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Opinion editorials Handling of Pit Appeal Calls for a Time-Out |
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opinion editorialsThis editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by editorial page staff and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers
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Friday, November 05, 2010
'Surplus' Claim Takes Sanity Off the Rails
Only in government can you run almost entirely on taxpayer money, get not one but two emergency infusions, spend all but $250,000-or-so of your handouts, and have the audacity to claim you have a surplus.
If that's the track of reasoning the New Mexico Rail Runner really wants to travel, then officials owe New Mexico consumers a refund.
Yes, the commuter train's revenues outpaced expenditures by $254,481 for fiscal 2010 ($22,261,918 vs. $22,007,437).
But only $2.927 million of that revenue came from the fare box.
A big chunk — $11.95 million — came from a regional sales tax for mass transit. The rest came from a variety of sources, most also taxpayer funded — including the feds, the state, the soon-to-be-empty coal-car that is the stimulus —as well as the private and tax-supported railroads for use of the tracks.
This is not a commentary on the validity or value of this train specifically or mass transit in general, but a question as to fiscal accountability.
To that, how much did the train cost to build, exactly?
The $500 million figure that's been thrown around for years is decidedly round and deliberately vague and undeniably outdated.
A blow of the horn to Rio Metro Regional Transit District Director Chris Blewett for keeping an eye on the bottom line, scaling back where possible as the economy made unexpected stops, and "cutting expenses where we could and trying to keep the best service that we could out there at the same time."
But claiming a surplus when officials simply failed to burn through all their taxpayer cash? That takes sanity off the rails.
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