By Hannah Grover
About $7.4 million of state capital outlay funding could be coming to Torrance County, while other East Mountains communities also had projects included in the legislation.
Capital outlay funding is awarded to local governments through legislation annually.
The $7.4 million that Torrance County entities are set to receive is in addition to funding for projects in Bernalillo and Santa Fe counties in the East Mountains.
The biggest price tag item is the construction of a new Torrance County administration facility, which received $3.75 million in capital outlay.
Torrance County is also set to receive $75,000 to improve its animal shelter, where staff are wrestling with deteriorating kennel conditions.
The Chilili Land Grant, which covers portions of multiple counties, will receive $300,000 to purchase common lands.
The Town of Edgewood received the full $617,000 it requested for a sewer collection system and the City of Moriarty received the $250,000 it asked for to upgrade an effluent plant. The Village of Tijeras also received $400,000 for improvements to its wastewater system.
Local entities do not always receive the full capital outlay that they request for a project. For example, officials asked for $2 million in Mountainair to pave 10 miles of existing gravel roads. The final capital outlay bill includes $50,000 for that purpose.
The capital outlay bill passed the House of Representatives on a 41-25 vote and the Senate on a 25-16 vote. Republicans who voted against it expressed opposition to the inclusion of funding for a reproductive health center in northern New Mexico.
This year’s capital outlay package includes $1.2 billion worth of appropriations for projects throughout the state. However, that is just a fraction of the $5.6 billion of requests for capital outlay funding the legislature received this year.
One of the projects that could benefit communities across the state is watershed restoration and wildfire prevention, including forest thinning. That project received $10 million.
The bill is now awaiting the governor’s signature. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham could choose to sign the package as it is now or she may use line-item vetoes.
You can contact the governor about capital outlay projects via her website.