Archive for November 18, 2008
An After-Christmas Wish List?
By Bob Steiner
Now that the presidential election is over, it’s hard to realize but the January New Mexico Legislative Session is but a little more than a month away. This is where your elected representatives get together in Santa Fe and decide how many (if any) of the tax dollars you’ve paid in will be returned to your area to finance roads, buildings and other capital projects. No matter where you live in the Estancia Valley, it is important that your town council come up with a “wish list” (Capital Outlay Request) of projects that voters would like to see undertaken in your area. In the event that your local governing body has not yet put together a list, or if you, as an individual,  have any ideas on how to best spend the money  (some of it, anyway) that you send to Santa Fe, now is the time to makes your wishes known!
Our regular readers know that we previously reported that the town of Edgewood hosted a meeting with their legislators last week for the purpose of briefing them on that community’s “wish list”. In view of projected lower tax revenue due to current economic conditions, as well as the fact that the Governor has directed budget cutbacks in all state agencies, The representatives cautioned the town to expedite any projects which are currently being worked on. They believe  that any activity where some  funds have already been expended and  is already in progress, would be less likely to be curtailed. This assumption makes sense,  so if you have visions of any of your tax money being returned to your community, you may want to put a bug in the ear of your local council members to insure they are cognizant of what is going on.
In any event, while you may not be getting much of your tax money  allocated back to your town this year, “Some” is better than None”.