New Mexico has more than $4 billion in unspent funds tied up in hundreds of state agencies, according to a report released Saturday by the State Auditor's Office.
The 25-page report made public by state Auditor Tim Keller looks at whether some of the $4.5 billion in reserved funds could be spent on other projects.
It is the first time such a study has been done by Keller's newly established Government Accountability office.
The funds cited in the report do not include employee salaries, operating costs or retirement and permanent trust funds. The dormant bank balances were mostly allocated for projects involving infrastructure, water and roads. Medicaid and a state job-training program also harbor unused funds. In all, the unused funding is spread across 737 state agencies.
The report takes note that it is critical that some state agencies have fund reserves for a specific project or use. But considering $4.5 billion amounts to about 70 percent of the state budget, it might be tempting for the state to consider reallocating.
Keller, however, declined to take a position on how or if the money should be redistributed. More than half of the unused funds are restricted in how they can be spent, he said. But for the remaining funds, Keller said "The Legislature could move it around, and the governor could help by removing red tape."
During his campaign for state auditor, Keller said that one reason he was running was because of the amount of money "just sitting there" in the budget. When he was still a state senator last year, Keller called for getting unused funds off the shelf and into schools, roads and water projects.
"Instead of knowingly sitting on hundreds of millions of dollars that could make an immediate impact, let's get this money off the proverbial bench," Keller wrote in an editorial for the New Mexican newspaper. "Let's fill positions in state government and put more New Mexicans back to work."
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Information from: The Santa Fe New Mexican, http://www.sfnewmexican.com
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