ASPEN, Colo.—City officials are proposing deeper budget cuts after December sales tax collections fell 19 percent from the previous year.
The city already was cutting $1 million from the budget. A salary freeze proposed by City Manager Steve Barwick could save the city at least $727,000 more.
The salary freeze is on top of previous proposals, such as reducing hours at the Aspen Recreation Center, and axing travel and training expenses for city staff.
City Council will consider budget-cutting proposals from all city departments Tuesday.
Despite the drop in sales tax collections for December, collections for 2008 were up 0.05 percent from 2007. December traditionally accounts for 15 percent of the year’s sales tax revenue collections.
While utilities collections were up 10 percent in December, restaurants and bars saw a 21 percent drop. Jewelry store collections dropped 40 percent, galleries dropped 59 percent and fur stores dropped 60 percent in December.
Several Aspen bars and restaurants lost thousands of dollars of New Year’s Eve business after a man left homemade bombs around town, prompting evacuations on one of the busiest nights of the year. The man later killed himself.
The city predicts sales tax revenues will drop 11 percent in 2009.
It also expects planning and building fees collected by the Community Development Department to drop 50 percent. Engineering fees are expected to drop 25 percent, and fees collected by the recreation department are expected to drop 5 percent.
Barwick said the budget cuts attempt to avoid hitting essential public services, and are instead focused on eliminating staff training and the use of outside consultants, and reducing in-house, administrative operations.
