Capital system has NM on a treadmill to nowhere

The question at hand is not whether the national champion University of New Mexico women’s crosscountry team deserves decent training equipment.

It is whether the taxpayers of New Mexico should buy things like treadmills on a 10-year loan. Because when you finance things guaranteed to break down before the bill is paid off, you are running behind before the first payment is made.

Gov. Susana Martinez has taken a lot of heat for vetoing $30,000 for new treadmills for UNM’s cross-country team — but by doing so she did the absolutely responsible thing. It is essential for New Mexico to embrace fiscal responsibility and only use long-term financing for items that not only stand the test of time, but last the life of the loan.

Taxpayers should not be expected to buy short-lived exercise equipment via a bonding mechanism that should be used for buildings, highways, water systems and projects designed to create jobs and jump-start our state’s still-recovering economy.

There is no dispute that the women Lobos crosscountry team is a huge asset to university athletics and academics, and a strong case can be made for the need for new treadmills. In fact, this week a donor came forward with a check to cover their cost.

And that type of financing makes sense. Because the fact an athletics official says one treadmill is broken, while another has undergone “multiple repairs,” proves why you don’t take out a mortgage on things that are unlikely to last.

When Martinez signed the capital outlay bill — complete with her vetoes — she wrote that “capital outlay funding should always be used for projects that create jobs, address critical infrastructure needs and have long-term economic impact. State resources should be focused on projects which are too expensive for a local entity to remedy, or are potentially disruptive to public life and public safety.”

She approved $163.7 million in capital spending and vetoed just over $8 million. In addition to the treadmills, she rejected financing a robotic dinosaur for the Museum of Natural History, a bust of renowned Indian fighter Manuel Chavez for the Roundhouse, shelves and a TV for the Hatch Children’s Library, synthetic turf for Eastdale Little League, and numerous vehicles — including several backhoes.

Again, it’s not a question of whether those items are needed or their intended recipients deserve them. It’s whether it makes sense to saddle state taxpayers with the expense of buying them on time in lieu of large projects that will have a greater impact on our communities and our state, and for the long term.

New Mexico taxpayers must finally refuse to get caught up in the petty thinking of individual wants trumping group needs. They must hold their local governments and entities responsible for paying for these smaller-ticket items. And they must demand their state lawmakers embrace a capital outlay system that vets projects and funds those that deliver the most bang for the long-term public buck.

Until then, taxpayers are too often taking out mortgages on small items that are gone before the loan is paid.