From mattresses to flagpoles, Vail trims budget

VAIL, Colorado ” Vail, Colorado is looking to cuts in overtime, fuel use and educational trips to slash nearly a million dollars from its budget.

But proposed pay raises of 6 percent wouldn’t be nixed in a plan that will be reviewed by the Town Council on Tuesday.

Last week, the council asked for $900,000 to be cut from next year’s proposed budget, citing the troubled economy.

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Under a proposal, the biggest cut would be from the proposed employee home ownership program, which is designed to help town workers buy homes with loans from the town. That program would lose $125,000 from its original budget of $500,000.

Publishing ordinances online instead of in the newspaper would save $20,000, the proposal says. However, in June, the Town Council rejected a proposal to take newly approved laws out of the newspaper.

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Additional cuts would include:

– A town-worker vanpool program, which was slated for $36,000.

– New mattresses for Fire Department residents, which would cost $2,800.

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– Visits to out-of-state “peer resorts,” which would cost $10,000.

– Reducing fuel use by 5 percent for a savings of $50,000.

– Cuts in proposed flagpoles, originally penciled in for $2,950.

– $10,000 less in overtime to public works employees.

Staff Writer Edward Stoner can be reached at 970-748-2929 or estoner@vaildaily.com.