KWCH - Kansas News and Weather - City of Hutchinson Looking to Cut $1.4 Million

City of Hutchinson Looking to Cut $1.4 Million

(HUTCHINSON, Kan.)

Cutting back 4% may not sound like a lot, unless you're talking about a about a budget of $34 million.  The city of Hutchinson faces that question now as it tries to save $1.4 million in a budget it already cut by more than half a million.

Roads are one of the most used things in Hutchinson, and one of the most funded, at a yearly budget of about $3 million dollars.

The city needs to save more than $1 million. "When we're talking about this kind of money," said city manager John Deardoff, "we're not going to be looking at a line item here and a line item here. We're going to look at some major program issues."

The pavement that runs through Hutchinson roads could save the city $500,000.  The city could defer fixing the streets for a few years, which some drivers say would be fine with them.

"It (the roads) looks alright to me," said Jackie Simons from her car. "And so does that one, and the other."  On a nearby sidewalk, Nicole Henaha said, "I'm getting around just fine, so it sounds good to me!"

But others disagree. "It's bad because there are some really bad potholes," said Autumn Bowley as she drove down Avenue A. Delicia Garcia sat next to her. "I know at the beginning of these street, it's really bad. When I was pregnant, I know, it hurt my stomach, just driving on it."

Leaving the roads as is would save money now, and cost more in the long run to catch up on repairs.  The city's other ideas include cutting back on Park and Trail funding. But whatever it is, it should add up to about $1.4 million.

"It's just too bad," said Bowley, "because it would be nice to have money for this and this and this, but you just can't -- I mean, where is it going to come from?"

The city says it's having to make all these cuts because of the economy; sales tax is down about 6% from last year.

The city manager will present his ideas in early December. It will be up to the Hutchinson City Council to make the cuts.