Editorial: Funding Shift Forced Skimpy City Bond Plan

When a cornerstone of your fiscal policy is robbing from Peter to pay Paul, there comes a day when even Peter is tapped out. For the city of Albuquerque, that day is here.

In 2011, the city had a bond package of around $164 million. Those bonds are financed with property tax revenues and used to pay for investments in infrastructure — everything from road projects to park upgrades to library materials.

This year the proposed bond package is $110 million, a reduction of about 33 percent.

While city councilors can bemoan the drastic cuts proposed by Mayor Richard Berry for park renovation ($1 million/40 percent cut), animal shelter rehabilitation ($600,000/50 percent cut), affordable housing ($8.2 million/83 percent cut) and new libraries (nothing budgeted at all), they know as well as anyone the basic responsibility of municipal government is providing its residents roads ($200,000/4 percent cut) and cops ($3 million increase for cruisers) and fire crews ($700,000 increase). And that you can’t legally commit to spending money that isn’t there. And that the public has no appetite for a tax increase (this proposal does not raise taxes because the new bonds will be issued as old ones are paid off).

And they also know where the city’s spending power has gone. Starting in 2004, then-Mayor Martin Chávez and councilors launched a raid on the capital budget’s recurring funds that took tens of millions of dollars in property-tax revenue from infrastructure every year and dumped it into operations. It meant not having to say no to spending on day-to-day expenses or unions.

It has also meant not investing $276 million in the tangible hard assets that make Albuquerque livable and attractive to residents and visitors alike.

Now, as a tough economy has reduced property values, there’s even less.

Councilors are expected to discuss the proposals next month, and if Berry signs off on the revised document it goes to voters in October. The mayor has warned the current equation will “starve our city’s built environment.” And yes, his bond plan leaves many important departments hungry. Any amendment would, as well.

Until councilors recognize the city’s capital program is important and gradually move to shift mills back to it from operations, that equation won’t change.

This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers.