By Chris O'Toole
FORT COLLINS, Co — The Fort Collins City Council members met Tuesday to discuss the economic future of the city. Among the topics of debate were city maintenance and the distribution of funds.
In particular, several council members raised questions as to why the police budget had been trimmed and redistributed. The budget for safety services is expected to take a hit in the area of crime prevention, but Captain Jim Szackmeister assured the council that the cut was strategic.
“The reduction to loss prevention and Neighborhood Night Out was handled by a specialist, but something has to give so she can manage (her other duties),” said Szackmeister. “Our priority is to maintain alarm response.”
Upon questioning from Lisa Poppaw, City Councilmember, Captain Szackmeister clarified that the sworn position wouldn’t be lost, just civilianized.
Another concern of the council members was to ensure that visitors continue to frequent Fort Collins and boost the city’s commerce. Concern over shorter stays and a 7.7% decrease in corporate travel in Fort Collins was addressed by Jim Clark, President and CEO of the Fort Collins Visitors Bureau.
“We are working on how people find out about Fort Collins,” said Clark, adding that targeted advertising on the internet should help tourism. “The economy won’t get back to where it was before the crash in 2007 until 2013.”
Clark cited brewery tours, youth baseball tournaments, hotels, public relations and cooperative partnerships as major sources of income for Fort Collins. Clark also announced an increase in lodging taxes that would yield $18.5 million in revenue, noting that Fort Collins lodging tax is about 5.3% less than Denver’s.
Mike Freeman, Chief Financial Officer of the City Council, also readily addressed the city’s present need for cutbacks, particularly regarding water innovation, quiet zones and historic preservation would be targeted for trimming.
Under the cutbacks, power washing of downtown city streets would be eliminated to decrease spending. City Manager Darin Attenberry opposed this measure, citing the need for continual upkeep to maintain tourism.
“Reduction of power washing will have a significant effect on the downtown area,” said Attenberry.
Proposed renovations to the midtown area of Mason Corridor were also put on hold temporarily, largely due to a lack of funding. Joe Frank, Advanced Planning Director, stated that the project was not scrapped, but merely undertaking more research.
“The follow up analysis is funded and Phase 2 will focus on the mall,” said Frank.
Frank added that a large issue was that the renovations raised the issue of city property versus private property and who would be responsible for funding.
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