Governor's Opposition to Tax Increase for Train Baffles Some Lawmakers (NM- Richardson's Railroad)

Gov. Bill Richardson's trouncing of a tax-increase plan for his Rail Runner Express commuter train puzzled some lawmakers, who saw him put his name to that very idea less than four years ago.

The governor's 2004 news release announcing his signing of the tax legislation specified it would allow for a tax boost "to fund commuter rail operation." So, when the governor panned the idea last week, it surprised Sen. Tim Jennings, D-Roswell.

"Maybe the governor's just distracted," Jennings said, referring to his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination. "I think he wants to be known as the tax-cutting governor, not the tax-raising governor."

The 2004 legislation would allow voters in newly-formed transit districts to approve new taxes to pay for transportation projects. It has been described by train planners as a way to pay the operating costs of the $400 million-plus Rail Runner commuter train.

The Rail Runner ... operating costs are projected to rise to $20 million a year with the extension of service to Santa Fe.

The taxing idea is a common funding mechanism for similar rail services elsewhere, including the Sound Transit line in Seattle and the Trinity Railway Express in Dallas.

Rep. Gail Chasey, D-Albuquerque, sponsored the bill in 2004. Chasey said she was surprised to hear Richardson had shot down the taxing idea after approving the enabling legislation...

A governor's task-force is studying long-term financial options for New Mexico's ongoing road needs and also might consider Rail Runner funding.

Sen. John Arthur Smith, D-Deming, chairman of the Legislative Finance Committee, said the state needs to find a funding source— and quickly. ...

"The administration is saying it will find other sources," Smith said. "Who's going to be sacrificed? I'm submitting that it will be the state's roads."

Richardson spokesman Gilbert Gallegos said Tuesday it wasn't contradictory for the governor to shoot down the tax proposition despite having signed legislation allowing such a tax. "It was (in 2004) a potential option down the road," Gallegos said Tuesday. He added that now, the tax idea is "off the table forever."

Ha! Unlikely.

Richardson knows that a district-wide tax referendum would fail as the Rail Runner is only recovering about 14 percent of operating costs at the fare box currently and that will decrease to 7 to 9 percent as the annual operating costs approach $20 million for a service only a few thousand will use, especially when an under-utilized 75 mph freeway runs adjacent to the new railroad going into Santa Fe. When the extent of this dollar-eating black hole becomes public knowledge during an election to establish the tax, the whole scheme will fall apart. As a presidential candidate, he has to keep the image of a non-tax-and-spend liberal and environmentally-friendly mass transit supporter going for another few months yet and both the financial problems of the Rail Runner and the possibility of a tax increase to fund it have to be swept under the rug until then. Thus a "task force" to examine road and possibly RR funding sources.

BTW, note that it is fellow Democrats that are making all the noise about money being diverted to fund Richardson's Railroad. They are the ones who have to face the voters directly about the lack of good roads in their districts.

Richardson is headed for a train wreck of his own making and is just hoping he can keep it on the rails for another 6-8 months.

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