Questions arose today about whether the City of Chattanooga would hold the popular Coolidge Park Fourth of July festival because of funding issues.
“If we don’t have fireworks this year, you can come down to my district,” Councilwoman Deborah Scott said. “It’s been going on for two weeks, and it’s because of this budget.”
The Chattanooga Downtown Partnership has been putting on the annual Pops in the Park event for a number of years, but because that agency folded earlier this year the city wanted to reallocate $40,000 to Allied Arts of Greater Chattanooga to hold the event.
Council members today raised questions about whether they would fund the event because of a potential 64-cent property tax increase for next year’s budget.
Dan Bowers, president of Allied Arts, said he has $40,000 in private donations for the event. It takes $70,000 overall to put the event on, he said.
If the money is not reallocated, this year’s event could be in jeopardy, he said.
The council will vote on reallocations during its regularly scheduled business meeting tonight.
For complete details, see tomorrow’s Chattanooga Times Free Press.