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Wet summer may help city IT budget [Gazette, The (CO)]
[October 21, 2014]

Wet summer may help city IT budget [Gazette, The (CO)]


(Gazette, The (CO) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) A rainy summer helped the parks department with its 2014 budget, and it just might help the Information Technology department in 2015.

The city budgeted $3.7 million to water the city's parks in 2014, park officials said Tuesday during the second day of City Council budget meetings. But the rainy summer meant the city didn't spend all the money. It expects, by year's end, to have spent about $2.3 million to water the parks, they said. The unspent money went into the city's reserve fund, which is being tapped to increase the 2015 budget for the Information Technology department and to buy police department equipment, including bulletproof vests.



But that leaves City Council with a decision on how to pay the park watering bill in 2015. In Mayor Steve Bach's proposed budget, $1.1 million of the park watering bill would be covered by the Conservation Trust Fund, money the city received from the state lottery to be used for parks.

The issue: Last year, Bach counted on City Council to extend a Colorado Springs Utilities water conservation rate to the city so it could water its parks. But the conservation program ended in August, so the city needed to find an estimated $1.3 million to pay for water. City Council took the money, against Bach's wishes, out of the city's reserve fund, which dropped the fund to $48 million, or about 19 percent of the total general fund. Bach had built up the reserve fund to $54 million in 2012, or 23 percent of the total general fund - the highest it had been. The Government Finance Officers Association recommends that cities keep a reserve fund of 25 percent of the total general fund budget.


In the 2015 proposed budget, Bach moved $1.1 million of park watering from the city's general fund to the Conservation Trust Fund. That bumps some other planned projects including park playgrounds and refurbishing courts in many parks across the city. Overall, the Parks Recreation and Cultural Services general fund budget is down $642,941 from 2014.

Sticking points: Councilwoman Jan Martin said for years the city's budget has been balanced on the back of city's parks. The park budget has not fully rebounded since the recession, she said. She expressed concern about taking the park watering money out of CTF, when park users were counting on that money for other projects. "Are we robbing Peter to pay Paul?" she asked.

Some council members also asked about using money from the voter- approved Trails, Open Space & Park fund to pay for watering. Park director Karen Palus, said it would be a legal use of the money but advocates of the TOPS program have been vocal in the past that the TOPS fund was not to be used for park watering. It was intended for the city to have money to buy and maintain trails and open space. Some council members said its still worth exploring.

What's next? City Council will host a public hearing on the proposed budget from 5-7:30 p.m. Thursdayin City Hall, 107 N. Nevada Ave. The town hall will be broadcast on Springs TV channel 18 and http://bit.ly/springstv.

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