COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO -- As the sun goes down in a Colorado Springs neighborhood, street lights aren't turning on. A total of six street lights in a row have been turned off due to city budget cuts.
As FOX21 News walked through Roseanne Mcclaskey's neighborhood with her, she said she fears her safety when she comes home from work, when she's walking her dog or even going out to get her mail. All because she says, it's so dark outside.
Mcclaskey tells FOX21 News her neighbor's truck was stolen last week -- the neighbor now putting his own lights up around his house.
“You just don't know who is around you. Your surroundings are very unfamiliar,” said Mcclaskey.
Eight thousand to 10,000 street lights are expected to be turned off to save the city $1.2 million. The city is looking into an “Adopt a Street Light" program.
“We're kind of looking into if something like that can work, but essentially it would provide a mechanism for people to voluntarily adopt a street and pay the cost of keeping the street light maintained and lit for a year and keep it on,” said John Leavitt, city spokesman.
So how does Mcclaskey feel about the program?
“I was under the understanding that our property taxes that we pay take care of our street lights so I already adopt a light,” said Mcclaskey.
It's unclear how long the street lights will be turned off. FOX21 News was told each year the city will reevaluate its financial position and make recommendations to city council. Officials said they will be shutting street lights off through April, but if your light isn't off by April chances are they will be staying on.
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