The Capital Improvement Project (2013-2018) Continued

One of the most important topics for citizens at this time was discussed during the city council meeting-the budget. Every government, whether it is federal, state or local is trying to decide what projects are worth the cost and that will benefit the community the most while trying to not drown in debt in the process. Unfortunately it is not as simple as just removing some projects to curb the debt. Many projects are actually required on every level of government. The federal government has medicare and social security, two entitlement programs which the government must fund, even if it sinks the government into further debt. The Greenwood Village City Council also had to deal with similar situations during the meeting on August 20th. The council had every funding program on The Capital Improvement Project listed with the numbers 1-4. Programs with a 1 were a requirement that the council had to fund no matter what whether it was for a legal requirement, contract obligation, or other reason. A 2 was what the city needed to do, a 3 was what the city wanted to do, and a 4 was to be removed from the Capital Improvement Project. Some projects that may not seem like a big deal were considered to be a 1 due to a legal requirement. These projects included High Line Canal Trail Crossing Signage Improvements, Pavement and Concrete Rehabilitation Programs, and the I-25/Arapahoe Road Interchange Reconstruction Design. These projects were just some that most of the council labeled as category 1. Many more were labeled as 2 and 3, with very few being labeled as 4. This made it difficult for the council to decide what to keep and what to eliminate. While the council did cut off a good amount of debt during the meeting, there was still debt remaining at the end, which will have to be cleared up at a future date. The difficulty that the city council encountered is a stark reminder of urgency and direness of the financial problems in the United States. As one of the richer cities in not only in Colorado, but the in country it shows that even cities that are better off than most still have trouble dealing with debt in this financial crisis. This council meeting shows how hard it is to reduce debt when the government must pay for so many required programs and it shows how much reform is needed in the United States’ budget