Two groups of citizens attended the Colorado Springs City Council’s special public hearing Monday to speak their mind about the city’s proposed 2026 budget.

A group of residents who have been pressing the city for weeks about the closure of Meadows Park Community Center told the City Council why they wanted to keep the building open. Two leaders from the Colorado Springs Fire Department said the city needed a plan to address low salaries and other funding issues the department faced.

Colorado Springs’ proposed budget for 2026 is $907 million, with the city’s general fund declining by $31 million from this year as sales tax revenue struggled.

Curt Crumb, president of the Colorado Springs Professional Firefighters Local 5, said the city’s firefighters were paid around 20% below average compared to other Front Range cities, which made it challenging to recruit and retain staff. Around 20 firefighters attended the budget hearing as a show of support for Crumb’s message.

“The writing is on the wall. We know it is not going to be something that’s fixed in 2026. All we can do is make sure we’re not falling behind to where we can’t overcome it,” Crumb said.

Battalion Chief Derek Wheeler joined Crumb to ask the City Council for a structural and longer-term funding option to increase salaries. The firefighters and councilmember Nancy Henjum mentioned an increase to the public safety sales tax rate or a new property tax that was dedicated to the fire department.

Other issues that Crumb raised were about the age of the city’s firefighting equipment. Crumb said that some front-line vehicles were more than 25 years old and the department’s self-contained breathing apparatuses were no longer supported by the company that made them.

Mayor Yemi Mobolade announced in September that Meadows Park Community Center would be closed heading into the city’s reduced 2026 budget. Mobolade and councilmembers held a community meeting at the building last week to begin figuring out possible new uses for the space, but neighbors who showed up Monday asked for a stronger commitment.

“I would like in any way to help the community because I believe that’s the heart of all of us. Every time we take care of somebody else, we take care of ourselves,” said Karen Fleming, who had worked at Meadows Park for 17 years.

Leaders from the nonprofit RISE Southeast worried what the closure would mean for the city’s remaining community centers and the safety of the neighborhood. Longtime parks advocate Carol Beckman said the parks department bore too much of the burden of the current budget cuts.

On Wednesday, the City Council will hold a markup session to make a round of changes to the proposed 2026 budget. Council President Lynette Crow-Iverson reminded the speakers Monday that any project that was added would need to find funding from somewhere else in the budget.