Some businesses worried about Fort Carson budget cuts

Some businesses near Fort Carson said they were concerned about the possible affect of potential Fort Carson budget cuts on their bottom line.

If Congress doesn’t take action, automatic budget cuts will roll outFriday. These cuts, often referred to as sequestration, could impact 3,000 Department of Defense employees on the mountain post. It will trigger 22 automatic furlough days for those employees, which would mean a roughly 20 percent pay cut.

But the financial impact of budget cuts extends beyond Fort Carson’s front gates. Jose Contreras served in the army and now owns G.I. Jose near Fort Carson. He said this could impact his bottom line.

“I’ll get a couple of guys a week, suddenly they get out of a job or something, definitely they won’t be coming anymore because they have to watch what they spend,” said Contreras.

The All-in-one Store on B Street said it was sad to hear some of its customers could potentially be hit hard if the automatic budget cuts go through. Contreras agreed.

“It’s really sad for good, honest people. Most of the civilians that work for the army are veterans. And they already served and they’re mostly old people, it’s going to be impossible for them to find another job, especially if they’ve been doing the same job for 10 or 20 years,” said Contreras. “Suddenly they’re out of a job and they have to find a new job and start from zero, that’s really hard.”