Yuma City Council meets for preliminary budget

Yuma City Council met on Wednesday for their preliminary budget meeting. The total budget for fiscal year 2017-2018 comes to $214 million with an operating budget of $175.4 million. That’s around $13 million less than the budget last year.

Among some of the changes the city plans to give $250,000 less to the Visitor’s Bureau then they did last year. Currently Yuma’s Visitor Bureau will be allocated $400,000 for the next fiscal year.

“Many people are outraged and they want to come out and speak… I recognize the position you are in as far as having a tight budget.We are currently looking at every option we have about getting funding elsewhere. I would ask you to restore us to the $650,000,” Yuma’s Visitors Bureau Executive Director Linda Morgan says in Wednesday’s meeting.

“I don’t believe we’ll end up with a full cut of $250,000,” says Mayor Douglas Nicholls.