By Josh Simeone                                                                                             J.Simeone@krdo.com

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COLORADO SPRINGS - One city employee says a proposal to reduce city salaries to save city services from budget cuts won't help in the long run.

The proposal from Councilman Tom Gallagher has many city employees speaking out. Gallagher is proposing cutting city employee salaries, from police officers to city engineers, by 10% - a move he says would help to slash the city's budget shortfall by more than half.

The city faces a $25 million budget shortfall for the 2010 year. Council members have already told the community to expect big cuts, including city services and the slashing of several city jobs, many of which may come from the Colorado Springs Police and Fire Departments.

Jeremy Kroto is a local firefighter and Vice President of the Colorado Springs Professional Fire Fighters Association, IAFF Local 5. He says the idea "is not addressing the real issue and the layoffs aren't either,"

Kroto has been a firefighter in Colorado Springs for eight years. He says local firefighters already fall well below the state's average pay rate. "We're actually about 10% off the median, which would be obviously the middle, of what front range fire departments are paying right now."

Kroto says pay is only a small part of the problem though. He says while business may be down for the City of Colorado Springs, calls for service, such as medical emergencies or fires, to the fire department have steadily increased.

"Our demand for service has only gone up, the area we've covered has only gone up - we're in need of growing right now as a fire department."

Kroto says he's not asking for much, only a way to keep up.

"We're not complaining, we're not asking for a pay raise."