Mayor submits proposed 2019 budget for Colorado Springs

Hiring 61 police officers, 8 firefighters, and giving those departments a 5 percent pay raise, are among the highlights of next year’s Colorado Springs budget proposed Monday by Mayor John Suthers.

Accomplishing those goals will cost $14.4 million of Suthers’ $302 million budget proposal.

The proposal would be a 5.4 percent increase over the 2018 budget.

Suthers said nearly $10 million will provide the raises, and $4.5 million would pay for hiring the personnel — toward a goal of adding 120 officers and 32 firefighters by the end of 2020.

“We’re trying to get our people up to a market average,” he said. “They haven’t been there since the 2008 recession. The money is available because voters passed the stormwater fee last fall, and that saves us from using the public safety money for stormwater projects.”

Suthers said the additional public safety funding also will lower response times, which have been an issue for years.

“We’ve been at 11 minutes and would like to get that down to eight minutes,” he said.

The money will help the city retain public safety personnel and attract better candidates, Suthers said.

Colorado Springs Police Chief Pete Carey declined to comment on the mayor’s 642-page proposed budget. Carey said he has yet to submit the proposed budget for his department.

The City Council will review several versions of the budget before public comment and a final vote in late November.

The city would have 764 officers and 451 firefighters if the council approves that part of the mayor’s budget.

Suthers also requested an additional $1 million for watering parks, $950,000 in increased funding for park maintenance and related needs — including a new forestry crew to trim trees — and an extra $171,000 for a second crew to clean up homeless camps.

To see the complete budget proposal, visit: https://coloradosprings.gov/budget.