Allen, Shanor Say Limit Needed On Sanitation Money To City

Cheyenne City Council members Sean Allen and Dicky Shanor say the city needs to limit the percentage of money collected by sanitation fees that goes into the city's general fund.

Last year about $1.6 million generated by sanitation went into the general fund, which Allen says comes out to about 15 percent of the money generated by that department. He and Shanor are proposing to limit the amount to five percent of the money generated by sanitation.

At the council Finance Committee meeting on Monday Allen said such a limit could reduce the percentage increase in sanitation fees needed over the next few years from 8 percent annually (according to a consultant hired by the city) to around five percent annually. Allen says without some kind of limit, next year "$3 million could go to the city" and in the future the amount could vary widely.

But Mayor Rick Kaysen says he is concerned that such a limit could tie the city's hands in dealing with future budgets. Kaysen says he think's it's a bad idea to lock in the percentage of those funds going to the general fund without knowing what might happen to the local economy--and city revenues-in years to come.