Santa Fe police officers are stationed on the Plaza as Guillermo Rosette, leader of the Danza Azteca de Anahuac dancers from Taos, dances past in October. The proposed city budget for 2023, released Monday, would create a new substation to serve the area.

The proposed city budget would add a police department substation at City Hall. Police Chief Paul Joye said it wouldn’t require any major remodeling of the downtown building.

Santa Fe police officers are stationed on the Plaza as Guillermo Rosette, leader of the Danza Azteca de Anahuac dancers from Taos, dances past in October. The proposed city budget for 2023, released Monday, would create a new substation to serve the area.

The proposed city budget would add a police department substation at City Hall. Police Chief Paul Joye said it wouldn’t require any major remodeling of the downtown building.

The city of Santa Fe is considering adding a police substation at City Hall to boost officers’ presence in and around the downtown area and on the Plaza.

The $100,000 proposal in Mayor Alan Webber’s draft budget for fiscal year 2023 comes as downtown businesses owners say they have seen an increase in burglaries and vandalism in recent weeks.

Police Chief Paul Joye said a station in unused space at City Hall on Marcy Street would be more accessible for officers patrolling the area and north-side residents who need police assistance. He envisions the substation as a primary hub for the police department’s downtown bike team, which he said would meet with crime victims, take calls and handle other police business in the offices.

The substation would be the department’s only public station other than its headquarters on Camino Entrada, south of Airport Road. The proposal was unveiled Monday as part of a $382 million spending plan.

Joye said the city used to share a substation on West Alameda Street with the Santa Fe Fire Department about a decade ago, until the building was shuttered. Officers patrolling the north side used the West Alameda substation as a center of command.

Now, Joye said, officers and residents have to travel across the city for police business.

He said he was uncertain why the West Alameda station shuttered.

“We haven’t had a real presence or substation on the north side in several years,” Joye said. “It’s something we have had discussion about quite a bit, and it’s something the mayor has really been wanting to make happen.”

The department also is planning a more permanent location near the city-owned midtown campus, he said.

The downtown substation project wouldn’t require any major remodeling, Joye said. He noted staffing numbers have not yet been determined.

The possibility of a City Hall substation was welcome news to Cyndi Hall, associate director of Manitou Galleries on West Palace Avenue. Hall has worked downtown for 25 years and said when the previous substation was active, it “kept guys who were up to no good at bay.”

The gallery has been broken into twice in recent months, she said, including the theft in March of over $100,000 worth of art.

She said no suspect has been arrested in the case.

“Having a substation a block away would be a real help for a lot of our issues downtown,” she said.

Charles Dampf, director of operations at Palace Prime Steak + Seafood on West Palace Avenue, said the restaurant has been broken into numerous times over the past seven months.

“It’s been a whole ordeal,” he said.

The restaurant has spent “thousands” of dollars on security to deter further break-ins, Dampf said, adding it would be “great to have a substation … as long as it is being utilized.”

Webber touted the plan in an interview Monday, calling it way to ensure “all parts of town have a police presence.”

“There are so many things in the budget that I think people should feel good about, but I think we are really making investments in public safety,” Webber said.

Along with the substation, the mayor’s fiscal year 2023 budget proposal includes a $2.25 million infusion in the police department’s collective bargaining reserve, which is equivalent to a salary and benefit increase of about 16 percent. The Santa Fe Fire Department received an 8 percent boost to its collective bargaining fund.

The police department also would receive $1.8 million for 30 new hybrid vehicles and fuel costs and $1.1 million for new camera equipment and would continue offering $15,000 lateral hiring bonuses for new officers.

Overall, the police department budget would increase by 13 percent compared to the current fiscal year.

Joye said he’s heard positive input from the police union.

The city is also creating a $750,000 down payment assistance program to help police officers, firefighters and emergency medical technicians buy homes in Santa Fe, which Joye said he hopes will encourage more officers to live in the city.

“I understand the cost difference in houses between us and Rio Rancho, for example,” Joye said. “Something like this is definitely a step in the right direction.”

Correction: A previous version of this story included a photo caption that incorrectly identified the dancers of Danza Azteca de Anahuac as being from Taos Pueblo. The group is based in Taos.

The city of Santa Fe kicked off its monthlong series of public budget hearings this week, with sessions scheduled Tuesday through Thursday.

The hearings will wrap up April 26, followed by a vote to approve the proposal at the April 27 City Council meeting.

Members of the public can stream the hearings live on the city's YouTube channel, youtube.com/user/cityofsantafe.

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