As Santa Fe city officials approach completion of the first of three planned annexations to the city limits, details about costs and responsibilities for a bigger city remain undefined.

Figuring out how to pay for road repairs on traffic arteries that will become the city's responsibility, preparing to provide police and fire protection for residents in a larger territory and making sure new residents have containers for trash pickup are among the tasks at hand.

The city and county agreed last year to a three-phase plan that will add nearly 10,000 acres to the city of Santa Fe, then prohibit future annexations for two decades. A vote this month would finalize annexation of the first 1,900 acres, and most agree the city is prepared to take on that area. What happens next, however, could require big changes.

City Manager Galen Buller said the first budget changes to add workers or allocate capital to support the major growth aren't likely to occur until the budget process for fiscal 2010-2011, which will begin next year. Long-term reorganization — both to save money and deal with annexation — will consume the next three years, he told councilors this week.

"It's not going to happen overnight," he said.

The Fire Department already knows that it will need an additional fire station, equipment and personnel will be needed in Santa Fe's southwest sector, as well as additional fire inspectors. Police say traffic accidents, patrols, criminal investigations and animal control will call for 48 new jobs.

Meanwhile, other city administrators are working within their areas of expertise. Chris Ortega, Engineering Division director, is trying to work out an agreement with the county concerning 5 miles of county-maintained roads that will switch jurisdiction this year and another 18 miles that will become his responsibility by the final phase.

According to a city analysis completed this summer, it will cost about $300,000 to bring the roads in the first phase into a condition that would enable a smooth transition.

"They found things like, on Richards Avenue there is a gaping hole under guardrail posts. They found places where pavement has failed, like on Lopez Lane," Ortega said. "We want to be sure that we don't have to, on Day 1, invest a quarter million to get them into a condition where they will be OK."

While the city has asked the county to pay up or fix the roads, the parties have not reached agreement.

County Attorney Stephen Ross said the county is already working to address deficiencies.

"I don't know that we will address all of them, because some of the things may be in the nature of capital improvements," he said, "but the vast majority of them are road failures that need to be repaired and we are going to do that."

Ortega said some disagreements about what work should be completed have to do with differences between what each jurisdiction defines as maintenance tasks. Slurry seal, for example, is considered maintenance in the city, but a capital improvement in the county.

This month, the city took over development review responsibilities for the entire annexation area, referred to as the "presumptive city limits" in most documents. A hearing planned for Nov. 10 could feature a final vote to make the first annexation phase official for "doughnut hole" areas already surrounded by the city limits and other small tracts along the southwestern edge of the city.

The settlement agreement calls for the city to complete its next phase of annexation by the end of 2011. It includes land north and south of Tierra Contenta and on either side of Airport Road up to N.M. 599. But before that can happen, the city needs to get a handle on the costs and expected revenues associated with the plan.

Solid Waste Division Director Bill DeGrande said he has ordered enough new roll-off carts and large commercial-sized receptacles for the Phase 1 area and plans to add those streets to existing trash-collection routes for drivers.

"Phase 1 is OK. It's not a big deal for us," he said, "But Phase 2 and 3 will be tough because that is a lot of homes and that is going to require some expansion within the division."

DeGrande said at least four new drivers and two new trash trucks would likely be required once the city reaches its final shape.

In addition to paying higher property taxes, the residents whose homes are annexed into the city will become eligible to vote in municipal elections. City Clerk Yolanda Vigil said that for people who live in the Phase 1 area and already are registered to vote, the transition will be seamless.

All those additional city voters will be assigned to existing precincts, she said, but the next phases raise the possibility that the city will have to redraw voting maps or add precincts.

One of the next big agreements for the city and county to work out is the water and sewer service plan. Ross said the settlement requires that the plan aligns with the presumptive city limits, with the county serving only those outside the limits and the city serving anyone already on public water lines within its boundaries.

Contact Julie Ann Grimm at 986-3017 or jgrimm@sfnewmexican.com.