By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — Bernalillo County faces a $400 million backlog of capital projects but plans to ask voters to approve just $45 million in bonds. At that rate, Commissioners Barbara Baca and Eric Olivas said the county will never catch up. To speed up the process, they gained support from the rest of the commission for a one-time funding plan that would turn the $45 million bond package into a $55 million capital budget.
The $45 million bond package being sent to voters on the November ballot includes $16.5 million for parks and recreation, $14.4 million for public safety facilities and fleet, $6.05 million for transportation infrastructure, $5 million for affordable housing, $2.5 million for libraries and $1.05 million for storm drainage and utilities. But that’s less than one-tenth of what the county says it needs to build and rehabilitate facilities, most of them in unincorporated areas. “Our current GO Bond Program at $45 million is simply too small to bridge this gap within a reasonable timeline,” Baca and Olivas wrote in a letter to fellow commissioners before the vote reviewed by The Paper. Commissioners unanimously approved the amended bond resolution June 23, with Commissioner Walt Benson excused.
Commissioners ultimately approved the Baca-Olivas plan to tap the county’s Revenue Stabilization/Operating Reserve Fund for $10 million in one-time funds. That funding would be used for additional projects which did not make the bond program list. Among those new projects are $3.5 million for construction of the Alameda Drain Trail, $2.28 million for construction of Atrisco Vista Boulevard, $5.67 million for pedestrian safety improvements on Coors Boulevard, $1 million for roadwork on the east side of the county and $818,220 for the Atrisco Acequia Madre irrigation project.
The additional $10 million does not increase taxes, Baca noted. Instead, it would keep the county’s current bond tax rate while fully funding the $55 million capital package. Voters will decide the $45 million bond question in the Nov. 3 general election. At the Aug. 11 commission meeting, commissioners are scheduled to hold a public hearing and take a final vote on the bond and reserve resolutions, which would authorize using the county’s reserve funds for the additional projects.