I was listening to state officials discuss cutting services when one constituent asked about creating “new” revenues. I thought about how smart the city of Santa Fe is in its quest to create a public bank.
Over the past five years, Santa Fe has spent more than $7 million for fees to issue municipal bonds in addition to more than $25 million in interest that goes to Wall Street for the next 10 to 15 years.
Think about this: After five years of operation, the public bank is projected to make a profit of more than $10 million, which goes right back to the people. I wonder how much the city could save if it lowered the amount of bonds it issued and funded a bunch of street projects with loans from the public bank? That would create “new” revenue!
Elizabeth Dwyer – Bernalillo
