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Avon cuts 2009 budget again

Lauren Glendenning
lglendenning@vaildaily.com
Vail CO Colorado

AVON, Colorado ” The town of Avon, Colorado, amended its budget again Tuesday as sales tax revenue reports showed a decline for the third straight month of 2009.

Sales tax revenues for January, February and March are almost 10 percent lower than the same time last year, and down six percent for November and December of 2008 compared to the year before.-

Scott Wright, Avon, Colorado’s finance director, told council members it needed to reduce 2009 sales tax projections by $1,233,231, or 8.2 percent,-



The total amount of estimated revenue the town cut from its original budget was $2,167,432.-

The town still holds a six-month operating reserve fund, which Wright said is a healthy amount.-

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Town Manager Larry Brooks said the town has learned to cut expenses and operate more efficiently during the economic downturn and that some of the methods will continue as the economy recovers. Town staff will begin the 2010 budget process sometime in June and as of now all the cuts to the 2009 budget will remain in 2010.-

“This isn’t turning around completely (when we finish the 2010 budget),” he said. “So 2010 is going to be a lot more of the same.”

Brooks said that while the town hasn’t had to “dig deeply into service levels,” it would have to make hard decisions in 2010. One of those decisions would be a look at cutting its nonprofit contributions, Brooks said.-

Council member Brian Sipes said he’s concerned about all of the deferments in the 2009 budget that provided savings ” you can’t defer things indefinitely, he said.-

Lauren Glendenning can be reached at 970-748-2983 or lglendenning@vaildaily.com


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