Story Published:
Feb 13, 2008 at 11:25 PM CDT
Story Updated:
Feb 14, 2008 at 1:32 AM CDT
SPRINGFIELD -- The city government faces a major money crisis. It doesn't have as much revenue as it budgeted, and must decide where to cut millions and millions of dollars.
City departments have been told to cut about 5 percent each. Sales tax revenue is down 1 percent from last year, while it was projected to increase by 3 percent. That 4 percentage point difference means about $3 million less than Springfield expected to receive.
On top of that, the city also has to start putting more money into the police and firefighters' pension fund, after representatives from those departments appealed to the state legislature. As a result of that lobbying, the city has five years to get funding levels up, or the state can withhold 25 percent of the tax revenue it sends to the state, placing it instead in the police-fire pension fund.
City Manager Bob Cumley has asked each of the 20 departments to look for places to cutback, about 5 percent out of each one's budget.
