New Mexico voters overwhelmingly approve general obligation bonds
New Mexico voters weighed in on three statewide general obligation bonds in this year's midterm election. The three bond questions — totaling nearly $260 million — will fund numerous projects, including senior centers, libraries across the state, tribal colleges and universities and more.
All three of the bonds were approved by voters, according to unofficial results available late Tuesday.
General obligation bonds result in public debt paid for by property taxes. However, approval of this year’s three bond questions, however, would not result in a statewide tax increase; the state’s Department of Finance and Administration indicates the current rate is high enough to cover the new debt as older debt expires.
General obligation bond 1: Senior centers
General obligation bond 1 authorizes $24.5 million for designing, renovating, or equipping centers across 21 counties and six pueblos. It will also help several senior centers purchase and equip ADA-accessible vehicles, and equipment for making meals for seniors.
The package also includes more than $1.7 million that Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham requested for tribal senior centers, according to the Legislative Finance Committee, as well as nearly $5.5 million to help fund a brand new senior center in Gallup, which borders the Navajo Nation in northwest New Mexico.
As of 10 p.m. Tuesday, unofficial results indicated it had received the support of 67% of New Mexico voters.
General obligation bond 2: Libraries
General obligation bond 2 will provide about $19.2 million to improve resources available at the state's public and school-based libraries. That makes it the largest-ever statewide library bond.
As of 10 p.m. Tuesday, unofficial results indicated it had received the support of 63% of New Mexico voters.
The funds will be split up, with $6 million each going to public libraries, K-12 school libraries, and academic libraries at colleges and universities, and another $1 million going to the 17 libraries on tribal lands.
With local government oversight, the libraries can use their portion of the bond for books, other print and electronic media and equipment.
The academic libraries distribute their allotment of library bonds based on student enrollment. Therefore, the larger universities — such as the University of New Mexico and New Mexico State University — get the bulk of the funds. Before they divvy it up, however, they pool a third of it and buy a suite of shared electronic resources that some smaller colleges may not be able to otherwise afford.
General obligation bond 3: Higher education, special schools and tribal schools
The largest of the three bonds — by far — was general obligation bond 3, which will allocate nearly $216 million to public and tribal colleges and universities, along with schools that serve specialized populations for capital improvements and acquisitions.
Capital projects are long-term investments like buildings or equipment; those are paid for separately from operating expenses like staff wages.
Most of the funds would go to the University of New Mexico, New Mexico State University and their branch campuses. But 20 other community colleges and public universities would get a share too. Also on the list are Navajo Technical University and a branch of Diné College — both tribal land-grant schools — and three specialty schools: the New Mexico Military Institute, the New Mexico School for the Deaf, and the New Mexico School for the Blind and Visually Impaired, according to Source New Mexico and KUNM News.
As of 10 p.m. Tuesday, unofficial results indicated GO Bond 3 had received the support of 62% of New Mexico voters.
All results remain unofficial until after their certification by the state canvass board later in November.
Damien Willis is a Lead Reporter for the Las Cruces Sun-News. He can be reached at 575-541-5443, dwillis@lcsun-news.com or @DamienWillis on Twitter.
More from Election Day:
This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: New Mexico voters approve all three general obligation bonds
