Transportation funding formula change leaves Taos with a six‑figure hole; district looks for ridership and route fixes
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Summary
Taos lost a sizable share of student transportation allocation after a statewide funding formula change. The district reported a roughly $400,000 funding gap and outlined options including route efficiency, driver recruitment and pilot incentives to rebuild ridership.
The district’s transportation director, Samantha Martinez, told trustees a recent change in New Mexico’s school‑transportation funding formula reduced allocations to many rural districts and left Taos facing a significant shortfall.
Martinez said the legislature and PED replaced a density factor in the state formula with measures of geographic rurality beginning in FY25. That change increased allocations for some dense districts while reducing support to other, more rural districts; Taos was among districts with larger than 10% decreases in allocations. Martinez said Taos’ allocation dropped from roughly $1,040,000 in the prior year to about $655,000 under the new calculation (district examples were presented from PED analysis), and the district is currently modeling a projected operating shortfall near $400,000.
Why it matters: Transportation is a categorical funding stream. If state allocations do not cover a district’s actual transportation expenditures (fuel, drivers, maintenance), Taos must subsidize routes from the general fund or reduce services — both have operational and community implications.
What staff reported and options discussed: - Ridership and enrollment trends: Taos saw lower bus ridership in recent reporting windows (post‑COVID decreases); the state formula uses snapshot averages that can magnify declines caused by temporary events (illness, weather, schedule changes). - Driver shortages increase per‑route costs and force longer consolidated routes; New Mexico reported widespread district‑level driver vacancies and high turnover. - Interim options the district is considering include town‑level incentives (iPad giveaways on count days were used as a pilot), targeted recruitment and training, route re‑mapping for efficiency, limited paid parents‑as‑transport options, and exploring emergency supplemental funding through PED.
Martinez said the district will undertake a route‑efficiency study, document actual ridership trends for PED review and pursue emergency supplemental funding where possible; she urged that any long‑term solution likely requires a combination of local operational changes and possible legislative fixes to the formula.