The Rail Runner’s “Hand Grenades”

As Rob Nikolewski over at Capitol Report points out in a story, the Rail Runner is going to suck up ever larger quantities of taxpayer cash in the years ahead, including two $235 million balloon payments which come due in a bit more than a decade.

We’ve previously outlined the myriad reasons to cut our losses by shutting down the Rail Runner, but these $235 million balloon payments must be paid no matter what.

Moving forward, the Legislature must demand that any major infrastructure project be financed with regular, even payments over the years, not with balloon payments that force future legislators and governors to deal with previous decisions.