Misc.

Governor Martinez wants to 'starve the beast'.  She wants some new tax laws that will stop charging gross receipts taxes on other gross receipts taxes that have already been paid in a chain of business transactions.  I think this is needed and I don't disagree that it is a bad system.  I just want to understand from her administration where the sizable cut in revenues will be made up.  You can only cut revenues so long before real damage in services to our citizens will be felt.

The City of Albuquerque's capital improvement program is in great distress.  Much of the money that would usually go into paying off bonds for these projects were siphoned away during the Chavez years in the Mayor's office in order to fund pay raises for the police and others in the run up to his last election.  During a strong economic era it was not evident but now we are paying big time.  The problem is those capital programs for infrastructure improvements created jobs.  While we are looking into this situation I would recommend that the city auditor take a close look at the revenues that are supposed to be going into transit services and road rehabilitation.  The voters approved a special tax for that back when I was Mayor and it was renewed in a vote a couple of years ago.   I suspect some of that may be misdirected too.