We spend the first part of this episode revisiting the city’s budget (which you can do too via Episode 9: City Budget 101) and how the dominant revenue source for the city (sales tax) is particularly susceptible to economic downturns. Which wouldn’t be THAT big of an issue, except that more than half of the city’s general fund revenue is dedicated to public safety; fire, police and the office of emergency management. Our lack of diversified revenue can, and will, impact the city’s ability to appropriately fund the departments that fight crime, fight fires and organize responses to major emergencies.
We also take a look at how much our police and fire personnel are paid as it compares to other cities on the Front Range (spoiler alert: not great). And how our police and fire departments, because of pay issues, have started to experience much higher turnover than normal, creating departments that aren’t staffed to the levels needed to keep the city safe. Join us as we discuss budgets, salaries and everything in between. Enjoy the show!
