk a little bit
more about that.
Sure, I'd be happy to. Thank you for
those questions. I would also like to
acknowledge, which is not in the slides,
the survey uh slides I presented today.
We do ask renters about the barriers to
home ownership, and we've got quite a
bit of detail there.
And it is uh inability to come up with a
down payment assistance is a big one.
And so there's their programs that you
can utilize for that, or I'm afraid I
won't be able to afford a mortgage
payment. On the federal uh bill, there
are two bills in the federal bills,
there are two bills in the in the in
Congress right now.
Um one is the Housing for the 21st
Century, I think, which was the House
bill, and the Road to Home, I may get
this a little off, was in the Senate.
Uh those are moving forward. I think
they're in reconciliation. I might be
wrong about that, but your mayor is
probably there and would know. Um it's
probably involved with this.
Tho- Those should A couple things that
those do, um they I think they would
codify CDBGDR, which is the disaster
recovery portion of it, which we haven't
talked about disaster risk.
Uh but we do acknowledge that quite a
bit in the consolidated plan, and we
talked to county folks about it quite a
bit um as we were preparing this plan.
So, codifying CDBGDR is huge because
that would allow CDBG dollars to come in
and address a lot of rehabilitation,
rebuilding, infrastructure. The There
are some modest changes to CDBG, and
this is a point of much reconciliation
that broadens CDBG to be able to use um
to invest in housing activities more.
One, the Senate bill actually ties the
continued receipt of CDBG to making
progress on housing supply. So, it has
um a penalty if for communities and
uh the I I just saw an analysis a couple
weeks ago that looked at the communities
where dollars would be taken away. Um
Las Cruces is one of those to my memory.
But, um it would penalize communities
that are not keeping up with with
housing supply and take away some of
their CDBG. So, it does have a pretty
aggressive This is not this type of
thinking around CDBG as a home ownership
tool has not occurred to my knowledge
since the program was put into place in
the 70s. So, um there's some positives
there. There's also a lot of reform for
home to make Home's a complicated
program and it's difficult to use. And
my understanding is there's some some
reforms that would make home a little
more efficient.
Thank you. I just wanted to follow up
cuz that is a big topic of conversation
and why we have to keep on, I think,
thinking about this in this context. I
don't know if
I'm going to pass it to Natalie to
answer the manufactured
I didn't mean to interrupt. You are
absolutely right. It's just seems very
germane at the moment.
Mr. or Mayor Pro Tem Counselor Curran,
so we have looked at um we can use some
of our CDBG to work on mobile homes. We
primarily do ADA ramp improvements for
that. We could look at um
we have thrown around uh
a replacement program for mobile homes.
We just want to make sure that if we
take out a mobile home and put a new one
that somehow the other one is disposed
of or eliminated from the housing market
in in its entirety. So, if it's not uh
we just don't want to see those get
recycled in the open market
um
in the future.
And then we would have to retool the
home rehab program because uh and it'd
be almost
we'd have to put some thought into it
because we currently secured the repairs
of our
uh home rehab program against the
property and so we have to structure it
a little bit differently for
uh mobile homes in a mobile home park.
So, it's not outside of the possibility.
We would just have to figure it out. Um
Thank you. And I'm not I I'm not
necessarily saying that I think we
should embark on a new venture. I just
think it's an area where hearing some of
what's been reflected here and thinking
about
what's going on with some of the most
vulnerable people I think that I've
heard from in my district, there is a
lot of
exploitation and fluidity in the mobile
home market that that leads to people
being in even more tenuous housing
situations uh down the road. So,
um
I just was curious to hear about that.
So, thank you.
Other comments, questions?
Councilor Van Quach Mo.
Thank you. Thank you so much for your
work on this. Um
just having lots of thoughts about
what all of this means and how, you
know, we can
put it to good use.
I think there's a couple of takeaways
um for me that I'll name before I just
have a couple of questions. I think
I feel like for me the two biggest
takeaways are access regardless of
income, that there is just not enough,
right? There is just not enough
rental units, whether it's affordable
units or fair market price units for
people who can afford the higher-end uh
apartments, if you will. So, just like
access to actual quantity. And the
second one is access because of economic
anxiety. And I you know, I spoke briefly
about this at the budget retreat around
so, maybe not so much policies and
ordinances that will incentivize more
building because I think we already did
that with Realize,
but really more policies and programs
that go towards economic mobility of our
community. Like I'm, you know, um
page eight, our page eight,
[snorts]
the fact that in the survey, there was
36% had household income of less than
25,000, to me is deeply concerning. And
you know, I think that
to me, poverty is a policy choice. Like
I deeply believe that that's true. And
we you know, what else could we be doing
to improve the quality of life and the
economic mobility of so many of our
families, whether they're families,
they're single folks, whoever they are,
single parents,
um people who are living in
over-credited households, whatever the
case is, that that to me feels like a
huge undertaking that we really must
explore. And I don't that's probably
outside of the scope of um your work
with us, but I think that is important
for us as council and city management
and Natalie and a lot of us here to
really try to tackle because that to me
is deeply concerning and we'll probably
see even more why in the economic
outlook after this.
And then, [snorts] you know, as I think
about things like the family prosperity
program, which I'm a huge advocate for
and have been for a long time,
um part of
part of that is because of this
huge concern that we're seeing in terms
of access because of economic anxiety
that our communities facing. And then on
page 11, our page 11,
when I'm thinking about, okay, what what
do you need to be able to secure
housing? Rental assistance, money to
make critical repairs is consistently
the top two. So, it's money, it's cash,
it's cash in people's pockets that could
make their lives so much more stable.
And to me, that this is to me the
biggest takeaway.
And you know, I had talked about at the
budget retreat,
uh I wasn't even prepared to have this
sort of um
aha moment, but at the budget retreat, I
did speak about, you know,
institutionalizing the family prosperity
program because we, you know, we had a
pilot project that was tremendously
successful with a couple of nonprofit
organizations and
and I just think it's incumbent upon us
to think about institutionalizing it and
making it permanent. And I know for what
folks will say or or folks who don't
believe in such a program will say, but
the numbers are right in front of us.
Like this is what people are struggling
with the most in order to have more
secure and stable housing. And
and us as municipal government should
absolutely take that as a challenge and
a responsibility to try to address.
So, I just wanted to name that. Um
and
I think Natalie, I have a couple of
questions for you probably actually. Um
as I as I see the numbers for, you know,
an aging population, we also know that
and I don't know if this changed. I
think this was as of last year that our
unhoused population is also more and
more seniors experiencing homelessness.
Is that I mean, to me this is very
concerning, right? That like again, lack
of access to just actual access to
housing with an aging population. And
you know, I think we're we're making
huge strides at that, but I am curious
if you can speak to that concern a
little bit.
Um Mayor Pro Tem Council Ringel So,
So, yes, we do anticipate that that
senior homelessness population will
continue to rise. And the plan does have
a specific section, if I'm correct, on
housing needs assessment
uh
for people experiencing homelessness. I
do just want to give some next steps,
too.
Um
So, after we present this plan in and
have our 30-day comment period, we'll
adopt the consolidated plan and our 26
action plan. We'll be submitting that to
HUD for review and their corrections, if
there is any. And then we'll shift focus
to the affordable housing plan, which
will have targeted objectives for each
housing type and each housing
population. As staff, we will use that
to inform our affordable housing
programming moving forward. Um so, when
developers come to us, rather than
them telling us what they're building,
we're going to tell them you need to
build XYZ or we are supporting projects
that prioritize XYZ.
Um, so we'll work on finalizing that
plan um, with Heidi and Avilla.
I
I'm going to get it right. Uh, adopt
we'll work on adopting that and
submitting that to Housing New Mexico.
And then on top of that, our plan is to
bring back all the feed uh, feedback
within both plans and then work on some
ordinance and policy changes um, both
programming wise and then whatever
um,
we need to do in terms of the affordable
housing general oversight ordinance and
then we'll work on some project
implementation to address uh,
the strategic plans within both uh,
planning documents. So we're
um, very much about implementation. So
we don't let our plans sit on the shelf.
We like to implement our plans and so
you'll see that work moving forward. Uh,
but we are concerned about seniors. Um,
we saw it with Pedrina. We were 90%
leased up day one.
Um, we are seeing it a little bit with
Peachtree. So we had 142 applications
for 144 units.
Wow.
Um, repeat that. We had 142 applications
um, and then there's only 144 units. So
uh,
in the lease up data or the application
data, we
uh, phase one has less three bedrooms.
There's more three bedrooms in phase
two. We have 42 applications for 18
three-bedroom units. And then um,
for the public who may watch this later,
we still have availability in the one
bedroom. So we're looking to fill those,
but uh, certainly the need i- is telling
in those pre-leasing numbers uh, for all
of the housing developments.
Yeah, that's that is very telling,
Natalie. Thank you. When can we expect
to see the affordable housing plan?
Ooh, do we have a timeline?
We We have a We have draft sections,
which will go to review of Natalie and
her team. So, I would say a month to a
month and a half before we get through
the review process and then the
recommendations.
And then I assume we'll have a work
session as well, Natalie.
Yes, great. Thank you for that. Um I
think those
were all of my questions. Um I Actually,
no. I I'm wondering Obviously, this is
really great data and I know that we
have um another very localized survey
happening. I'm wondering if it I don't
know if the public health coordinator
can speak to how,
you know, that group plans to
um
coordinate with this.
And if that's They're not here, it seems
like. Okay.
Uh
Mayor Pro Tem Muñoz and Councilmember I
can have Anthony I can text him to come
down if you'd like.
That's okay. I think we're probably
moving on, but I I mean, I think this is
an important conversation for for a
public health coordinator to to be at in
the future, especially as we have
our you know, the mayor's
um
project on the
survey here locally. Um I think I I want
us to make sure we're these aren't
siloed and that we're, you know, they're
moving in conjunction together. So, I
think to me that feels particularly
important. And yeah, I do think that is
all of my questions. I feel like I had
one more, but now I'm I lost my train of
thought, so thank you all so much. I
appreciate it.
Thank you, Councilmember Como.
Uh on page nine
and thank you um
Avilia,
Heidi, Madali. I I We've pronounced your
name like five different ways here, so
we'll we'll we'll we'll get it right.
We'll get it right. Um
I grew up in the 1900s.
Well, 1990s.
And we, you know, the the the common
thought then was
you're going to get a job and you'll
you'll get a home.
Um and so it pains me to
hear some my son who just graduated from
college and his contemporaries say,
"I'll never afford a home and I don't
know that I'll get into a
a house." So, um obviously we have some
some work to do together to look at this
solution holistically. So, I I wanted to
talk about the the pressure that you see
under tenure where it says precariously
housed.
Um
you know,
the population distribution is 18% 65
plus, 75 plus will will continue to grow
in addition to 65 plus.
I know that um
as Counselor Harris
mentioned or alluded to,
uh I think it's important um
for landlords in
um who have swamp coolers still to to be
aware of of climate and the environment.
It seems like we went from winter to
summer all of a sudden and um you know,
they want happy tenants and tenants who
are comfortable. And so I think that
that's important as we look at at
cooling initiatives throughout the city.
I um I sit on on a board. We we raise
money and we contribute money to help
out seniors in our in our city
who um
need things like grab bars,
air conditioning, and ramps. It's so
hard to to get around and I've you know,
I've been fortunate I'm not um
uh as as handy so I'm I'm really
helping, you know, move around tools and
and and materials and things like that,
but I've I've had the opportunity to
visit some sites and and it is difficult
to see, you know, where our seniors
who've been there, who've raised us,
who've been there for us
are struggling to get around. And you go
into their their homes and it is just
sweltering hot. Uh and and they request
things like air conditioning, ramps, and
grab bars. And so we're able to fund
that as as a
as a nonprofit,
but we we can't be reaching
a big portion of what's happening in Las
Cruces. So I just wanted to to hear from
you what what pressure do you think uh
you see under tenured precariously house
homes? What what pressure do you see on
on the market?
I'm sorry. We're discussing who's best
to answer this.
Or or both of y'all. Yes, that's fine.
[clears throat]
In terms of the the seniors' needs, um
definitely the grab bars, the cooling
systems. Those overlap a lot with
disability, and so the incidents of
disability once a senior turns 75 goes
up dramatically.
Um I I do think there's a bit of a myth
that people we want to move seniors out
of their homes and then the the homes
will become available to like people
like your son to become homeowners.
Seniors do Most surveys show that
seniors do want to stay in place, and in
fact your survey I didn't present this
data, but showed that the majority of
folks do want to to stay in their home
as long as they can cuz they're very
happy with where they're living. So that
does give you even more um
I guess of an impetus to continue the
rehabilitation work that you're doing
and address the cooling and the and the
grab bar, the accessibility needs. And
I'll let Natalie talk a little more
about that.
Uh Mayor Pro Tem, I just wanted to give
So I think we're in our second
going into our third year of the
emergency handyman program. So we
specifically launched that program um
using general funds to be able to do
emergency repairs for seniors so they
can stay in place. So that handles
heating and cooling during the
changeovers. We've also used it some for
accessibility and some other things that
we determine to be life and safety
hazards.
It is currently slated to be funded in
this year's budget
through our general fund and then real
quickly because I didn't get a chance I
I just wanted my entire team is here so
I'm hoping they'll stand and just wave
because they are the team that does the
work day in and day out and so they are
managing the home rehab program, the
emergency repair program, our home TVRA
program, well, really all the programs.
They do all the work I stand up here and
talk to you guys.
So we do have a program specifically to
address that outside of federal funds
cuz there's no federal funds can be
incredibly challenging to deploy.
So we do have some flexible funding that
will let us address those and if there's
opportunities to partner with other
nonprofits, we're always happy to
incorporate that into our programming.
Would love to. Thank you.
With thank you Natalie to you and to
your team as well for all the wonderful
work that you do and
thank you Heidi and Avilia.
Avila?
Okay. We'll get it. We'll get it. Sorry.
We'll stand corrected for the record.
We'll We'll get your pronunciation
correctly. Well, thank you very much. If
no other Oh, yes, Council McLure.
I just wanted to point out Anthony did
make a run down here so if he wanted to
add to the conversation a little bit and
Mayor Pro Tem.
Maybe I can reiterate what I was going
to ask. Hello. I just you know I think
as we are talking about this and there's
a lot of survey information in here as
well. I I just wonder I'm curious how
you're think I know that you're
spearheading that project and so I'm
just curious how you're
approaching that and then making sure
that you know we're working together
with this plan and the plan that's
upcoming.
Yes, indeed.
Anthony Turner, public health
coordinator, mayor pro tem council. Um
the survey that you're mentioning is
actually being developed right now in
partnership with NMSU. We're waiting on
their proposal and then we'll move
forward with that. But at the moment,
well, it's in the development phases,
there's not too much to that.
And just to some clear Anthony, that'll
be specifically for unhoused folks or
are you thinking of expanding that to
all folks who are, for example, you
know, living in um maybe on
It'll be for
or, you know, living in their car
It'll be for all four categories of the
HUD homelessness.
Okay.
Um also with substance abuse and mental
health. So it covers a wide range. So
there's going to be quite a bit of data
in that that we have to cover.
Okay, thank you. Do you know if we will
have access to the survey before it goes
out? Like will we be able to provide
feedback?
Yes, we will be able to provide
feedback, but uh right now I believe
that Dr. Banner is going to be the
principal investigator helping to
develop it.
Okay, thank you.
Of course. Thank you.
Councilor Harris.
Um thanks. Actually, another follow-up
on surveys and this is for anybody who
conducts surveys, maybe everybody. Um
So there were 742 respondents to this.
Um
there's
110, 120,000 people who live in the
city. Uh how do we go about doing our
surveys? Um do we have thoughts or how
how we might improve numbers?
This is Heidi Aggeler again, uh mayor
pro tem and council members. Um in this
kind of a survey, what we're looking at
we call this a snowball survey. So we
get the word out about the survey,
people hopefully tell each other, it
picks up like some energy like a
snowball rolling down a hill. I don't
know if that's the right physics, but
that's what we say. And um and then the
survey kind of the the word of the
survey broadens and people get excited
to take it. This is the appropriate type
of survey to do for a housing needs
assessment
of this size and magnitude because what
we're trying to get is capture and you
see we captured like those precariously
housed and the very low-income people
very well. We want their voices captured
in the survey.
In some cases and we're doing this right
now for community outside of Washington
D.C. we'll do a statistical survey a
significant survey so we use a a more
precise sample to be able to invite
people to take the survey.
That type of survey on its own is is
quite expensive to conduct just the
sampling in particular. So what we hope
to do with this survey which we achieved
is use the snowball type of approach and
the sort of just um
informal promotion with the city as a
partner and and and nonprofits as a
partner to get enough of a
representation of the people who have
housing needs which we did. So it's not
as matter of
of the numbers as the representation of
that demographic sample with the
statistically significant survey like
the magic number for those just to give
you some context is about 400 responses.
And for this one we got 742. So we feel
really good about the numbers but also
the demographic representation.
Okay. Yeah.
Mayor pro tem counselor Harris I will
add that for this particular survey
staff does make a concerted effort to
outreach those least likely to
participate. So we mailed about 10,000
postcards to low to moderate income
census tracts. In addition to that we
partnered with Casa de Peregrinos who
put
survey flyers in all of the food pantry
boxes.
So that was about 6,000 households. And
then we partnered with the county
So
for those who
see the bulletin weekly we advertised
and they advertised and then it was also
on both uh, Facebook posts. And then I
actually did a
uh,
a news TV segment with, uh, with our
communications team that was advertised,
um, on the news. So, we do try and go
above and beyond the standard, um,
outreach process.
Cool. Yeah, that's great. Um, and I I
appreciate the focus on
the people who need the housing cuz
that's what we actually care about.
Like, randomly sampling
20,000 people in the city is
probably not all that helpful if you get
mostly people who already own their own
their homes and have no needs. So, yeah,
thanks.
Any other questions or comments? Okay.
Thank you.
All right, let's go ahead and move over
to agenda item 1.2, economic outlook.
Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem and members of
City Council. My name is Monica Torres,
economist with economic development. And
I'm going to give you an economic
summary from 2025.
I'm going to go over a
things happening in the nation, the
labor market in the city, year to year
revenue, much stocks will growth
receipt, permits in the city, the
cannabis market,
looking ahead, a section for other, and
questions.
In the nation, we have a number of
things going on. Uh, inflation, as
measured by the consumer price index,
remains elevated.
The average, the estimated average for
for 2025 was about 2.7%.
The Federal Open Market Committee set,
um, kept the federal funds rate at a
target between 3.5 and 3.75
in their January meeting.
The funds rate funds rate is um a
benchmark for all borrowing costs.
It has a larger impact over the short
term as compared to the long term. On
the long term, we have other variables
that
play a role such as expectations.
And their future meeting their next
meeting is um
next week.
If I'm not on March 18th.
Uh
the future of the rate is data
dependent. There is a balance of
between inflation risk and employment
and stability.
Just for reference, in 2021, the upper
limit of the federal funds rate was
0.25%.
Among other things, we have tariffs.
Two weeks ago, the Supreme Court ruled
that all the tariffs enacted on the
IEEPA law were illegal.
So,
that doesn't cover all the tariffs, but
now there's uncertainty if
there's going to be refunds or not and
if they're going to happen, how is the
process going to be?
And also new tariffs were enacted
last week.
Among other things, there's changes to
programs such as SNAP, Medicaid.
There's also going to be a number of tax
incentives this year.
For both corporate and individual, some
are extensions of things that already
were in place, some are new.
Implications of tax incentives, well
some
individuals might benefit, some money
might go back into the economy, some
might go to savings or to pay down debt.
Among other things, we have changes to
student loan repayment. On the global
scale, there's geopolitical conflict.
And last,
there's going to be a new chair for the
the Reserve this year.
Now, talking about the city, the labor
market, we don't have data for October
25th because of the lapse in government
appropriations, but if we compare 2025
to 2024 excluding October,
we see an increase in all categories.
Labor force increased 1%, employment 1%,
the number of people actively looking
for a job 3%.
On regards to the unemployment rate, we
have um
During 2020 and 2021, we saw one of the
highest unemployment rates in the city
during the pandemic. Then 2022, 2023, we
saw one of the lowest unemployment rates
in recent years.
There was also a number of
fiscal and monetary stimulus in the
nation. By 2024 and 2025, the
unemployment rate increased to 4.3 and
4.4 approximately.
Due to weakness in the labor market, the
Federal Open Market Committee cut rates
three times last year.
At 4.4, still considered [snorts]
a low unemployment rate, employment was
strong in 2025.
Now, if we talk about December, December
is a very strong month in the city. If
we compare December 25, which is
preliminary and subject to change, to
December 2024, we saw an increase in
labor force, employment,
and the number of people actively
looking for a job as well. And the
unemployment rate jumped from 3.9 to
4.2.
DRT revenue, we there was an increase of
9.6%, which is about 12.6 additional
million totaling about 143.
Factors that could have contributed.
Well, we had a higher rate, which
already we have higher.
Um
rate, obviously.
But we could also um
seen some anticipatory response ahead of
higher rates and also tariffs which were
announced in April 25.
Uh for example, if you were going to buy
furniture next year, maybe you went
ahead and bought it just to prevent
higher rates. We also have a strong
employment. We have high prices due to
inflation.
And again, December is a strong month in
the city.
Thus, December 25 was the highest
December today. It was not adjusted for
inflation, increased 6.6% to a total of
13.9 million.
March taxable gross receipts, our
measure of economic activity,
um
the old industry sectors increased 4.4%
not adjusted for inflation to a total of
4.3 billion.
The three main contributor sectors
uh were retail trade, health care social
assistance, and construction.
Health care and construction increased
13 and 6%. We
while retail trade experienced a decline
of 0.8%.
Together, these sectors contributed
about 57% to the total industries.
Retail sector is an important sector.
It's about 30%. Health care about 16%
and construction 11%.
Or regards to permits, new business
registrations increased 24%
to a total of 649. New residential
construction permits experienced a
decline of 12%. With a total of 571.
Factors that could have an influence in
this
on business
investment decisions. Well, we have a
strong employment. We have consumer
expectations.
Uh interest rates, for example, the
30-year mortgage rates in 2021 was about
3% in 2025 at 6.6%.
We have wages Uh
the average of the average
total private sector weekly earnings not
adjusted for inflation is about
pre-pandemic levels.
Um
That's pretty much
the main contributing factors.
In regards to the cannabis market, we
see a decline in all the categories.
Total sales sales dropped 10% with a
total of 33 million. Medical use
about 12% with a total of 12 10 million.
Adult use, which is about 70% of total
sales, declined 9% with a total of 23
million.
Transactions declined also 2% with a
total of 1.1 million and the estimated
transaction expenditure
which was
30.4 is 8% lower as compared to 2024.
The excise tax, which increased from 12%
to 13%
and is charged on adult use
declined the revenue 6.4% with a total
of 721,000.
This was expected because we're seeing
lower adult sales.
In regards to medical licenses in the
county
on a year-over-year basis, we have a
4.3 decline.
But if we compare to pre-pandemic
levels, we're still about that
that level above 14%.
On the licenses, we were seeing a
increase on the number of enrolled
patients and patients and when the
pandemic hit, we see
statistically significantly increased
and then we see a decrease when adult
use sales started.
Which could lead
to um
could indicate that some of the demand
would have not occurred if the pandemic
had not happened.
To up today, there's about 30 qualifying
conditions.
Um and looking ahead, well,
economic activity as measured by
the all industry sector match taxable
gross receipt continue to expand in 2025
as compared to 2024.
The pace was lower as well we
experienced in '21 and '22, but these 2
years were above average growth.
On the regards to the labor market,
employment rate in July were higher.
Employment was strong in 2025.
Uh we had an increase on business
registration as compared to a previous
year.
On the other hand, we did see an
the
decline on retail trade activity by
measure
by match match taxable gross receipts.
In the last crisis MSA, the average of
the average weekly earnings private
sector declined 2.7%
and inflation remains elevated, which
can have an impact in the labor market
and in business investment.
This uh this is just a friendly reminder
that every quarter we publish the
economic outlook on the following link.
If there's any data or
additional information that you would
like to see there, please let us know.
Um I forgot to mention that
we follow keep track of prices with the
cost of living index and in 2025, the
city was 3.8 the groceries in the city
were 3.3 lower as compared to the
average of the participating cities.
We cannot compare the index one year to
another because it's different cities
that participate.
Uh that concludes my presentation. If
you have any questions,
Councilor Harris.
Um,
thanks Mayor Pro Tem and uh yeah, thanks
for the presentation.
Um,
question on slide eight.
Actually, both questions are on slide
eight.
Um,
so I mean we just talked about um
housing and building more units.
Um,
so the resident so we we need more
units, but our looks like our
residential construction permits um
are going down. Is that like an an
absolute number in terms of units?
Uh,
or
Um, I think I
maybe I will defer to Chris. Um,
Yes, the gist of my question is does an
apartment complex count as one permit
for the purposes of this or 400?
Mayor Pro Tem,
Councilor [clears throat] Harris,
uh multi-family is considered uh
commercial, so this would be yeah. Yeah.
Okay.
Um,
so then overall kind of is the feeling
that units are still
we're still getting more units or units
have kind of leveled off or
Mayor Pro Tem, Councilor Harris, so
given some of the changes in the land
development code, we are seeing an
uptick in multi-family, duplexes,
triplexes, quadplexes. So, we are seeing
more of that. So, I would expect to see
some of that reflected in in the numbers
as January 1st was of this year was when
we went exclusively to the new code. So,
I think over the next couple years we'll
definitely see those units increase.
All right, cool. Um, and then the second
question is on the new business
registrations, is there a a breakdown in
kind of category?
I don't expect you to rattle off every
category, you know, by my but uh
Uh
Mayor Pro Tem Counselor Harris,
our software doesn't really allow us to
get that granular, but what I will say
is some of that isn't just new
registrations versus
there's been more of an aggressive
effort on the part of staff to go out
and make sure that those who have had
expired are now getting their
registration. So, we can work to try and
break down those numbers a little bit
more as we kind of figure out industry
versus renewal versus new. So, we can
try and get that information to you.
Okay, yeah, but that's something I'm
interested in. Like what
what kinds of businesses are coming in?
Um
you know, the breakdown of renew versus
new.
Um cuz 649 feels like
a lot of businesses to have opened um
for not a lot of
public facing.
Just seeing them around town.
Um and then also
um to kind of see it would be
interesting to see maybe next quarter
like the churn.
If we could get an idea of it. Um
cuz
you know, it's common to see like
restaurants
open in a place and then run for a year
and then close and then another one
open. Um
so, yeah, it'd just be I think an
interesting data point to to see that
churn.
Mayor Pro Tem Counselor Harris, yeah, we
can certainly look at some of that. A
lot of these are home-based businesses,
so when you think businesses you're
always and I that was kind of my first
thought too was we're seeing a lot of
those, but a lot of it is home-based and
again a lot of it is maybe there's been
a lapse and so when they come in and
renew, so it's not necessarily a new,
it's more of a new registration. So.
Okay.
Thanks. Uh that's that's all I got.
Councilor Curran.
Um I really just have more of a comment
and appreciation of you, Dr. Torres.
What a time to be alive and understand
macroeconomics, no?
Like can you
Yes, please.
[laughter]
It's an exceptional moment, anyway. I
just appreciate you breaking it down as
much as you can for us, and
uh I know that macro that economics is a
science, and I know that you know it,
but also thanks for the crystal ball
insight that you're trying to throw
here. So, we have I appreciate you very
much for giving us this context and and
for us to to help us understand this
volatile, wild place. So, cheers. Thank
you. Always happy to see you.
Like, like.
Other questions or comments?
Okay, uh Dr. So, I just have a couple
just a general questions.
Um looking into contract um
forecast, you know, where do you think
it's going to Again, your crystal ball,
where do you think we're we're headed?
Uh is it going to increase, decrease?
Uh also, same thing for interest rates.
Where do you think um
those are going to I know, I know. But,
um I
you know, just um just a guess.
That's a very difficult question to ask
right now, especially with the things
happening, like um
right now, we have geopolitical
conflict, we have a major um
trading route that just closed that led
to a 39% increase in oil prices.
This could have some inflationary
effect, depending on how long it takes.
But, we're also seeing some softening of
the labor market, so it's a very
And also, indicators are not
typically
behaving like they used to.
Uh
PCE, which is a preferred measure for
inflation for the Federal Reserve, has
been running about 2% target for 5
years.
Now,
we're seeing
PCI a little lower than PC when it's
typically the low the opposite case.
I think
most likely the interest rate is going
to stay
kept at the current level for the next
meeting. Maybe a
a cut by the end of the year.
But, there's a lot of changes since the
pandemic. It has been
It's been very difficult to forecast
things cuz
we've seen an unprecedented amount of
stimulus. Now, it's going away, but now
we have other things changing and
So,
I probably didn't answer your question.
It's just very
complicated. Um
if there's a more weakening of the labor
market, probably there's additional cut
uh
in the horizon, but I think they're
going to stay for the next meeting.
Got you. Thank you. Thank you, Jessica
Torres. My uh son graduated in economics
out of um
I think it was 1,200 or 1,500 1,600
graduates. He was the only economics
major. So, conversations around the
kitchen table around um industrial
economics and macro tables, all that was
always interesting into interesting to
me and he loves he loves that stuff.
Uh thank you so so much uh for your
presentation and thank you, Elizabeth,
as well for coordinating. Appreciate
you.
Other questions or comments?
Council Harris.
Um thanks. So, that
that brought up another question I had,
which also is probably a crystal ball
question. Um
how
how sticky do you think some of the
inflation and price increases and
housing price increases uh
might be in and the context of this as I
just read um
to be fair the executive summary of a of
a study
um that was done in Europe. They had
actually a situation where they had
added a tax to a service and then a few
years later removed the tax. And so the
study was actually looking at
the price increases and how sticky they
were after the tax was removed. And
basically it was prices went up
immediately after you know
the tax went into effect and in this
case this would be our tariffs
um and other like housing price
increases and then after it was taken
out
um
consumers did not see the full benefit
of the reduction. So prices went up by
four bucks. I think it was for haircuts
or something. So prices went up by four
bucks after the tax prices went down by
$2.
Um so
um anyway just kind of curious your
thoughts on that. I know that like when
I buy electronics components um I see a
separate line item for the tariff on
there and I that I have to pay and uh so
that's
that would be pretty hard for the vendor
to paper over but if butter costs an
extra dollar at Walmart um
maybe it still costs an extra dollar
next year. So
thoughts?
Okay.
Could you repeat your question, please?
Um with with some of the changes that
you were bringing up um
you know we've seen some tariffs struck
down which obviously impact us. We've
seen a lot of housing prices rise
um for various reasons. We're trying to
increase supply and other policies.
How
how sticky do you think these changes
are? Like do you think there's actually
a chance in the
short to medium term of actually seeing
price decreases
due to these things?
This is kind of a consumer price
question.
Again, a hard question. Um
We see inflation trending down, but the
level prices still
elevated. Uh there might be some changes
in regulation at the federal level
that might help with with home prices,
but still it's nothing
like finalized.
Um I don't think I have the information
to fully
answer your question without making a
number of assumptions, and
I would rather give you a more informed
answer that works for you.
Yeah, of course. This that was
That's a very complicated question. So,
thank you.
Dr. Torres, you could literally tell us
anything and we would be like, "Oh,
yes." And that would be it. You could
you know, we would believe you and
you're legit. So, you certainly know
more than we do. So, just for the
record, whatever you say, we we're here
to hear it.
Oh, thank you.
That's the power of being an economist.
All right. Any other comments or
questions?
Thank you very much. Thank you. And then
are there any other comments or
questions? If not,
if there are no objections, I will
adjourn.
Move to adjourn.
Second.
Okay. Move to adjourn. Second.
Christine.
This is on the motion to adjourn the
work session. Counselor McClerk.
Yes.
Counselor Matisse is absent. Counselor
Harris.
Yes.
Counselor Bencomo.
Yes.
Counselor Cran.
Yes.
Mayor Pro Tem.
Yes.
And Mayor is absent.
We are adjourned. Thanks, everyone.
Yes.