For a copy of the agenda for Monday's Mesilla board of trustees meeting, click here.

LAS CRUCES - Mesilla Marshal Jeff Gray says he has the money in his budget to

re-institute a take-home car program for town deputies.

But he is probably going to have to do a strong job of selling the proposal to the Mesilla board of trustees at Monday's 6 p.m. meeting at Mesilla Town Hall, 2231 Avenida de Mesilla.

Somewhat related to the proposal, trustees will consider the approval of mid-fiscal year adjustments to the town government's budget. Also, trustees will be presented a report of issues experienced by town government during a week of severe weather that brought almost four days of below-freezing temperatures.

Cutbacks in the town's budget three years ago prompted trustees to suspend the take-home car program for the Mesilla Marshal's Department. A sharp reduction in gross receipts taxes collected by the town forced trustees to stop the program - one of the initial steps taken by elected town officials to meet the state-mandated minimum requirement of 1/12 of reserve funds in the town budget.

Mayor Nora Barraza said she is uneasy about reinstating the program, considering the town has had to make other substantial cuts to achieve the state goals.

"I just don't know," Barraza said. "I guess we could give it a try ...

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but I've got big concerns about it. We'll see how it goes. I don't know. We'll have to see what kind of job the marshal can do to persuade the board."

Town Clerk Nicholas Eckert said there is some room in the Marshal's Department budget to consider reinstating the program.

"There's about $7,000 of flex room in the Marshal's Department budget," Eckert said. "They have a total budget of $384,000 and they're about 2 percent under budget at this point. They could have the room to cover the costs of that program if they took from other line items in the budget."

But the volatility of oil and petroleum market could become a factor. Gasoline prices have steadily climbed since November, and the average price of a gallon of self-serve unleaded is more than 15 cents higher than what it was a month ago, according to the American Automobile Association's Daily Fuel Gauge Report.

As of Friday, the average cost for a gallon of self-serve regular unleaded was $3.03 in Las Cruces, an increase of 26 cents a gallon since November.

Eckert said the town utilizes a fleet account to pay for fuel for town vehicles.

Steve Ramirez can be reached at (575) 541-5452.

If you go

•What: Mesilla board of trustees meeting.

•When: 6 p.m. Monday

•Where: Mesilla Town Hall, 2231 Avenida de Mesilla.

•Information: Interim Town Clerk Nicholas Eckert, (575) 524-3262, extension 105.