Mayor: City Council's decision on Paseo could cost ABQ residents $10 million in federal money

Mayor Richard Berry

From KOB-TV.com - By: Chris Ramirez, KOB Eyewitness News 4  - Mayor Richard Berry said the City Council’s failure to vote with a super majority on the passage of a $50 million bond puts a matching $10 million federal grant dead on arrival. Originally, the Paseo project was going to be funded as follows: $50 million from the City of Albuquerque; $30 million from the State of New Mexico; $10 million from a federal TIGER grant.  But Mayor Berry said with the loss of the federal funding, the city may now increase its share to $60 million to ensure the completion of the project. The city does not have that kind of cash on hand, so it must borrow.  Payments for a $60 million bond would equal about $3.6 million payments each year for the next 22 years. Originally the city was planning to use $3 million to pay off a $50 million loan for the next 22 years.  The City would have to find an additional $600,000 every year if it chooses to bond $60 million versus $50 million. The payments would come from the city’s operating budget - which also pays for salaries, travel, office supplies, and the like. Whatever the new bond amount will be, voters will now have to approve any borrowing. Also in a press conference Tuesday, Berry gave documents to reporters showing that Councilors Debbie O’Malley, Rey Garduno, and Isaac Benton have a history of roadblocking progress with the Paseo project. The three councilors, who have been blasted by the mayor’s office for a week, told KOB-TV Monday night that the mayor only has himself to blame for any roadblocks in building the Paseo del Norte interchange because he chose to bundle other projects with the infrastructure project during the 2011 municipal elections. Read more

Mayor: City Council's decision on Paseo could cost ABQ residents $10 million in federal money