The Bond 3 Shakedown: Who Pays the Bill, Who Gets the Feast, and the PAC Machine Behind It

New Mexico voters are being asked once again to approve hundreds of millions of dollars in statewide debt under the comforting banner of “higher education.”

On the surface, the campaign pitch is polished and rehearsed: shiny new buildings, expanded workforce training, and the ever-present slogan that it comes with “No Tax Rate Increase.” State college administrative surrogates are fanning out across New Mexico's counties to deliver the message.

Look behind the curtain, and a very different picture emerges.

Bond 3 is a $352.2 million public borrowing package that heavily concentrates its rewards in three metropolitan centers, sticks energy-producing and rural counties with massive debt liabilities, completely shuts out 11 counties from receiving a single project dime, and relies on an administrative tax trick and a foundation-funded political action committee to sell the deal.

The 4-Tier Shakedown

When you match official certified property-tax records from the New Mexico Department of Finance and Administration against the project allocations enacted in House Bill 248, the geographic disparity is staggering on what each county owes and what they get in return:

• The Jackpot Winners (Bernalillo, Doña Ana, and Socorro): Just three counties capture $258.0 million—73.2% of the entire statewide bond package. Bernalillo County alone secures $131 million ($116 million for the University of New Mexico School of Medicine and $15 million for Central New Mexico Community College), while carrying only about 20% of the statewide tax base, walking away with a $60.3 million net windfall.
• The Permian Basin Fleece (Lea and Eddy Counties): Because the state bond property tax applies to oil and gas production and equipment alongside homes and storefronts, Lea and Eddy counties carry 37.4% of New Mexico’s entire property-tax base. Taxpayers in Lea ($71.5 million owed) and Eddy ($60.1 million owed) are on the hook for $131.6 million of Bond 3’s principal alone—and get tossed back $1.0 million each. That represents a return of less than two cents on the dollar.
• The Middle-Tier Bait (Lincoln, Valencia, Otero, Quay, and Chaves): Rural communities get handed $750,000 to $3 million project slices so local college officials will act as regional cheerleaders for the package. Yet Lincoln County taxpayers owe $5.38 million in principal to get $975,000 for ENMU–Ruidoso, Valencia County owes $7.01 million to get $1 million, and Quay County property owners will pay over $1 million with interest to receive a $750,000 building crumb in Tucumcari. In Chaves County, property owners owe roughly $6.6 million in principal and interest on Bond 3 just to buy their own local allocations.
• The Goose-Egg Counties (11 Counties Get $0): Eleven of New Mexico’s 33 counties receive exactly zero dollars in project funding. Sandoval County property owners owe $19.47 million in principal for other people's campuses. In high-poverty rural communities like Luna County (28.6% poverty) and Hidalgo County (34.1% child poverty), struggling residents will pay millions in debt service over the next decade without seeing a single local construction dollar.

The Artificial 1.36-Mill Tax Trap

How can proponents claim Bond 3 carries “No Tax Rate Increase” while taking on $352.2 million in new public debt?

The State Board of Finance’s own official documentation reveals the accounting sleight of hand. When older 10-year bonds expire, the property-tax levy required to pay off existing state debt drops to 1.07 mills—which would deliver an immediate 21.3% property-tax reduction to every homeowner and business in New Mexico.

Instead of allowing that tax cut to reach struggling residents, state administrators deliberately hold the levy artificially high at 1.36 mills to maintain bonding capacity for new spending. Calling that “no tax increase” is like paying off a truck loan and being told taking on a brand-new 11-year loan is free because your monthly payment stays the same.

Furthermore, as property assessments rise over time, keeping that 1.36-mill rate locked in will extract an estimated $2.04 billion from New Mexico property owners over the next 11 years—with $358.9 million of that increase driven purely by rising valuations under an unchanged rate.

The Charity-to-PAC Pipeline and State Employee Roadshow

Equally troubling is the institutional machinery engineered to pass the bond.

State universities cannot legally spend taxpayer dollars directly on political campaigns. Instead, university 501(c)(3) charitable foundations—led by the UNM Foundation ($130,000) and NMSU Foundation ($80,000)—funnel hundreds of thousands of dollars each cycle into a registered political action committee named the “GO Bonds for Education Committee.”

That PAC produces the standardized “No Tax Rate Increase” flyers and runs the HigherEdBond3.com campaign portal. Salaried state college administrators then hit the road during regular business hours—in some cases appearing in state business attire at businesses, groups, clubs, chambers of commerce—to distribute the PAC’s materials and urge community support.

Under the New Mexico Governmental Conduct Act (NMSA 1978, § 10-16-3.1), state employees are prohibited from using public work hours, state-owned digital servers, or official attire to engage in political advocacy or distribute private PAC materials. Embedding PAC graphics and links on official university websites and conducting campaign roadshows on the taxpayer clock raises direct compliance questions under State Ethics Commission oversight.

Time to Demand Real ROI

Higher education is vital, but automatic approval of biennial debt packages is not. Eleven counties get nothing and have every right to be furious. Eddy and Lea counties likely generate enought property tax revenue to build and staff their own college or hospital but end up with $1M per county...Foul!!

Before voters across New Mexico co-sign another 11-year debt obligation, they deserve an honest accounting of why the Permian Basin and rural counties are subsidizing metropolitan universities, why state property-tax rates are prevented from dropping, and why public employees are deploying foundation-funded PAC collateral to sell the package.

Knowledge is accountability. It is time for taxpayers to look at the real math behind Bond 3.