Budget in Brief online: Summary of the adopted $368M FY26 budget
Published on May 30, 2025
On April 23, the Los Alamos County Council adopted a $367.9 million budget for fiscal year (FY) 2026, representing a $9.6 million decrease from the previous year’s $377.5 million budget. A two-page summary of the adopted budget is outlined in the “Budget in Brief FY 2026,” which can be accessed online at https://lacnm.com/Budget. The full FY 2026 Adopted Budget Book is scheduled for publication in August.
The overall reduction from FY 2025 is due to a combined $38.7 million decrease across the following two funds:
- Capital Project Fund: Down by $37 million. This fund supports the design and construction of major public infrastructure, such as roads, facilities, utilities and other long-term capital assets.
- Other Enterprise Fund: Down by $1.7 million. This fund comprises the operating budgets for Environmental Services, Atomic City Transit, Los Alamos Fire Department (LAFD) and Los Alamos Airport.
These reductions are partially offset by a total of $29.1 million in increases across the following areas:
- General Fund: Up by $6.6 million. This fund supports core government operations and services.
- Special Revenue Funds: Up by $6.5 million. These funds are restricted for specific purposes such as grants, Lodgers’ Tax, health care assistance, economic development and other special programs.
- Debt Service: Up by $5.2 million. This reflects the County’s payments toward bond dept payments.
- Joint Utility System Fund: Up by $8 million. Managed by the Department of Public Utilities (DPU), this fund supports the operation of the electric, gas, water and wastewater utilities’ systems.
- Internal Service Funds: Up by $2.8 million. These funds cover goods and services provided by one county department to another such as fleet maintenance, facilities management, information technology, self-insurance funds and other internal operations.
While Los Alamos County’s total budget may appear high compared to similarly sized municipalities, the biggest difference lies in two of its enterprise operations, which together represent nearly 45% of the overall County expenditures in the FY26 budget. These enterprise funds, with DPU at 29.5% and the Los Alamos Fire Department (LAFD) at 15.4%, are self-sustaining and generate revenue through user fees and charges rather than relying on local tax revenues. They provide services that are typically handled by private entities in other communities.
DPU’s $108.7 million budget is unique in that it includes ownership and operation of electric generating resources and supports scheduling and distributing electricity to more than 8,600 customers, including Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, public power providers, including local governments such as Los Alamos, accounted for just 16% of the electricity market in 2022.
In addition, DPU provides natural gas services to more than 7,500 customers, another service typically handled by private utilities. In New Mexico, most citizens receive their electricity and gas from investor-owned utilities such as the Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM) or New Mexico Gas Company, or from regional electric cooperatives like Kit Carson, Jemez Mountain and Central New Mexico.
LAFD is also classified as an enterprise fund because its operations are primarily supported through a contractual agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy and LANL, rather than through tax revenues. LAFD’s budget totals $56.5 million, 15.4% of the County’s overall expenditures. The department operates a training station and five fire stations (three within county limits and two on LANL property). It employs 166 full-time firefighters who are specially trained to respond to the unique hazards associated with work conducted at the Laboratory.
When the enterprise funds for DPU and LAFD are excluded, along with $39.9 million allocated for capital improvement projects, the County’s core operational budget totals $162.8 million.