New Mexico faces a potential 35.7% budget decrease ($2 billion out of a $7.6 billion budget). The budget plans to spend $342 million with $172 million of that coming from volatile gross receipts tax revenues which will undoubtedly be down even by the time the budget begins on July 1.
Local governments across our State will likely face big shortfalls from the economic shutdown relating to the virus alone, let alone the massive decline in oil prices.
But Bernalillo County just passed what can only be described as a shocking 7% budget increase. Yes, as noted in the article, commissioners can redo the budget as financial conditions warrant, but why even pass a budget that is dead on arrival?
Instead of passing an unrealistic budget, Bernalillo County and other local governments should be eliminating wages passed in recent years and considering ways to eliminate fat and overspending in what will undoubtedly be a very difficult time.
I wish more people and organizations would keep an eye on these characters like you do.
Why does RGF always give government a pass?
Name the damn Commissioners who voted for the Increased Spending?
If you take a second to click on the article we posted it was unanimous. Talbert is the only Republican on the Commission so I sent him an email directly telling him he should let the Dems be irresponsible but not join in.
The concepts of saving and cutting have not been mentioned in this crisis, only handing out my hard-earned tax dollars to lazy people who refuse to save. What the County Commissioners has done is unconscionable. It is disgusting to see expensive vehicles in line to get free food. If people are living paycheck to paycheck, for those who can but don’t save, they have created their own problem. They practice instant gratification to the hilt, buying stuff they don’t need or can’t afford, rather than saving for a rainy day. Sadly, they know the other taxpayers will bail them out. What have airlines done with the $2.5 Billion they have been collecting EACH QUARTER on baggage fees alone??
What happened to saving for a rainy day? We have a tsunami now. I have no sympathy for people who could save and choose not to. You reap what you sow.