Kicking the Train Down the Track

The Rail Runner is New Mexico’s $400 plus Million black hole. In 2008, voters decided to try and help fill the bottomless pit by approving a gross receipts tax that is supposed to bring in $12 Million a year – a little over half the $22 Million operating budget. The Rail Runner burns $22 Million a year, receives fare revenue of $2.9 Million and GRT revenue allegedly equaling $12 Million (figures vary wildly). Including the claimed $750,000 budget gap, the Rail Runner receives approximately $6.35 Million from “other sources” – nearly a third of their annual budget. Understand that these “other sources” are the same sources as every other tax dollar thrown into the abyss – New Mexico taxpayers. We foot the bill to the tune of 87% of the train’s annual budget. Only 13% of the Rail Runner budget is paid for by those who consume the state’s transit “product.” Now, Big Bill wants to use $643,500 from Obama’s slush fund to keep the train alive for one more year...read more