NM transportation agency facing budget problems
Posted at: 10/21/2009 3:23 PM
By: BARRY MASSEY Associated Press Writer
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) - The state Department of Transportation is struggling to cope with a drop in tax revenues that pay for its operations and highway projects.
Transportation Secretary Gary Giron has told lawmakers the agency is preparing to cut its spending and that highway maintenance may be postponed to help save money.
The agency's financial problems are separate from a $650 million revenue shortfall that legislators are trying to plug in the state's main budget for public education and general government operations.
The department is financed by federal highway money and earmarked state revenues - taxes on gasoline and diesel, vehicle registration fees and weight distance taxes on large trucks. However, those state revenues have been declining.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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