LAS CRUCES, NM – The Las Cruces City Council held a Tax Increment Development District (TIDD) board meeting and work session on Monday, January 22, 2024. The meetings highlighted the positive changes and growth the city is experiencing.
The TIDD board was updated on finances and projects in the district, which includes downtown Las Cruces. As of the end of December 2023, over US$13.6 million had been collected in the TIDD.
Current projects in the TIDD include 24-hour foot and vehicle security patrols, and the completed installation of security cameras on Main, Church and Water Streets that will be monitored by the Las Cruces Police Department.
In addition, the redesign of Campo Street and the restoration of the historic Amador Hotel continues. Work on Campo Street, which includes new bike lanes and wider pedestrian sidewalks, will begin in early 2025 and is expected to last 14 months, according to the City Council.
Also, the City Council noted that the west wall of the former Amador Hotel has already been restored, and the remaining exterior work could begin this summer and take 18 months to complete.
At the City Council work session, it was reported that a portion of the US$24,759,826 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds that the City of Las Cruces has received from the U.S. Treasury Department has been used to purchase the former Video Four Theater. The building will become the new headquarters for the Boys and Girls Club of Las Cruces.
The Boys and Girls Club received US$1.38 million in ARPA funds through a community grant from the City. That organization has served youth and families in the city for more than 60 years.
ARPA funds are being used to fund City projects including public health and safety, negative economic impacts of the pandemic, water and sewer improvements, capital projects, and community organizations that provide services to residents.
Some of these projects include the award of US$200,000 for the purchase of four solar-powered mobile units for the Police Department, which are also equipped with cameras that can monitor activities in the city’s neighborhoods.
Also anticipated is US$400 thousand in ARPA funds available to small businesses in the city to help repair storefront property damage that has occurred after January 1, 2021.
As for water and sewer projects, US$1.3 million is targeted to convert some homes in the city from septic systems to the city’s sewer system. So far, 53 homes have been converted.
In addition, more than US$4.1 million of ARPA funds were used to improve walking, jogging and biking trails, city parks and sports fields, and improvements at Unity Park and the Mesilla Valley Animal Services Center, and construction continued on the East Mesa Public Recreation Complex.
While US$365,000 was allocated for the design and development of a facility where the Mobile Integrated Health Unit will be headquartered.
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