I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
The House of Representatives on Sunday rejected increasing the state tax on purchased vehicles by a vote of 28 to 41.
The defeated bill would have raised the tax from 3 percent to 4 percent. Approximately $17 million of the increased tax revenues would have gone to the state road fund, which has a significant budget gap.
The balance of the tax revenues collected — $17 million — would have gone to the general fund, the state’s main account. The state general fund also has a budget shortfall, which is projected at several hundred million dollars next year.
Like the state’s general fund, the state road fund has a budget gap. Revenues aren’t coming in at a robust enough rate to meet expenditures. In October, projected revenues for the State Road fund were between $340 million to $360 million for the year that ends June 30, significantly down from projected revenues for the road fund of $400 million.
Funded by state taxes on gasoline and special fuels – diesel, the State Road fund is major source of revenue for the state Department of Transportation.
Because the state road fund helps pay for maintaining state roads, as well as helps to bring federal dollars to New Mexico for big construction projects, the practical results of a sagging road fund could be felt across the state, officials have said.
New Mexico taps the State Road Fund to unlock federal dollars for major construction projects. The federal government generally assumes 80 percent of the cost of each transportation project. But first the state must put up a share, a so-called match, usually 10 percent of the project cost, to trigger the larger federal share.
Fewer state dollars to put up for matches could mean fewer federal dollars flowing into New Mexico for big construction projects, lawmakers and officials have said.
