[hope_full]

http://www.local6.com/money/16709180/detail.html

COCOA BEACH, Fla. -- Citing a downturn in the economy, Cocoa Beach officials on Wednesday announced that the city will not host a Fourth of July fireworks display this year.

Cocoa Beach city manager Charles Billias said the display, which costs up to $70,000, was too expensive.Last year's fireworks display in Cocoa Beach was among the largest in Central Florida, lasting a half-hour, officials said.

Billias said a decision on next year's display would have to be made soon because it takes about a year to plan the event.

I'm wondering how these municipalities are staying afloat. Diesel expense for equipment and schoolbuses and trash trucks must be skyrocketing. Not to mention heating costs for these behemoth buildings such as city halls and schools and local courts. Most cities are on a very tight budget. I don't know how they're absorbing these huge price increases. And, property values are falling which means their tax base is shrinking.

We talk about people being "three meals away from a revolution" but what about the average American city? How much distance is between the average city and financial collapse?

[sittinguy]

Hope full,, hi there, I live in Melbourne. Its not surprising to see this. I see alot of stress in the city managers here. Remember that "vote yes on #1" ? That killed them. I'm sure it came down to no fireworks or fire someone.

[jlw61]

We talk about people being "three meals away from a revolution" but what about the average American city? How much distance is between the average city and financial collapse?

Since I see all sorts of waste and spending on things that the cities should not be involved, I think that as long as things don't get ugly, it will improve life. I've yet to hear a logical argument on why cities build statdiums for teams that make millions of dollars.

I don't understand why cities feel they have to force people to pay for the construction of a "convention center", "buisness district" or an "arts center". I've lived in several cities and while each of them spent millions of dollars on such efforts, there were always already existing and privately developed competing businesses. The city simply did it on a much grander scale and in most cases the new centers failed to provide an adequate return to justify the [s]investment[/s] expense (there were exceptions, but that's a different rant).

In Richmond, there are literally dozens of art galleries, theaters and concert facilities in private hands, yet the city is bound and determined to spend millions on upgrading and/or building a publicly funded center.

The city government is also fighting over whether the city will build a public marina (at substantial cost to the tax payer). In the mean time, schools are crumbling and they want to build a very large, big-box solution to replace a number of them (which in turn will make busses travel farther at greater expense).

Forcing cities to reevaluate priorities can only be a good thing. Forcing citizens to stand up to (or leave) cities that refuse to reevaluate priorities is a better thing.