Juárez:  Data-Driven Columnists Complain about State Investment in Juárez

This morning's NorteDigital (click here for story:  Hobbs, Albuquerque, Farmington and Las Cruces take heed!) carries a column by Carlos Omar Barranco and Salvador Esparza.  The data presented paint a picture of neglect by state government in spreading state taxpayer money equitably to Cd. Juárez, while lavishing money on the state's capital, Chihuahua. Those who can read Spanish should consider reading this (I am assuming the data is reasonably reliable), as it presents a strong point of comparison between state government spending levels in Chihuahua as compared to New Mexico, as well as reminding us that some folks in Juárez complain about the same things we hear, say, from folks in Hobbs.  A few excerpts:

"Public investment of the state of Chihuahua in Cd. Juárez, in the second year of the five-year term (2016-2022) of Governor Javier Corral Jurado, was less than 800 million pesos (about $40 million US), which is 14 percent of what is invested in the entire state in spite of the fact that we generate 40 percent of the state GDP.  In the area of public security, Chihuahua received over 66 million pesos (about 3.3 million US) while we got only 4.6 million (about $230,000), despite having the highest levels of violence generated on our border, with 3908 homicides in the past two years, of which 2080 occurred in 2018..."  "During 2018 total public investment in Chihuahua state was $4.872 billion, of which only $777 million were spent here."

The authors go on to accuse the Governor of including federal assistance to the state in his calculation of total public investment by the state

A quick look at total state expenditures in 2018 (click here) will show total Chihuahua state government expenditures in 2018 to be almost $67 billion pesos, which is about $3.4 billion US.  By comparison, New Mexico's 2018 budget was roughly $6.3 billion, and in per capita terms (Chihuahua's population is roughly 3.5 million compared to slightly more than 2 million in New Mexico) Chihuahua spends almost $1000 for every person living in the state, while New Mexico spent about $3000 in 2018.  It should be remembered, however, that in New Mexico education is part of the state budget while in Mexico it is part of the federal government budget.  Given differences in purchasing power between Chihuahua and New Mexico, it appears Chihuahua is catching up in real terms to New Mexico.