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Council directs scaled Holiday Square: city to light 30 trees, seek private funding to offset staff hours
Summary
Facing budget and staffing constraints, Casper City Council instructed staff to proceed with a reduced Holiday Square plan this year: about 30 lit trees and the larger lighted displays will remain while staff aggressively solicits private sponsorships and contractors to limit reallocation of city arborist hours.
Casper City Council on June 24 directed staff to proceed with a scaled version of Holiday Square that reduces the number of lit trees and redirects staff hours toward critical urban-forestry work.
Staff recommended trimming the lighting program because a seasonal staff position was cut in this year’s budget; the recommendation would reallocate roughly 480 staff hours to tree-priority work and reduce the number of lit trees from 67 to about 30 while retaining major lighted amenities such as the mega tree, nativity and snowman displays. "Our current fiscal year budget did not include eliminating the event altogether. It just included scaling back so that we could reallocate approximately 480 hours, to tree work in the fall instead of to Holiday Square," a staff presenter said.
Councilors discussed alternatives including soliciting private sponsorships, contracting local firms to hang lights, and inviting nonprofits to operate any festival activities so city staff hours could be preserved for tree care. Several council members urged staff to be aggressive in fundraising and said privately donated funds should first be used to replace city labor, with any surplus used to restore additional displays.
Councilor Kyle Pollock noted the event’s history of private donations and the city’s web page for sponsorships; staff confirmed a sponsorship page had been used in the previous season. Council direction was to begin with the 30-tree plan, pursue private donations and contracted labor vigorously, and deploy any raised funds to reduce city labor burden and, if possible, restore more lighting or festival programming.
Staff cautioned that reduced lighting would mean a lighting ceremony without the broader festival (hot chocolate, booths) if private partners do not step up; the scaled plan preserves a seasonal lighting event and the major displays. The council’s direction was procedural; no vote was recorded that night to permanently change the program.
