The way it seems there was never enough federal money to pay for 80% of the A.R.T. project. It was claimed to cost $1M and the feds would pay $69M. That's only 69%. Then they said OOPS, the cost would be $119M, but the feds were still supposed to pay $69M. That's 58% the feds would pay. Then city water said they would bill $30M for their work, so that put the cost at $149M with the feds paying $69M. That's 46% from the feds (assuming they ever pay). Then the House of Representatives cut all FTA projects. ABQ was dropped to $49M of the $149M project. That's 33%. We hear the Senate may cut the FTA money by half. That's $24.5M which is 16%. Then the city gets a letter saying they may get $59M. That's 40%. Why does ABQ keep saying the taxpayers aren't going to have to pay for most of this stupid project? Not to mention the loss of revenue which will impact the taxpayers after the businesses are driven away.
