Chattanooga: Close Memorial, privatize Summit, council suggests

Several City Council members proposed today a series of massive cuts to city departments that included closing Memorial Auditorium, privatizing the Summit of Softball complex and combining the Parks and Recreation Department with the Department of Arts, Education and Culture.

"We have a responsibility to dig and dig deep," Councilwoman Deborah Scott said. "We need to come up with a budget we can afford, not what we want."

The City Council spent Tuesday talking about the city's 2010-2011 fiscal year budget for the second week in a row. The mayor's proposed budget includes a 64-cent property tax increase to help make ends meet, but council members took Tuesday as an effort to whittle that hike down.

Mr. Littlefield said after the meeting he knew the budget process would be hard for council members.

"Shuttering Memorial Auditorium was a little shocking," he said.

For more information, read tomorrow's edition of the Times Free Press.

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