$5 billion and counting. That's how much sits idle in state capital outlay funds as the dysfunctional method of getting those funds out the door for needed public works projects acts more like a roadblock than the needed speed ramp. 

Over the years lawmakers have called the system a disgrace and worse but reform efforts have been pushed back because it is our lawmakers who cling to a system that gives them too much power over that money. Today retiring ABQ Dem Senator Bill Tallman takes one last stab at creating momentum for change:

An exorbitant $5.2 billion is sitting idle in the state’s capital outlay reserve. Capital outlay funds are taxpayer dollars set aside to be used exclusively for construction projects. This massive reserve is unfortunate, unnecessary, and not the best use of limited resources. Yet, it doesn’t have to be this way. If New Mexico had a systematic, integrated method of allocating capital outlay, our state would not have this problem. Most of the funds would have been spent by now resulting in more projects being completed in a timely manner. This delay in spending will result in fewer projects being built given that construction costs have skyrocketed. 

Earlier this year, the Legislative Finance Committee reported a 50% increase in private and public nonresidential construction costs in NM over the past four years. This is the second highest escalation in the US and is part of a broader national trend of rising construction costs, which have surged by 43% since early 2019. Most cities, counties, and states prepare 10, 15, or 20-year capital improvement plans whereby they determine how much funding will be allocated in year one to specific projects and then do the same for each succeeding year of the plan. This systematic approach provides for a sufficient amount of money appropriated to either start or complete a project, resulting in very little funding sitting idle. 

Sen. Tallman

Governing magazine has ranked New Mexico’s capital outlay allocation system as the second worst in the nation. For the past four decades, capital outlay funding has been divided equally among the Senate, the House, and the Governor. Each legislator selects from a laundry list of projects they wish to fund. There is no procedure in place to prioritize or vet the projects on a statewide basis. Consequently, the most urgent projects are not prioritized, nor is there any formal coordination among legislators to make sure projects are fully funded so construction can begin immediately, without unnecessary delay.

There is a limited amount of informal, haphazard collaboration among legislators. Thus, as is currently the case, billions of dollars sit unspent for years, waiting for projects to be fully funded. In certain instances, projects are completed that would not have been constructed had a more refined system of allocation been enacted by the state legislature.In lieu of a system employed by most political subdivisions, we have a system whereby each legislator does his or her own thing.

On several occasions I have introduced legislation to reform the capital outlay system, however it was either never scheduled for a hearing or was killed in the first committee hearing. It is imperative that New Mexico act more responsibly with taxpayer dollars by implementing a professional, integrated and strategic plan of allocating capital outlay. 

This is the Home of New Mexico Politics.