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Colorado Springs cuts into services considered basic by many

Don't most cities and states have laws about expenses not outweighing revenues? I can't even imagine if my city and state didn't have those laws.
Cities like ColoSprings can't run at a deficit because they don't have the authority to borrow money. Some states can, but its rare for cities other than bond issues for narrowly tailored purposes like buildings or roads.
 
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I strongly suspect that this is a ploy to raise taxes. You'll note, they haven't cut the lights at city hall yet. These cuts are designed to be felt by the populace and soften them up for the inevitable tax increase.

You want to piss off your constituents? Take away their garbage services.

For the record, our garbage is privately contracted...wonder why Colorado Springs hasn't allowed a private company like Waste Management to bid for the contract if they can't deliver the services...

Oh yeah...because garbage services are a tool to force the hand of the populace.

Where I live you can pay a monthly fee for garbage, by a private contracting company, or you can haul your own to the transfer station.

I choose to haul my own. It's really much simpler, you don't have to remember to put it out on the right day.
 
What's interesting to me about this is that Colorado Springs is about as libertarian a town as exists in the US. If they are having trouble paying the bills and are cutting in ways that people find offensive, this speaks to how well the libertarian philosophy of governing works.

Here's the town's own website: City of Colorado Springs - HOME

Notice that the first thing you see is a rolling set of justifications for city taxes: "you may not have realized this, but the city pays for your police protection....parks....roads...."

i thought colorado springs was a hotbed of conservative Christiandom - the evangelical vatican:
Day eight: Sunday morning in the 'evangelical Vatican' | World news | guardian.co.uk
 
i thought colorado springs was a hotbed of conservative Christiandom - the evangelical vatican:
Day eight: Sunday morning in the 'evangelical Vatican' | World news | guardian.co.uk
It is, but for the sake of government spending that's little different from libertarianism.

Colorado Springs is dominated by evangelicals and the military (five military installations nearby, including the Air Force Academy). Not exactly a bunch of liberals. If you want that, move down the road a bit to Boulder. Of liberals, they have more than their share.
 
They don't have the money, they don't have it. I think people would be more open to cuts than this, given the ever constant bitching about over spending by government entities. It's going to get worse before it gets better.. pity the fool that thought the economy hasn't yet bottomed out.. we're nowhere near bottom yet.

Let's see if after these cuts people will stand by their 'cut spending' mantra when asked at the polls if they'd support a raise in sales tax, property tax or any other taxation in order to help "fund" these things that have been taken away and vote NO. People tend to support something only when it doesn't inconvenience them, so we'll see.

Edit to add:

Colorado Springs is going to become a ghetto military town.

What exactly, is a "ghetto military town"?
 
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They're doing what hte government refuses to do - cutting costs because they cannot lean on others to bail them out.

Sucks but it's reality and the way things should go when you're out of cashola.

However, if they managed their money more wisely over hte years it wouldn't be necessary.
 
To raise the taxes sufficiently though we'd have to first repeal TABOR. One problem is that TABOR is indexed wrong and prevents tax growth to keep up with the needs of a growing State. Some things are set in stone and we can't take money away from it, others have a floating budget, and overall CO is severely restricted in how much we can raise tax. It was a good idea till Wall Street and the banks ****ed over the system so hardcore. CO was one of the few fiscally responsible states out there, and now we're paying the price.


TABOR is a bad idea. It's about as useful as zero tolerance policies in schools. People are realizing that TABOR is bad policy. Good policy requires thinking and dynamism, not TABOR. It was on two ballots last November - Maine and Washington - and was defeated in both places.
 
Just finished reading the article .... damn, just damn.


That place IS in trouble. The kind of cuts they are talking about are going to lead to even fewer revenues down the road. Nobody shops in a scary, dangerous place with bad roads.


REALLY stupid.
 
It is, but for the sake of government spending that's little different from libertarianism.

Colorado Springs is dominated by evangelicals and the military (five military installations nearby, including the Air Force Academy). Not exactly a bunch of liberals. If you want that, move down the road a bit to Boulder. Of liberals, they have more than their share.
manitou, that's the place to be.
 
awesome article. A Repubs dream come true. Why not just eliminate the Police and Fire Department all together? Hey its not my fault or problem if you get robbed or if your home burns down thats what certain insurance is for..If everyone bought a gun and a pit bull things would be much better..Lights?? Who needs to walk down the roads at night? you should be home. Autos have headlights to help you see where you are driving. Damn if you can't see well enough in the dark you shouldn't be walking around then...


Colorado Springs IS repubs policies in action. It is highly conservative, heavily republican:



"... El Paso County, in Colorado Springs, which is one of the most conservative communities in the nation. According to the El Paso County clerk's office on October 3, three days out from the close of voter registration, the county has 64,083 active Democrat, 82,245 active Unaffiliated and 131,249 active Republican voters. It's a given that the McCain-Palin ticket will take Colorado Springs and El Paso County. The question is by how much."

Mayhill Fowler: Colorado Springs: Ground Zero for Battleground Colorado
 
i thought colorado springs was a hotbed of conservative Christiandom - the evangelical vatican:
Day eight: Sunday morning in the 'evangelical Vatican' | World news | guardian.co.uk

It is, but for the sake of government spending that's little different from libertarianism.

Colorado Springs is dominated by evangelicals and the military (five military installations nearby, including the Air Force Academy). Not exactly a bunch of liberals. If you want that, move down the road a bit to Boulder. Of liberals, they have more than their share.


So, it relies on 'government spending' aka military spending to support its tax base? What would happen to Colorado Springs if those military bases and the Air Force Academy closed, I wonder?
 
Unemployment in CO Springs is below the national average. They'd REALLY be in trouble if they were feeling the full brunt of this recession ...


Unemployment Rates for Metropolitan Areas
Monthly Rankings
Not Seasonally Adjusted
Dec. 2009p
Rank Metropolitan Area Rate


118 Colorado Springs, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area 7.9%

Unemployment Rates for Metropolitan Areas
 
So, it relies on 'government spending' aka military spending to support its tax base? What would happen to Colorado Springs if those military bases and the Air Force Academy closed, I wonder?

if the public lands in the county now dedicated for military purposes were no longer exempt from ad valorem taxes as a result, the community coffers might be swelled
but probably not enough to offset the revenues lost to diminished sales taxes


and it would seem that a few of us have different views of libertarianism. evangelicals tend not to demonstrate the tolerant live and let live philosophy that i associate with libertarianism. which causes me not to perceive that place as a strong libertarian community

is TABOR that different that what has been handicapping california, where the public can vote for new government programs while simultaneously voting to prohibit the raising of taxes to fund the costs of those new programs
 
if the public lands in the county now dedicated for military purposes were no longer exempt from ad valorem taxes as a result, the community coffers might be swelled
but probably not enough to offset the revenues lost to diminished sales taxes


and it would seem that a few of us have different views of libertarianism. evangelicals tend not to demonstrate the tolerant live and let live philosophy that i associate with libertarianism. which causes me not to perceive that place as a strong libertarian community

is TABOR that different that what has been handicapping california, where the public can vote for new government programs while simultaneously voting to prohibit the raising of taxes to fund the costs of those new programs



Re: TABOR, no it is not that different (altho, yes somewhat different). Prop (can't remember the number) from CA that limited property taxes is its philosophical godfather.
 
Just finished reading the article .... damn, just damn.


That place IS in trouble. The kind of cuts they are talking about are going to lead to even fewer revenues down the road. Nobody shops in a scary, dangerous place with bad roads.


REALLY stupid.

I was thinking the same thing earlier today actually. These policies are likely going to lead to increased crime and other problems which will drive people and businesses out of the city in the long run. Then, as you say, goodbye tax revenues. I'm all for fiscal conservatism, but one must do it responsibly, not in a mindless hack n' slash manner!
 
What is TABOR?

[ame=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxpayer_Bill_of_Rights]Taxpayer Bill of Rights - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]


Don't worry I didn't know either. Google is a God sent at times...;)
 
I think what we're seeing here is a tendency to believe that basic services like roads and police and parks are just sort of there--they take care of themselves. The connection between taxes and these kinds of services aren't real for lots of people, so they vote down taxes thinking they'll end up paying for welfare queens and over-priced political hacks. Sort of like when people say "keep government out of my Medicare!"
 
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