New Mexicans will vote on $230 million higher education bond question. See what else is in statewide bond package

New Mexico voters will be able to decide on four general obligation bond questions in November’s general election, including a $230.2 million higher education bond package.

The bond questions include $30.7 million for senior centers; $19.3 million for libraries; $230.2 million for higher education; and $10 million for public safety.

Most years New Mexico voters approve general obligation bonds. The last time New Mexicans voted down a higher education bond package was over a decade ago in 2010. That year, the $155 million bond package would have increased some property taxes. This year, property taxes would not be increased by the bond questions.

State property taxes are set at 1.36 mills. A mill is $1 for every $1,000 of the taxable value of a property. All of the state property taxes collected go toward the repayment of outstanding general obligation bonds. Typically, 10-year bonds are issued to fund general obligation projects. Using bond packages makes it easier to manage cash flow for large capital projects.

Senior centers

Voters will be able to decide on $30.7 million in bonds for senior centers across the state. The bond money would go through the New Mexico Aging and Long-term Services Department.

On Friday afternoon, Lucy Decker sewed Halloween patterned candy pouches for her grandchildren in a room full of sewing machines at the South Valley Multipurpose Senior Center. In the morning, Decker had already sewn a vest with a witch on the back and a matching purse before having lunch in the center’s dining room.

Decker is one of a group of women who meet every Friday to work on sewing projects. They have become friends after coming to the senior center for the last five or six years.

“We just share and help one another,” said Dorothy Martinez, who was hand-sewing purple circles.

Along with sewing, people were also working on ceramics projects, learning about hospice care and picking up food at the senior center. It is one of 12 senior or community centers in Bernalillo County that would get funding from bond question one.

The Albuquerque metro area would benefit significantly from the bond package, if approved. It includes $3.1 million for planning and building at the Rio Bravo Senior Center; $1.5 million for renovations and $100,000 for equipment at the Barelas senior center; and $1.5 million for renovations and $112,000 for vehicles at the To’hajiilee senior center in the To’hajiilee chapter of the Navajo Nation, located in Bernalillo County.

Rio Rancho’s Broadmoor and Meadowlark senior centers would also get bond dollars, as would the Bernalillo, Corrales and Placitas senior centers in Sandoval County.

Libraries

The second statewide bond question would authorize $19.3 million for library acquisitions at all kinds of public libraries, including at schools and universities.

Voters are being asked to authorize $6 million for the Cultural Affairs Department to be used for public libraries statewide; $6 million for the Higher Education Department to use for academic libraries; $6 million for the Public Education Department to spend on public school libraries; and $1 million for tribal libraries, which would also go through the Cultural Affairs Department.

Higher education

Bond question three is the highest dollar value bond question on the ballot and would authorize $230.2 million for capital improvements at higher education, special schools and tribal schools.

New Mexico State University in Las Cruces and the University of New Mexico would come away with the lion’s share of bond dollars. NMSU would get $50.5 million for its main campus, branch campuses and agricultural science and experimentation stations, while UNM would get $94.5 million.

New Mexico’s flagship university would get $52 million for a new humanities and social science facility at the Albuquerque campus, and the UNM College of Pharmacy would get $35 million.

The College of Pharmacy would use the funds for a $38 million project to remodel existing spaces and increase research and instruction space, which should allow the college to increase enrollment. Current pharmacy cohorts are 50 to 60 students, and the building upgrades should offer a capacity of 85 to 90 students. The project would begin mid-2025 and take 14 to 16 months.

The college trains much of New Mexico’s pharmacist workforce: 81% of active licensed pharmacists in the state graduated from the program, said College of Pharmacy Dean Don Godwin.

The modernized classroom spaces should make collaborative work easier, according to Godwin. Renovations would also include a new heating and cooling system and upgrades to electrical and IT systems, Godwin said.

The building is the most expensive to operate per square foot on campus, Godwin said, because the energy use is so inefficient. The upgrades would make it cheaper to operate by improving energy efficiency.

Meanwhile, faculty with offices in the Humanities building are preparing for a temporary move in December, and the school is looking for architects in case the bond question is approved. The $52 million from the bond would pay for approximately half the cost of demolishing the Humanities building and building a new Humanities and Social Sciences Complex.

Constructed in the 1970s, the Humanities building holds classrooms and office spaces and constantly needs repairs, lacks universal accessibility and has poor energy performance, said Jennifer Malat, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. The building serves students across the university, because the College of Arts and Sciences offers general education classes, which all degree programs need to graduate. The new building would include different kinds of classroom spaces and more collaborative spaces, Malat said.

“Having learning spaces that are modern, accessible and that are facilities that can be used for a variety of purposes, including classrooms where you can learn in person, learn remotely, use technology in the classroom — all of those will contribute to students having a good experience and staying at the University of New Mexico and graduating from the University of New Mexico,” Malat said.

If the bond question is approved, the Humanities building would be removed in 2025 and construction would begin at the end of next year. Teachers and students would be able to utilize the new building after construction is complete in 2028.

UNM branch campuses would get: $4 million for the Gallup campus; $1.5 million for the Taos campus; $1 million for the Los Alamos campus; and $1 million for the Valencia campus.

Central New Mexico Community College would get $10 million from the bond package for a new facility, and $6 million for infrastructure and facilities on the CNM campuses in Albuquerque and Bernalillo County.

The New Mexico School for the Blind and Visually impaired in Albuquerque would get $4.8 million for an early childhood facility. The New Mexico School for the Deaf would similarly get $3 million for an early childhood facility at its Albuquerque school.

Public safety

Bond question four asks voters to authorize $10 million for public safety radio communications improvements statewide, which would go through the state’s Department of Information Technology.