The Tallahassee City Commission holds the first of three public hearings on the proposed 2009 budget Wednesday night. Tallahassee residents had three minutes each to voice their concerns, and several citizens spoke out about proposed cuts.
The two areas that grabbed the most attention dealt with a 56% cut in neighborhood affairs and a cut on school crossing guards.
"If they just change this factor for how much they allocate for unfilled positions, then they would be able to... the savings that they could realize from that would enable them - more than enable them to fund neighborhood affairs," says Stephen Hogge, the president of the Council of Neighborhood Associations.
"I watched several cars just go right through the cross-walk on Kerry Forest with children and adults in it and continue to go. So they don't even stop," says Paul Lowery, a parent of an elementary school student who is concerned that an accident may happen at his child's school cross-walk.
City officials say they may revise the budget before public hearings set for September 10th and September 24th. The Commission will take the final vote on the budget after the public hearing on September 24.