State Of New Mexico Has Cut Funding Nearly In Half

When ground was broken, and again when it opened, Spaceport America was hailed by its developers and the state of New Mexico as the only purpose-built commercial space launch facility in the country.

But Virgin Galactic, which was the reason the facility was built, has still not fulfilled its promise of commercial spaceflights from the facility, and now some lawmakers and taxpayers are questioning their investment in the facility.

According to the blog New Mexico Politics reports that the New Mexico Spaceport Authority has been propping up the annual operating budget for Spaceport America with taxes collected in Doña Ana and Sierra counties since 2012. Voters were told when they approved the tax that it a quarter of the revenues collected would go towards education programs in the two counties. But the tax has generated more revenue than anticipated, and some of that money has gone into spaceport operations, including salaries.

The tax is supposed to sunset in 2028, but Dan Hicks, who became CEO of Spaceport America in September, is now pressing to have the tax continue beyond that date. Hicks said that Virginia and Florida are spending millions in public money each year on commercial space projects, while New Mexico's appropriation for the Spaceport Authority has fallen from $994,000 two years ago to $389,000 in the current fiscal year.

Still, the agency's budget has increased this year because of rent payments being made by Virgin Galactic, which are scheduled to go up from $1 million per year to $3 million per year in January. However, Hicks has left three jobs vacant in an effort to trim the budget, and the spaceport is shifting money that could be used for infrastructure such as hangars and runways to promote what they already have to secure new tenants.

Hicks said to not use the excess revenue from Doña Ana and Sierra counties for operations would "cripple" development of the spaceport.

State Rep. Bill McCamley, D-Las Cruces, who was a Doña Ana County commissioner and co-chaired the political action committee promoting approval of the tax when it was initially passed, pledged 10 years ago that it would end after 20 years. He said that it should be up to the voters whether to extend the tax beyond 2028. If the spaceport is successful in creating jobs and boosting the local economy by then, he said, it should be something that the local community would be proud of.

(Images from file)

FMI: Original Report