May 5, 2022 Vol. 21, No. 24 Serving Manitou Springs, Old Colorado City and Lower Ute Pass
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City Council approves updates to 2022 budget By Marcus Hill Manitou Springs City Council voted 7-0 on Tuesday, May 3, to approve an ordinance amending the annual budget for fiscal year 2022. Council members wasted little time deciding to approve the budget and did so less than five minutes after hearing Finance Director Rebecca Davis speak about the budget. During a work session on April 26, Davis covered various aspects of the budget, including the enterprise fund. “With the creation of the new Mobility and Parking Enterprise Fund, staff felt that providing information during a work session would give City Council a better opportunity to ask questions than just presenting it at first reading of the ordinance,” Davis said during the April 26 meeting. She hoped the presentation would inform the conversation during Tuesday’s meeting. Mayor John Graham said the previous briefing provided clarity. “I think the work session presentation was very effective and reassuring,” he said. Davis said the forecasted unassigned ending fund balance, which is projected to be $5,702,139, will account for approximately 54 percent of total expenditures. Davis added that this was 47 percent of all expenditures in the General Fund. “That is a very healthy fund balance,” Davis said. The budget has 14 “major” amendments, and the
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Mustang Bennett Gauvin leads the pack during the 1,600-meter race at the Cougar Classic on Friday, April 29. Coronado High School hosted the meet at Garry Berry Stadium. See more sports results and photos on pages 10 and 11.
See COUNCIL/page 3
Photo by Bryan Oller
County Health Department: 64.6 percent of eligible residents fully vaccinated The El Paso County Public Health Department’s vaccination overview shows that residents have received 1,126,030 total doses as of May 1. That breaks down to: • People vaccinated — 479,799 (71.7 percent of eligible people); • Fully vaccinated — 443,079 (64.6 percent of eligible people); and • Received boosters — 185,042 (27 percent of eligible people). The county has seen 760 coronavirus cases, eight hospitalizations and three deaths between April 19 and May 3, according to www.elpasocountyhealth.org. In total, 1,683 county residents died from the virus between March 1, 2020, and May 3, 2022. People aged 80 to 89 lead all other age groups, with 463 deaths. El Paso County Health no longer posts statistics by ZIP code.
Colorado has experienced more than 1,386,000 COVID-19 cases as of Tuesday, May 3, according to the Department of Public Health & Environment. The virus is being directly linked to 13,233 deaths from March 1, 2020, to May 3, 2022. The website, covid19.colorado.gov, also shows that 10.7 million vaccines have been administered and more than 4 million Coloradans are fully immunized. The website also includes information on vaccines for children and teens: covid19.colorado.gov/kids-vaccines. For information on tests: www.elpasocountyhealth.org/covid-19-testing-information. For vaccine information: www.elpasocountyhealth.org/ how-can-i-get-a-vaccine.
INSIDE MORE VIEWPOINTS ON LOCAL EDUCATION.......PAGES 4, 5 AND 6 MUSIC HATH CHARMS TO CHANGE STUDENTS’ LIVES.......PAGE 9 HOUSE TAKING SHAPE ON HIGH SCHOOL CAMPUS.........PAGE 12