By: Elizabeth McCall
An Albuquerque city councilor is pushing for more precision in the city’s budget and more specificity when it comes to road improvements, parks and community centers — which she said will make it more clear and transparent so voters know what they are voting for.
Councilor Renée Grout told City Desk ABQ the city’s Capital Improvement Program budget has historically been used for renovation and rehabilitation of existing city facilities, so now she’s proposing a resolution so the general obligation bonds go to more specific projects, especially road improvements.
“There are a lot of needs in our city, as we all know: public safety, we have lots of buildings that the city owns, and it’s important to also take care of the roads that we have, the infrastructure in our city,” Grout said. “Of course, there’s not enough money to go around, so we have to think strategically…we should be precise with what projects we want to fund.”
According to Grout, Mayor Tim Keller’s proposed budget for the bonds did not list specific projects and had a “large dollar amount in generically named buckets.” She said it did not easily identify the projects for voters who will have the say on whether the bonds are approved.
“We’re asking the voters to approve $180 million…I think that this approach would risk the voters rejecting the whole program in the fall, and we don’t believe that citizens will vote for bonds that don’t have projects attached,” Grout said. “I think it’s important that voters know what they’re voting on…I think it’s a lot more clear and transparent.”
Grout’s proposed resolution also states that funding for projects within “one bond purpose” can be reallocated to another project, as long as it is going toward the same purpose. Deputy Director of Council Services Mark Motsko said for example, the money for a public safety project can’t be used for road improvements.
“We can’t take Parks and Rec money and put it into senior affairs, because that subverts the voters’ will,” Motsko said. “What we have to do then, is we have to go back out to an election to ask the voters to move that money. So you can move money within purpose with a public meeting at the City Council, but you can’t move money between purposes.”
The proposed resolution will be considered during the Committee of the Whole meeting on Thursday and if it passes, it will be sent to the full City Council during its meeting on March 17. If councilors approve it, it will then go to a bond attorney who will prepare the questions for voters’ ballots. Councilors will also have to OK the ballot questions.
Grout said she is hopeful that councilors and Keller’s administration will support it. She said she also plans on asking the administration to put a booklet that lists the project plans for each bond question at every voting site. The list will also be available on the city’s website.
“No one wants to drive over potholes in the roads,” Grout said. “No one wants to go to a park where the grass is dead. This money goes into keeping those types of things in tip top shape.”
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