Half a million dollars to help the lumber industry in San Miguel County, $200,000 for golf programs at The University of New Mexico, $22.3 million for an equestrian center in Bernalillo County.

Those are taxpayer expenditures that a conservative New Mexico think tank and a national watchdog group say are among the more egregious examples of government waste in this state.

The projects are listed in The 2008 New Mexico Piglet Book, compiled by the Rio Grande Foundation and the Washington, D.C.-based Citizens Against Government Waste, subtitled "The Book Santa Fe Doesn't Want You to Read."

Paul Gessing, president of the Rio Grande Foundation, was joined at a Capitol news conference Wednesday by David Williams, a vice president of Citizens Against Government Waste, state Sen. Kent Cravens, R-Albuquerque, and a man dressed in a comical, pink pig costume.

Gessing told reporters that in addition to the above individual projects and programs, the most expensive projects his group finds wasteful are some of Gov. Bill Richardson's pet projects: film-industry tax incentives, the proposed spaceport in Southern New Mexico and the Rail Runner commuter train.

Richardson spokesman Gilbert Gallegos responded in an e-mail: "New Mexicans overwhelmingly elected and re-elected Gov. Richardson based on his vision and his accomplishments, which include the Rail Runner, the successful attempts to grow the film industry and rodeo initiatives."

The Piglet Book says of a 25 percent rebate on all film production expenditures that are subject to taxation by the state: "If a film crew goes to lunch at a local restaurant and spends $100, taxpayers pick up $25 of the tab. But (taxpayers) don't get to eat any of those 'power lunches.' "

Gessing pointed to a study, published in August by The Arrowhead Center at New Mexico State University, that shows the state's film rebate program returns less than 15 cents on every dollar spent.

But the Arrowhead report says, "If the provision of these subsidies transforms the New Mexico economy by building a new industry that can survive once the subsidies are discontinued, long term benefits may outweigh the cost. The question is whether or not the industry will collapse (when) the subsidies are discontinued sometime in the future."

Among the other spending The Piglet Book cites as "wasteful":

u A $1.5 million recital facility at The Santa Fe Opera. "The state is thus in the business of indirectly subsidizing 'low art' via its giveaways to the film industry," the report says. "It is only fitting that the state also subsidizes 'high art' as well."

u $440,000 to purchase, plan, design and develop land for an Española farmer's market and cultural center on the campus of Northern New Mexico Community College in Española. Says The Piglet Book, "a farmer's market can be as simple as pickup trucks full of produce in a parking lot."

u The $11 million state "supercomputer." Says the report, "Instead of one giant supercomputer, the state could have purchased 20 desktop computers for each one of the state's 851 public and private K-12 schools or it could have simply given taxpayers their money back."

u $1.2 million on a Rodeo Initiative, which, according to a news release from the Governor's Office, "provides clinics, educational outreach and a wide range of rodeo activities, including the exploration of district, regional and national rodeos that can be relocated to New Mexico."

Gallegos said Richardson "agrees that there is plenty of waste in the capital outlay process, which is why he has led the effort to reform the way we prioritize how we invest that money. Most important, the governor has been able to devote more of that money to statewide priorities, such as water infrastructure, economic development and education.

Contact Steve Terrell at 986-3037 or sterrell@sfnewmexican.com.

ON THE WEB

• The 2008 New Mexico Piglet Book: www.riograndefoundation.org/downloads/rgf_nm_piglet_book.pdf