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Saturday, December 06, 2008

Legislators Find Unspent Funds

By Dan Boyd
Journal Capitol Bureau
          SANTA FE — Looking to free up unspent money, the Legislative Finance Committee has identified more than $173 million in capital outlay appropriations that could be reallocated for more urgent expenses.
        The money could also be returned by lawmakers to the state's general fund to help New Mexico combat a budget shortfall that could end up exceeding $500 million.
        The LFC staff told members of the Legislature's interim Capital Outlay Subcommittee earlier this week about the unspent money, which stems from about 130 infrastructure projects statewide.
        LFC officials declined to identify most of the projects being eyed, but several multimillion-dollar projects with unspent funds are included. Among them:
        • $8 million to help Tesla Motors build a Bernalillo County plant. The company ultimately backed out and chose a California location instead.
        • $22.3 million for a state-of-the-art equestrian facility. The project has been delayed due to uncertainty about the facility's site.
        As part of a plan announced in October to curb the revenue gap and balance the state budget, Gov. Bill Richardson called for a reauthorization of $200 million to $300 million in stalled capital outlay projects.
        The idea was touted as a way to boost state revenue without raising taxes, using cash reserves or cutting services.
        Nearly $1.8 billion — tied up in 7,685 projects — appropriated by state legislators for capital outlay projects since 2002 has gone unspent. Capital outlay projects include both local projects procured by legislators and more costly statewide projects promoted by the Governor's Office.
        Since Richardson's plan was announced, paperwork showing newfound progress on more than 600 approved projects has been flooding in, officials from the state Department of Finance and Administration told lawmakers Tuesday.
        While new guidelines detailing how capital outlay funds can be renewed or extended are also expected to be presented to legislators during the forthcoming 60-day session, some lawmakers say the rush to reauthorize shouldn't go overboard.
        "Capital outlay in essence drives the economy," said Rep. Edward Sandoval, D-Albuquerque, a member of the Capital Outlay Subcommittee. "We've got to be careful how we do this."