The Grant County commissioners discussed a resolution to promote initiatives that would lead to possible new funding during the next legislative session.
The resolution would put the county behind several state lobbying initiatives that would benefit the county government, according to Silver City Daily Press.
The next session begins mid-January, and there will be approximately $2.5 billion in surplus that has yet to be allocated, according to the news agency.
The news agency reported that lobbying efforts would focus on things like county-run detention centers and other efforts in underfunded areas throughout county governments in New Mexico.
Counties want to focus on recovering the costs associated with transporting and housing prisoners held at the state level, as well as reimbursing sheriff's offices for transporting state prisoners. Both things are mandated but not funded by the state, the news agency reported.
According to the resolution, the state's Legislature has considered reimbursing counties for expenses, but for many years counties have not received anything.
Counties also want emergency medical services to be funded because counties are really struggling amid the need to increase the distribution of the Law Enforcement Protection Fund, improve the state's Human Services Department for behavioral health services and address the state's pension fund, which is "nearly insolvent," the news agency reported.
Webb said if the county was forced to increase contributions into the Public Employees Retirement Association of New Mexico, taxes in the county would have to go up. The county currently pays 75 percent of the employees' contribution to the fund.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham already wants to allocate $80 million to the fund, but that still would not be enough to restore it to solvency, according to the news agency. It's been suggested that counties in the state, as well as employees, should pay more into the fund to help it, but many counties oppose that idea.
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