Bernalillo County Commissioners push for cost analysis study on working from home

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Bernalillo County Commissioners will look into funding a study to see how much money the county would save if they continued letting employees work remotely after the pandemic. This comes as the county is preparing to open its new Downtown headquarters at Alvarado Square after spending $67 million on renovations.

County Commissioners Steven Michael Quezada is sponsoring the move. His motion does not limit the remote-work study to the pandemic, however, in a statement he suggested the study is limited to the pandemic.

"I just want to see what our options are moving into the future. I’m hopeful that everything goes back to normal but in case we have to go longer I’d like to be prepared. We need to know how this effects the County,” the statement read.

Tia Bland, a Bernalillo County spokesperson, said they’ve already taken steps to make the new building safe, and plan on using some CARES Act funds to pay for it.

"So that whenever Alvarado Square opens there’s going to be signage in place that will help navigate employees and the public in the building, there’s a sanitization package,” she said.

Despite Tuesday’s talks about a cost analysis and working from home, Bland believes employees will be working in the new headquarters because working online from home is not sustainable.

"Not everyone wants to do business online, not everyone is cable of doing business online so consolidating county offices and services into one building and creating a one-stop customer service shop for the public is still a good idea,” she said.

Construction should be finished in April, however workers won’t move into Alvarado Square until June.