NEW MEXICO (KRQE) –  It's a years-old problem that is only getting worse. According to a new Legislative Finance Committee report, $5.8 billion spanning 5,300 projects across the state is unspent. The report points to a number of issues causing the outstanding balances including high construction demand in New Mexico, more money flowing into the pipeline that outpaces spending capacity, and lawmakers not thoroughly vetting project readiness before appropriating funds. "We are still too frequently funding projects before they're really ready to go," said Cally Carswell, an LFC analyst. Story continues below News: Albuquerque police officer indicted on charges related to soliciting sexual favors Education: Despite hot classroom complaints, Albuquerque parents want school calendar to stay the same News: Driver arrested for DWI after chase with New Mexico State Police Events: What’s happening around New Mexico November 22-28 "I think this is one of the top three to five issues facing the state because this is such an enormous amount of money that could be creating jobs, meeting the needs of the state," said Fred Nathan, founder and executive director of Think New Mexico, a non-partisan think tank. It was back in 2015 when Think New Mexico wrote a publication calling out the state's capital outlay system that has been in place since the 1970s, saying it led to piecemeal funding and pork barrel politics - helping lawmakers curry political favor in their districts. "The problem is we don't have a plan that's merit-based based on objective criteria. It's purely political," said Nathan. According to the LFC report, some of the projects with the most unspent money include $18 million given in 2022 to build Santa Fe Magistrate Court. The report said only 1% of that money has been used. It also said there's another $11 million given this year for that same project that is still sitting mostly unspent. The report also highlights the $20 million given in 2022 for the Next Generation Media Academy with none of that money spent. There is even a $2 million appropriation from 2016 for library and building renovations at Southwest Indian Polytechnic Institute that continues to sit with only 16% of that money spent according to the report. "The solution is to drain the politics out and put the focus on what are the most urgent infrastructure needs of the state," said Nathan. "We have people in New Mexico that still don't have access to clean drinking water and this money could be used to help those people." Think New Mexico suggests emulating what other states do by creating a multi-year plan and deciding who gets funding based on objective criteria. "Is this urgent for health and safety? Does this project leverage federal money so we can take our dollars further...are these projects shovel-ready so we can put these tax dollars to use right away," said Nathan. The LFC report suggests a new vetting system as a way to stop the problem from getting worse. That suggested vetting system includes factors like if the appropriation would complete funding or a functional phase, if the project reduces health and safety hazards or provides key infrastructure for economic development, and if the entity requesting money has committed some local revenues to the project. "Unless they come up with a different way of doing this that drains the politics out and puts the focus on funding critical infrastructure needs of the state, I think that $6 billion figure will continue to grow and it wouldn't surprise me if five years from now it's doubled," said Nathan. After hearing the presentation of the report, Sen. George Muñoz (D-Gallup) said he is going to create a bi-partisan subcommittee to tackle the issue for the upcoming legislative session in January 2025.