Colorado Springs City Council makes budget cuts
Posted : Nov 9, 2009 7:52 PM
Updated: Nov 10, 2009 3:28 AM
They spent more than 6-hours in session Monday trying to hash out this budget crisis and at the end of the marathon session there's seemingly a light at the end of Colorado Springs' budget crisis. When the markup session started the city stood at more than 3-million dollars in the red.
Now the budget is balanced and it looks like none of our police officers or firefighters will lose their jobs, although it seems some will opt for early retirement. During the talks, the fire department also gave back several hundred thousand dollars because of changes to squad 108.
One of the biggest cuts comes in the form of 10 mandatory furlough days for city employees which saves the city well over a million dollars. Some of the hardest hit areas seem to be city parks and the city transit system. When 2010 begins, all night and weekend bus services will stop. When asked if residents we're being punished for this past election, Councilman Tom Gallagher replied, "I can't speak for my colleagues, but for myself that's the way I saw it. We have failed to address some of the more contentious issues, preferring to defer them to another day. But like it or not we've got come systemic problems with our budgeting process."
Another hot topic, the fate of the Rock Ledge Ranch and Starsmore Discovery Center. As it stands they will remain up and running till March 2010 along with all of the cities community centers. After that they will have to find their own ways to stay afloat through private donors.
Council will take public comment on the proposed budget Tuesday afternoon beginning at one o'clock.
rbray82 at Nov 10th 2009 5:32 AM
Big budget cuts,How can Colorado Springs pay $58 million to keep the Olymipic Headquarters and the Rodeo Hall of Fame, this town is so qurked, Now the parks and other servercs suffer.
j at Nov 10th 2009 9:57 AM
Oh boy... What a surprise, they used a scare tactic. They said that Fire and Police would lose jobs. That was just another use of typical political behavior these days. But guess what? It didn't work. The citizens of C/S voted for 300 and against 2c.
Truth be told, a lot of the city council folks have invested interest in protecting their feelings. Bottom line... Trim the necessary fat elsewhere and strengthen our police and fire with the money saved. Don't try and scare us. The general society is starting to open their eyes and realize that there are areas of the budget that don't make sense. Stop making up new taxes to financially feed your egos. We won't stand for it.
Obama said maintreet will once again thrive... Yeah right, what a joke. How could any independent entrapeneur feel confidant in rebuilding mainstreet. Without the confidence on the front lines, how are things ever supposed to change.
City council... Thank you for your hard work yesterday and always. I don't mean to belittle you, as I'm sure there are some good hearted folks that are really trying to save this city. I'm only wondering if there might be a few bad apples that don't see things from the general public's view.
Think of it like this... C/S is a tourist city. Why would anhyone want to come here if the way of life plummets and the beauty of the city is overshadowed by gloom?
I am optimistic about the future of C/S, though we are walking on some pretty thin ice these days.
With all of that said, I don't know how the entire budget is divided in this city, so i can't really speak on specifics cuts here and there. I do know this... The last thing we need to make cuts on is police and fire. So far so good.
Blue2010 at Nov 10th 2009 11:03 AM
Some of the people in this city amaze me! They make negative comments against city council and in the next sentence they state, I don't mean to belittle you...Right! Bottom line is, are Police and Fire departments will NOT get stronger. We are losing Police and Fire personnel through early retirements. Those people will NOT be replaced, can't you read? We have already lost the maintenence of our city parks, which will NOT be replaced. And, city employees will be forced to take furlough days, which in turn affects the economy since there is less money being made...which leads to less spending. I am so tired of the people that opposed 2C, with their "We Won" attitude. In fact, nobody won in this election. We will continue to see deterioration in this community as the new budget moves forward. Why don't people step up and help the city by volunteering or help City Council come up with solutions instead of trying to rub the loss of 2C in their faces. Once again, nobody won!
Randy at Nov 10th 2009 11:51 AM
Blue,
You really should take your argument to the feds. It is they who are taking the lion's share of the potential rent collection and consequently leaving local governments at the mercy of po'd rent payers. They are already taking roughly 30% of everything we create, and now they want to take trillions more to hand out free healthcare and to cool the planet by half a degree over the next century. The thing is, as long as they're acting crazy you're not going to get one more dime.
Dorothy at Nov 10th 2009 11:59 AM
The reason they THINK they won is because it has not affected them yet. They won't feel they won when it hits home.
A lot of people will lose jobs because the buses will not be there to take them to work and home. That makes them feel good to. Well what is done is done and all WILL pay the consequences.
And I don't feel city workers are above a pay cut, I just think as a responsible member of the community we all should be able to share the burden. That way we have a safe and prosperous City.