May 27, 2009 10:42 pm US/Central
What Budget Cuts Could Mean To Your Local Parks
ST. CLOUD, Minn. (WCCO) ―
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St. Cloud Mayor Dave Kleis said he was left with no choice but to not open four city wading pools this summer. It's just one cut that will save the city $400,000.
CBS
There could be several changes at your local park this summer. Since the state has less money to give to cities, mayors and city councils have been forced to cut services.
"This is the one that people notice, because on a hot, summer day, you want come here, you want to be at the pool," said St. Cloud Mayor Dave Kleis.
He said he was left with no choice, forcing him to not open four city wading pools this summer. It's just one cut that will save the city $400,000.
"It's one of those issues: Do you make sure you that have somebody answering the 911 call? Or can you suspend an operation and do something differently in that respect," said Kleis.
On top of that, cutting grass won't happen quite as fast as in years past since the city isn't going to hire part-time workers this summer to do maintenance. Full-timers will pick up the slack.
"It's a difficult decision to cut the program," said Kleis.
Community groups and people who live in town will be mowing grass at some parks for free to keep up with work that needs to get done. Its part of the city's Adopt-A-Park Program.
In Minneapolis, news is just about the same. Parks will be a little dirtier, grass will stay a little longer, trees won't get trimmed as fast and trash cans won't get emptied as often.
"We'll get to it, but it's going to take us longer to do some of the things," said Michael Schmidt, the General Manager of the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board.
He said something's got to give when you don't fill positions. The park board hasn't filled 26 office and maintenance positions, saving about $1.5 million.
The Minneapolis Park Board also raised fees on groups that use the city's land, like marathons and festivals. The good news is that pools won't have to close and community centers will stay open.
The park board never spent $774,000 in state funding it got last year, so that savings will help this year too.
"We think we are able to survive through this 2009 without any new, dramatic changes," said Schmidt.
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