近距离内射合集

LAS CRUCES 鈥� In a six-minute special meeting Friday afternoon, Do帽a Ana County commissioners approved a $489,000 purchase order and contract to hire a fiscal agent under orders from the state Department of Finance and Administration.

On June 22, the DFA issued a notice to New Mexico鈥檚 second-most populous county requiring it to appoint an outside fiscal agent to handle state appropriations and grants and oversee a corrective action plan. The special conditions were in response to a special audit report spanning county operations from 2021 to 2025, which was presented to the public in May. Per the DFA鈥檚 notice, the conditions are to remain in place until all of the special audit findings are resolved. 

The notice ordered the county to have a fiscal agent contract in place and submit a corrective action plan within 30 calendar days, or by July 22. Commissioners approved a contract on Aug. 14 for up to $489,000 with the , based on a fixed fee per grant administered.

鈥淲e are looking to ensure we are meeting this requirement (and) we did look at several other agencies,鈥� County Chairman Manny Sanchez said during the meeting. 鈥淭here was due diligence trying to identify what would be the least-cost option and what was available to us.鈥�

The county appealed the directive, questioning the need for a fiscal agent and stating that recent annual audits had not reported findings of material weaknesses or significant deficiencies. In correspondence with the DFA, Assistant County Manager Stephen Lopez said the county had already taken numerous steps addressing the special audit鈥檚 findings and suggested that 鈥渟pending taxpayer dollars for an outside fiscal agent might be an expenditure that is unnecessary.鈥�

DFA鈥檚 deputy local government director, Hallie Brown, wrote back that the deadlines would stand although current corrective actions would be taken into consideration.

Brown cited several pertaining to conflicts of interest, financial statements and other required reporting. She highlighted a sample of 245 procurement transactions for which 67% were lacking required documentation among other concerns.

The procurement was exempt from a regular competitive bidding process under procurement code, a county spokesperson told the Journal, because the county is acquiring services from 鈥渁 state agency, a local public body or external procurement unit.鈥�

County purchasing manager Michael Perez said entities interviewed for the contract had quoted as much as a 20% rate for each grant, which he said could have amounted to $15 million to $20 million. Perez said the $489,000 contract limit might need to be increased with added appropriations.

The commissioners voted 4-0 to approve the contract without discussion, with Commissioner Gloria Gameros absent.

Algernon 顿鈥橝尘尘补蝉蝉补 is the Journal鈥檚 southern New Mexico correspondent. He can be reached at adammassa@abqjournal.com.