New Mexico’s $6 Billion Capital Outlay: Will Lawmakers Finally Prioritize Projects?
State analysts are urging New Mexico lawmakers to focus on capital outlay requests to finish ongoing projects as unspent funds reach nearly $6 billion.
Santa Fe, New Mexico, Capital Outlay, Lawmakers, Funding, Projects
Santa Fe: Recently, state analysts have been pushing New Mexico lawmakers to get serious about capital outlay requests. With nearly $6 billion sitting unspent, it’s time to prioritize finishing existing projects.
During a meeting, Cally Carswell, a capital outlay analyst, emphasized the need to focus on completing current projects instead of starting new ones. She mentioned that $1.7 billion in project requests are on the table, with various agencies and institutions asking for a slice of that pie.
Interestingly, local governments have also submitted their requests. Santa Fe is asking for just over $32 million this time, a significant drop from the $150 million it sought last year. But they only got about $18.9 million of that.
One big-ticket item discussed was a $17.5 million request for a new Magistrate Court in Santa Fe. Carswell pointed out that the design isn’t even finished yet, and funding for this project has been in the works since 2021, totaling $33 million so far.
The new court is planned for the city’s south side, but the current facility has issues like mold and leaks, making it too small for the community’s needs. With so much unspent capital outlay, some lawmakers are feeling the pressure to take action, but there wasn’t much talk about that in the latest meeting.
A report from November revealed that there are about 5,300 projects with outstanding capital outlay balances totaling around $5.8 billion. Many of these projects have seen little to no progress, which is raising eyebrows among lawmakers.
Among the stalled projects are improvements for the midtown campus in Santa Fe and a recovery center facility that hasn’t moved forward since it was funded in 2022. It’s clear that there’s a lot of money tied up in projects that aren’t going anywhere, and it’s time for some serious discussions about how to move forward.