New Yorkers have grown all too accustomed to their politicians doing illogical and wasteful things with public money, but fortunately this November voters will be able to put a stop to at least one such idea when they cast ballots on the $2.9 billion Rebuild and Renew New York Transportation Bond Act of 2005. Whatever else the Empire State’s potholed roads and creaking public transportation systems need, more debt isn’t one of them.

Under the plan, $1.139 billion would fund capital construction on highways and bridges under the management of the state Department of Transportation. Almost $1.5 billion would go to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority for projects including the long-awaited Second Avenue subway line and a train from Lower Manhattan to John F. Kennedy International Airport. The rest of the cash would be divvied up between smaller projects across the state.

Well, it would be better to sell the Brooklyn Bridge. Feature the track record of only one agency involved, the MTA. The agency has spent the past few months trying to sell of its Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn at a fraction of the assessed value. In July, the MTA discovered a surprise surplus of $833 million in its budget. It promptly proposed using half the money to build a platform over the West Side yards, after its earlier plans to sell off those yards at below-market prices failed. The agency’s project to refurbish its own downtown headquarters was covered in scandal. The subways still can’t run in the rain.

The new bond proposal looks even worse in light of all the other borrowing the state is already doing. In May, a study of the enacted budget by the comptroller, Alan Hevesi, found that the latest budget authorized $13 billion in new debt (assuming the transportation measure passes) between 2005 and 2010. The comptroller projected that taxpayers would be on the hook for almost $56 billion in debt by 2010, an increase of more than 287% since 1990. California has the largest state debt in dollar terms, but New York’s per capita debt surpasses the Golden State’s by 60% and is projected to clock in at $2,881 per capita by 2010.

The last time politicians came around for permission from the voters to hawk a big transportation bond – their $3.8 billion attempt in 2000 – the voters told them to take a hike. This second try smacks of chutzpah, especially since the politicians’ track record managing taxpayer treasure has only grown worse in the interim. The smart thing, the right thing, is for voters to avoid any new borrowing they can until the authorities learn to spend wisely the money they have.