At a long meeting Tuesday night, Springfield’s City Commission voted to move forward with a budget that includes cuts to city services following the failure of an income tax levy in November.
The $800,000 in cuts will affect the city’s municipal courts and parks and recreation department. Money set aside to pay police officers and firefighters for overtime will also be reduced. And, the city says it will close both a fire station and a police substation to further cut costs.
The commission approved the 2017 budget 3-2. Commissioner Karen Duncan voted in favor of the cuts, but says it was a difficult decision.
“When we are in a budget crisis as we are now, and we say these are the things we’re going to do if the tax levy fails ... I feel we have to do what we said we were going to do. It's the way you need to operate for people to have trust in your credibility,” she says.
Other cuts to the Springfield Convention and Visitor’s Bureau are also possible. City officials said Tuesday funding for the organization will be finalized in the coming weeks.