COLORADO SPRINGS — As the City Council deliberates on Colorado Springs' 2024 budget, cuts are coming to all 22 departments in the city. Each department has until the end of the year to slash 3.4% of its budget.
"We have to have a balanced budget, and we take that very seriously," said Chief Financial Officer for Colorado Springs Charae McDaniel.
McDaniel says the city is requiring these budget cuts because their revenue, a majority of which comes from sales tax, is lower than they anticipated. She blames high interest rates and inflation as the reason people are not making bigger purchases like cars or homes.
"The city of Colorado Springs is subject to inflationary pressures and cost increases just like everyone else," she continued.
Each department is in charge of making its own cuts, but some departments are taking action through freezing hiring.
"So those are going to be things like holding vacant positions open and delaying hiring individuals into positions. as well as putting off any non-critical operating expenditures, or for example vehicle expenditures or equipment," said McDaniel.
The Police department expects to save money with smaller classes of recruits. However, the city says that overall, they will be scheduling more classes than usual, and anticipate hiring more recruits overall.
The Fire department will need to move their training from January to July in order to save money. The Office of Accessibility will need to delay a project installing loopers, devices to help those with hearing impairments connect to audio systems, in city buildings.
"We're tightening our belts, we're reducing our expenditures, so we can live within the money that is provided to us through our citizens," continued McDaniel.
You can view a list of what departments are cutting here. Scroll down to page 58 of 661.
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