An aeration basin at the Southside Water Reclamation Plant in Albuquerque. Bernalillo County’s Infrastructure Capital Improvement Plan, used to prioritize capital outlay-funded projects, ranks three ABCWUA projects among its top 10 most important needs. (Courtesy Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority)
By the end of the 2024 fiscal year, an estimated $5.9 billion in capital outlay funds — money designated for New Mexico infrastructure projects such as roads, water systems and public schools — had gone unspent, a historic high.
At the Wednesday morning interim legislative Capital Outlay Subcommittee’s first meeting since the most recent session, two state analysts offered lawmakers ways to address the shortcomings in the state’s capital outlay process leading to the unspent funds…