Mayor’s Letter: Artesia Kept a Balanced Budget Despite the Pandemic

BY MAYOR RENE TREVINO

I am excited to share with you some of the ways the city of Artesia has been working to keep services running and finances in strong shape as we look forward to the end of the CoVID-19 pandemic in the coming months.

Last summer, the City Council approved a balanced budget for the City for the seventh consecutive year and we continue to be debt free.  Prudent financial management over the last several years has allowed us to achieve that goal, despite seeing a $2 million loss of revenue due to CoVID-19 and increased costs; all that without cutting city services or laying off staff.

In the last quarter of 2020, some revenue came in that was higher than expected and allowed us to replenish funds drawn from our reserves to help balance the budget.  The city’s reserves remain over 100 percent of our annual budget.  We are grateful for a record of strong financial management that allows us to keep providing services and expanding services to our residents.

This past year the City has put a lot of work into ensuring that our community makes it through this pandemic in good shape.  Artesia was one of the first cities in the region to put in place our own commercial and residential eviction moratoriums, put in place an anti-price gouging measure and organize delivery of groceries and meals to seniors throughout the City.

We hosted a virtual and drive through events during the holidays, held numerous food distributions and our Holiday Winter Wonderland drive through event was a huge success.

As we await the roll out of the vaccines throughout the spring and summer of 2021, we look forward to continuing to serve the community and offer inventive services, classes and celebrations to the city of Artesia.