Faught: Shortfall won’t slow rail

Transportation secretary says delay would boost costs

State Transportation Secretary Rhonda Faught told legislators Wednesday that she hasn’t considered halting construction of the Bernalillo-to-Santa Fe leg of the Rail Runner despite their concern over paying for the commuter train.

“The moratorium has not been discussed; we are moving forward with the train,” Faught told members of the Legislative Finance Committee.

The Rail Runner is part of a nearly $1.6 billion funding package approved four years ago by legislators and Gov. Bill Richardson that included transportation-related tax and fee increases. Faught said the list of about 90 road and rail projects now faces a roughly $495 million shortfall.

The transportation secretary was peppered with questions and complaints from lawmakers, who worry a tax increase will be necessary to solve the funding mess. They’re also unhappy the funding shortfall threatens to delay road projects across the state while the commuter rail service moves ahead without a slowdown.

Construction costs have increased by 34 percent in New Mexico since 2003 while state road-fund revenues have been flat, Faught said. “It’s actually a perfect storm,” she said.

Taxes on gasoline and diesel fuel and fees on vehicles and truckers are earmarked for transportation.

Sen. Sue Wilson Beffort, R-Sandia Park, suggested the state put the Rail Runner project on hold until after the 2008 legislative session. “This is a big amount of money that we should be able to decide prior to going into phase two,” Wilson Beffort said.

State and local officials last week broke ground on the second phase of the Rail Runner project, which will extend the Rail Runner from Bernalillo to Santa Fe. Construction of that leg is estimated to cost $259 million and be completed by the end of 2008.

The train currently runs between Belen and Bernalillo. The entire construction project is expected to cost $400 million, although Faught said the state Department of Transportation is allocating a contingency fund of an additional $25 million to pay for cost overruns.

Sen. Joe Carraro, R-Albuquerque, complained that the Rail Runner and a spaceport project in Southern New Mexico that is receiving $10 million in state funds for construction of an access road are siphoning money away from other transportation projects. “This is diverting money from our basic transportation needs,” Carraro said.

Some Santa Fe local-government leaders last week said they want to halt the Rail Runner extension to Santa Fe, saying the state has failed to consider the community’s needs and concerns. City Councilors Karen Heldmeyer and Matthew Ortiz and County Commissioner Jack Sullivan said they planned to seek support for resolutions to rescind previous approval of the train project by the City Council and the joint city/county Metropolitan Transportation Organization.

But Faught said construction costs would escalate more if the Rail Runner extension is delayed.

She said she plans to talk to Richardson about options to pay for the Rail Runner’s operating costs, which are expected to range from $18 million to $20 million a year once rail service is extended to Santa Fe. Federal money, which covers most of the current operating costs, will end in 2009.

Last week, Faught said a one-eighth-cent tax levy in a transit district including Bernalillo, Santa Fe, Sandoval and Valencia counties could generate enough money to pay the train’s operating costs. But Richardson later said he wouldn’t support a tax increase to cover operating costs.

The LFC on Wednesday also discussed several transportation-funding options floated by a panel, including tax increases. Options include increasing the state’s gross-receipts tax by one quarter of a cent, boosting vehicle-registration fees by an average of $69 a year and linking increases in those fees as well as the state’s gasoline tax to inflation.

On another matter, Faught told Carraro that federal transportation officials will not allow spikes to be installed on highway ramps. Carraro this year sponsored a law to allocate $1,000 for a pilot project to study the effectiveness of tire spikes and other measures to prevent wrong-way driving on highway ramps.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Contact David Miles at 986-3036 or dmiles@sfnewmexican.com.