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| SPONSOR: | Begaye | DATE TYPED: | 2/10/99 | HB | 254 | ||
| SHORT TITLE: | San Juan Capital Project Tech Assistance | SB | |||||
| ANALYST: | L. Kehoe | ||||||
| Recurring
or Non-Rec |
Fund
Affected | ||||
| FY99 | FY2000 | FY99 | FY2000 | ||
| $ 10.0 | Recurring | General Fund | |||
(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
Duplicates/Conflicts with/Companion to/Relates to
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
Office of Indian Affairs
LFC File
SUMMARY
Synopsis of Bill
House Bill 254 appropriates $10,000 from the general fund to the New Mexico Office of Indian Affairs for providing technical assistance on capital outlay projects to Navajo chapters located in San Juan county.
Significant Issues
The New Mexico State Legislature has appropriated funds for numerous capital outlay projects within the boundaries of the Navajo Nation for local governmental entities (chapters) within the nation. The capital outlay projects are administered under a joint powers agreement (JPA) between a state agency, in particular the Office of Indian Affairs, and the Navajo Nation. The agreement states that all administrative and expenditure oversight becomes the responsibility of the Navajo Nation once it is signed.
The chapters located within San Juan County currently do not have a comprehensive capital improvements program to plan or prioritize capital outlay needs. In addition, the chapter lacks the technical expertise required to assess the status of projects and to serve as a liaison between the state agency, chapter and the nation's bureaucracies. Without expertise and a process, local decision makers deal with individual projects which are most often presented by vocal advocates without the benefit of an overall assessment of community needs and priorities. Consequently, a majority of the state legislative funding for hundreds of projects are unexpended and projects dating back to 1983 have not commenced.
Chapters need technical expertise in developing a comprehensive planning process that clarify's the community's commitment to future needs and develops a plan to establish its goals. It has been stated by officials of the Navajo Nation that although they do not intentionally ignore the funding received from the State of New Mexico, they are concerned that the political process sometimes drives capital outlay funding decisions, and that the appropriations are not necessarily being made for the highest prioritized projects. One of the greatest concerns of the Navajo Nation is when a lack of planning occurs, there is also no plan or budget for the maintenance and operation costs of a facility for future years.
It should be noted that these problems not only exist in San Juan County, but in the majority of the chapters located on the Navajo Nation within New Mexico.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
The Office of Indian Affairs indicates that no additional FTE would be necessary to carry out the purpose of House Bill 254; therefore, it is unclear how this service would be provided without additional staffing or how the funds would be most effectively used. The current staff is already overwhelmed with the administration and number of projects currently authorized and funded by the legislature.
OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES
The Local Government Division (LGD) of the Department of Finance and Administration currently operates a volunteer process for local infrastructure and capital improvement planning. Perhaps the appropriation contained in House Bill 254 may be more appropriately and effectively utilized if given to LGD to provide the technical expertise to the chapters of the Navajo Nation.
LMK/gm