Colorado Springs , Colorado ( CNN ) -- If you come to a neighborhood park in Colorado Springs , plan on bringing your own trash bags . To save money , the city has removed the trash cans . Need to catch a bus ? Do n't try on evenings or weekends . The city has cut that service , too . And when the sun goes down , Colorado Springs is going to look a little bit dimmer . Crews are removing a third of the city 's streetlight to save money on electricity and light bulbs . Watch city 's PSA on streetlight deactivation . It 's this conservative city 's way of closing a $ 28.5 million budget gap . `` You can cry about the fiscal situation ... or you can take it as an opportunity to change , reinvent yourself and innovate and that 's what were going to do in Colorado Springs , '' City Councilman Sean Paige said . Other governments are considering higher taxes to avoid such cutbacks , but in the state of Colorado , there is a taxpayers ' bill of rights . It prevents state and city governments from raising taxes unless such a measure is approved by the voters . `` We put it on the ballot last fall , and they said 'no , ' `` said Paige , a Republican . `` They declined to write the city a blank check , and they said , 'City , tighten your belts . We 're tightening ours . You need to do the same . ' `` We 're going to respect that , '' he added . `` I 'm not going to cry about that . '' It 's not a new concept in Colorado Springs , touted on some Web sites as a `` libertarian paradise . '' The city 's garbage collection , zoo and philharmonic are all privately funded . The city is even auctioning off its police helicopters on the Internet . Want to place a bid ? The latest budget cuts could be felt at community centers like Meadows Park , which is bustling with after-school programs for kids , as well as exercise classes and hot meals for seniors . Unless the center can find private funding , Colorado Springs is slated to shut it down at the end of March . `` I 'm hoping that some sort of a miracle will happen so we can keep the centers open , '' said Sheryle Nix , 56 . Every day , Nix eats a $ 2 lunch at the center because she ca n't afford to eat in a restaurant and has trouble preparing her own food . `` I have a traumatic brain injury , so this really helps keep me on schedule to eat lunch , '' she explained . Jeanie Schweitzer , 55 , returned to Colorado Springs to take care of her grandmother Elsie , who suffered a stroke . She brings Elsie to the center to get her out of the house . `` I do n't think they should be shutting it down . There should be enough money , '' Schweizer said . `` It 's not that much in the big picture to keep it open . '' The center is a lifeline for parents who work and can not pick their kids up after school ends in the afternoon . Lindon Jackson , who is 13 , has been coming to the Meadows Park after-school program since she was 3 . When asked what she 'll do if the center shuts down , she said , `` Nothing . '' `` I 'd just be home doing nothing . '' Whether the government should continue funding Meadows Park and other community centers like it strikes at the heart of the political argument over the role of government , particularly during an economic downturn . `` The model of governments , from the federal government down to municipal governments , do n't work anymore , '' according to Chuck Fowler , chairman of City Committee , an alliance of local businesspeople set up by Paige . `` They do n't take in as much money . They ca n't possibly provide the same amount of services , pay their employees , pay their pensions . Something 's got to give . '' Fowler believes that the solution may be in weaning people off of government services . `` The larger the government is , the more conditioning with certain people that they do n't need to take personal responsibility of their life , '' he said . The budget cuts , according to Fowler , `` could really recondition people 's ideas about what government should be doing . '' `` Should it be doing all of these things , or should it really be focused on the vital things that clearly have a public interest ? '' But Brian Kates , who runs Meadows Park Community Center , says the people affected by the government cutbacks `` are pawns in the game . '' `` These are n't people trying to be lazy and live off the system , '' Kates said . `` These are hard-working , intelligent and bright [ people ] , and they 're not asking for much . We 're giving them just the very basics . ''
Colorado currently has nearly $ 30 million black hole . Programs for the elderly and kids might be cut . Critics say it 's better than raising taxes . Opponents say basic services should n't be sacrificed .