Indiana cities pull plug on streetlamps to save money

[IndianaGreen]

Source: WTHR-TV

Indiana cities pull plug on streetlamps to save money

Updated: Dec 12, 2009 11:39 AM EST

Budget cuts and property tax caps are leaving many residents across Indiana in the dark.

Merrillville has turned off every other streetlight on its main roads. Valparaiso is turning off every other light in some areas and has set others to turn off at midnight. Muncie officials say the city will shut off 85 percent of overhead lights to help balance the 2010 budget.

The moves are a response to rising costs and shrinking revenue that's the result of the ailing economy and property tax caps.

Muncie Mayor Sharon McShurley says the move could result in more than just darker streets.

"I'm setting you on notice," she told the council. "The decisions you have made, unless you reconsider the budget, are going to be detrimental to the city."

But officials in several cities say the changes are necessary. Merrillville Public Works Director Bruce Spires said the city is more than a year behind on its NIPSCO bills.

The city will turn off 300 streetlights, for a savings of about $2,000 a month.

Read more: http://www.wthr.com/global/story.asp?s=11666470

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On a related thread posted in this forum, the Indiana State Police is laying off about 40 highway safety inspectors to save money. This causes a public safety problem since these inspectors were charged with checking trucks and school buses for safety violations.

Indiana is not the only state facing cuts in essential public services!

[democraticinsurgent]

1. frightening

i have to wonder whether this is the beginning of a long downhill slide into full scale insolvency, or a temporary blip. Hoping for the latter, but expecting the former...

[IndianaGreen]

2. We are becoming a Third World country

What this country needs is an American version of a Bolivarian Revolution.