• Posted on Monday, March 16, 2009
  • Bookmark and Share
  • email
  • |
  • print
  • |
  • rss

tool name

close
tool goes here

Difficult budget decisions — including shutting off fountains — confront KC officials

Sign up for email newsletters now!

Sign up for email newsletters now!

Never miss a McClatchy story
Comments (0)

A shutdown of Kansas City's flowing fountains. A dramatic cutback in Kemper Arena events. A big reduction in international contacts.

Those are just a few of the possible results of Kansas City’s historic budget woes.

In fact, some already are planned — the city’s annual Fountain Day has been canceled and, for now at least, officials plan to leave the fountains dry this year.

While everyone is talking about a proposed cut to the city’s $2 million Truman Sports Complex subsidy, there are other serious implications for city services and amenities as the City Council stares down an $85 million shortfall.

The countdown is on for city leaders to erase that gap and adopt a balanced budget March 26.

Read the complete story at kansascity.com

JOIN THE DISCUSSION

We welcome comments. Please keep them civil, short and to the point. Obscene, profane, abusive and off topic comments will be deleted. Repeat offenders will be blocked. Thanks for taking part — and abiding by these simple rules.

Comments are displayed newest first. If you would like to read a thread from beginning to end, select "Oldest first" from the drop down menu.

ECONOMY IN TURMOIL

economy in turmoil

Read McClatchy coverage of the economic pain Americans around the country are feeling, from Florida to California to Alaska.

ECONOMY QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

 hall & pugh

McClatchy correspondents Kevin G. Hall (left) and Tony Pugh are available to answer your questions about the economic meltdown at home and abroad, and what's in store for ordinary Americans.

Q&A: THE HOUSING CRISIS

Mark Zandi, the chief economist for Moody's Economy.com, is took questions from McClatchy readers about the nation's deep housing crisis. His book, "Financial Shock," offers a 360-degree look at what caused the crisis, what mistakes were made and who made them. It offers a way forward to prevent future crises.

Q&A: TERMINAL CHAOS

U.S. air travel these days is about as fun as a trip to the dentist. Departure delays are rampant, bags often miss the flight you've caught and rising jet fuel prices have major airlines charging to check a bag. In his new book "Terminal Chaos," George Donohue, a professor and former high-level Federal Aviation Administration official, explains why our system of air travel is broken and what can be done to fix it. Read the responses.

Q&A: THE THREE TRILLION DOLLAR WAR

For two weeks, Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz and Harvard professor Linda Bilmes, authors of "The Three Trillion Dollar War," fielded questions about the cost of the Iraq war and its impact on the U.S. economy. They're not taking new questions, but they're still posting answers to ones they've already received. Read their responses.