Another Year, Another Budget

Walsenburg is facing a deadline for submitting an annual budget for the new year.  It is a difficult operation.  A number of calculations are done and the choices are presented to the city council.  Most of the time the choices are between two evils - do without something to have something else.
It appears this year will be no different.  A couple of budgets will be considered on November 11th. One choice will be to restore city employee pay cuts, and the other is to leave them intact.  There are arguments for either decision, but the facts don't change.

Walsenburg is struggling with a deficit in the general fund.  What caused it is only useful as a reminder of mistakes to avoid in the future.  To ignore the past and act as if the deficit doesn't exist, would be to refuse to learn from the past.

When money is needed for funding for a huge project like the  Northlands Sewer Project, and the city needs new money to keep it going forward, money is always found.  If money is needed to refurbish infrastructure of sewer and water lines in the city, there is no money available.  A pattern has emerged.

Now the city has come to admit that funds have been spent to advance the Northlands project.  These funds will be lost if the project doesn't go forward.  The alternative is to be liable for several millions of dollars instead of $400,000 to $500,000 which has been spent.  This formula looks similar to the kinds of decisions made in the past which have resulted in our present dilemma.

The bond pledge for an over-sized sewer plant was based on a trust that the prison would pay for it. The present project in the Northlands has a pledge for loan payments that only the city can guarantee.

Another loser from the past is the city water park.  A decision was made to spend a large sum on a water park that is expensive to operate and can only stay open two to three months a year.  Despite the obvious problem, no one has the courage to say, "enough."

A denial that there is a problem which can be solved is a sure decision that nothing will be done. Operating within a reasonable budget is not impossible.  When almost every project the city plans, involves a grant or a loan from the government, it is an admission that there is no money available for it.  When there is no money and there is a large deficit, it means you slow spending.  Repay the deficit first and think about large projects when the city is solvent.